The People’s Princess

Written by Flora Harding

Narrated by Julie Teal

Step behind the palace doors in this gripping historical novel that is a must read for fans of The Crown and Princess Diana!

Buckingham Palace, 1981

Her engagement to Prince Charles is a dream come true for Lady Diana Spencer but marrying the heir to the throne is not all that it seems. Alone and bored in the palace, she resents the stuffy courtiers who are intent on instructing her about her new role as Princess of Wales…

But when she discovers a diary written in the 1800s by Princess Charlotte of Wales, a young woman born into a gilded cage so like herself, Diana is drawn into the story of Charlotte’s reckless love affairs and fraught relationship with her father, the Prince Regent.

As she reads the diary, Diana can see many parallels with her own life and future as Princess of Wales.

The story allows a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life in the palace, the tensions in Diana’s relationship with the royal family during the engagement, and the wedding itself.

Praise for Flora Harding:

‘If you’re a fan of The Crown, you’ll love this’ Woman’s Weekly

‘Fascinating…a beautiful love story’ Woman

‘Magnificent. It carries so much depth and warmness, and closeness to the characters that you do not want to part from them…a page-turner’ Best Historical Fiction Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Mar 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9780008446949

Flora Harding

Flora Harding began writing over 30 years ago to fund a PhD on the disposal of waste in Elizabethan York, and has juggled fact and fiction ever since. Under various pseudonyms she has written more than 75 novels, histories and other forms of non-fiction and continues to be fascinated by the relationship between the past and the present, whatever she happens to be writing.

Reviews for The People’s Princess

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story of two princesses forms the core of this novel - that of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the nineteenth-century Princess Charlotte. As Diana prepares for her wedding in 1981, she takes an interested in the story of Princess Charlotte, the daughter of the Prince Regent in the early 1800s who died young. The novel switches between the tale of Diana and that of Charlotte, building on themes of love, marriage, and the struggles of royal life across the centuries. A compelling read, although I'll admit to being partial to the parts focused on Charlotte.

[lorikboyd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I, like most, am fascinated with the story of Princess Diana, so I grabbed this book. The picture alone led me to believe this would be more about Diana and her becoming Royal, the write up seemed to favor this also. Unfortunately, most of this this book fell flat to me…the saving grace was the story of Princess Charlotte. For me, I found the character of Diana very one dimensional; shallow, immature, self centered and most of all troubled. What was written here was the same as we’ve all seen, but did not put Diana in a favorable or likable light. Yet, I felt so sorry for this young woman portrayed - left alone with no one to talk to, brought into a world that she was not equipped to handle, taken away from her friends, the loss of her privacy. Conflicting emotions most definitely. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of little known (at least to me) Princess Charlotte. A princess whose life has so many parallels to Diana. She comes across as more likable, more real, dealing with her problems head on and finally taking control of her life. Their endings are similar, tragic. Both had one dream fulfilled and one out of reach. The writing was well done…drawing me in immediately. I just felt like it could have been marketed differently…especially the cover. Thanks to Harper 360 and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

[micareads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the months before Lady Diana Spencer marries Prince Charles, she is given an apartment of her own to keep her from the constant onslaught of the media. While Diana had the thought that this would bring her and Charles closer, she finds that is not the case when his constant engagements keep him very busy. As a future Princess, Diana was required to learn about those royals who came before her, and she becomes interested in the list of Princess Charlotte of Wales…another Princess most beloved by her subjects.

Princess Charlotte was an only child of the Prince Regent and the wife he loathes. Moreover, neither parent truly cares for Charlotte and she is given her own household at a young age with her own staff who she loves like family. As Charlotte becomes of age, her father begins to push her towards a marriage of alliance as opposed to the love match she would have preferred. When she turns down her first arrangement, she is kept away from the public as punishment. At some point, she understands that the man she loves is unwilling to marry her and she must move forward. She finds someone willing to marry her and ends up having a short but wonderful life with him.

I have always been fascinated by Princess Diana and what her life as a Princess was like. In reading this dual timeline, I saw many similarities between Diana and Charlotte and the way the media and other family members treated them and saw them as nothing more than frivolous women. Knowing how important fashion was to Diana, it was fun to be able to google the specific event mentioned and have a complete understanding of what she was wearing. There are also various pictures of Charlotte online, specifically an artists' rendition of her wedding dress which was opulent by standards of the day. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading Harding's backlist.

[cats57_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I started reading this book with a bit of trepidation but soon found myself engrossed in the lives of Diana Spencer, a Princess that was never Queen, and Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817), the Lost Queen. We have a book split into equal parts, one showing Diana's relationship with Charles during their engagement and leading up to and including their marriage. The other half of the book deals with the life of Princess Charlotte of Wales, following her engagements and subsequently her marriage and untimely death.Do you see a parallel here? Two Princesses destined to be Queen, two Princesses losing their lives tragically and before their time. Two princesses, one that had a horrid life and one whose life was so-so. I truly don't know enough about Diana to make any assumptions about her childhood.This book ensnared me and kept me reading until done. The author had a wonderful way of juxtaposing these two lives and making them come to life.I urge you to read the writer's notes at the back of the book. I did, and I find that I am curious enough to read more about these two Royals. *ARC provided by the publisher HarperCollins Publishers Limited, ATTL/EDELWEISS, and the author.

[nicx27 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a royalist and a lover of fact-based fiction, The People's Princess was a must-read for me. I really enjoyed this dual timeline story of two Princesses of Wales, one born to the role and the other marrying into it.The one we all know about is Diana and this book covers the period between her engagement and her wedding day when she was full of excitement to be marrying her prince whilst battling with a sense that her fairytale was not all it was cracked up to be. We all know how it turned out and Flora Harding portrays Diana's vulnerability, nerves and innocence very well, weaving together known facts with fictionalised thoughts and conversations.The other Princess of Wales is Charlotte, daughter of George IV and granddaughter of George III, and as such, she was to be queen one day. Her story begins in 1813 when she is 17 and a suitable diplomatic marriage with a foreign prince is sought for her. She's feisty and knows her own mind and wants to marry for love, not duty. I thought she was such a fascinating and wonderful person and I was pleased at how things turned out for her although, like Diana, her life was not destined to be long and happy.To link the two narratives, Harding has Diana read Charlotte's diary and she's able to see some parallels between their situations. Charlotte was immensely popular with the public and Diana was already experiencing some of the hysteria that was to surround her life so completely.I thought this was a splendid read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved reading about the princesses, both the familiar and the unfamiliar (to me). I finished it one night in bed and when I woke the next morning I found I was thinking about the characters and felt sad that I had come to the end of their stories.Fans of the royals, historical fiction, dual timelines, and fiction based on real people and events will love this one, just as I did. I'm going to read Harding's first royal novel, Before the Crown, and I hope there will be more similar books in the future too.