I loved the premise of this book and was so excited to see a historical fiction that wasn't about WWII. However, I could not get into this book. I wanted to love it, but it just didn't hold my interest and I wasn't able to finish it . Maybe this one just wasn't for me. Therefor I won't be giving it a rating. Thank you for the chance to read this ARC.

This book is completely out of my comfort zone. A book about Princess Charlotte from around 1810ish and then fast forward to Princess Dianna in 1980.

A book that combines fact and fiction that kept me entertained throughout.

Many thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, One More Chapter for this advanced readers copy. This book is scheduled for release on March 31, 2022.

Our readers are avid royal-watchers so I was happy to include this buzzy book in March’s edition of Novel Encounters, my regular column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for Zoomer. (at link)

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4

When I saw this book cover I knew I HAD to read it. I love Princess Diana and even visited her ancestral home Althorp, where she is laid to rest on the lake oval. I saw her wedding dress up close while on display there in 1999. Like millions of others, I watched her wedding to Prince Charles, getting up at 5am in 1981, doing the same for her funeral in 1997. Many books, movies and documentaries later, it's easier to view this marriage without a jaundiced eye for what it was...a disaster! However, it still doesn't wash away the love I have for her- faults and all. She just was a work in progress whose life was extinguished too soon.

Honestly, I was highly disappointed that this wasn't strictly a historical fiction book about Princess Diana. It actually has a dual narrative with many more chapters about Charlotte, Princess of Wales. This tragic royal figure would have become Queen of England- and not Victoria- had she not died from complications of childbirth. The book begins with Lady Diana being housed at Buckingham Palace after the engagement announcement to Prince Charles. It was a false narrative that she was living with the Queen Mother at the adjacent Clarence House, because the public might have thought it inappropriate that they were living in the same place while unmarried. How prudish and ridiculous this seems today! Buckingham Palace has hundreds of rooms! While Lady Diana wistfully wanders the many halls at BP, she is intrigued by a painting of Charlotte, Princess of Wales. She asks Prince Charles about her, and he directs Diana to an expert on the subject. Diana is given a manuscript of Princess Charlotte's diary which accounts her difficult upbringing with parents who despised each other, and her drama deciding whom she would marry. The parallel storyline is meant to demonstrate the similarities of problems that both Princess of Waleses experienced. However, while there were multiple consecutive chapters involving Charlotte, there were less dedicated to Lady Diana. I found this frustrating and towards the beginning of the book I was tempted to stop reading. But, since I recently watched a series about Queen Victoria and wanted to understand better the unlikely circumstances which led to her ascending England's throne at 18, I read on.

Lady Diana brings Charlotte's diary with her everywhere she goes in the run up to her wedding, finding it just as interesting as the Barbara Cartland romance novels she loves to read. She gleans some inspiration from it: a shared suffering in areas like zealous press interest, clashing with parents, and the uncertainty whether to marry.

The book is frank regarding the reason for Diana's bulimia, distrust and jealously towards Prince Charles' former girlfriends (who were still treasured "friends"), and her inability to understand the duties of a royal- which must take precedence over Diana's clingy needs. The novel ends at the conclusion of Diana and Charles' wedding day, where she sincerely hopes her marriage exceeds her expectations like Princess Charlotte's had.

Although I was resentful at the beginning that the book wasn't full bore about Lady Diana, the tragic and emotional story of the "almost" Queen Charlotte eventually drew me in. It helped to fill in some crucial missing areas in my British royal history knowledge to understand how England got to experience the Victorian Era instead of a Charlottian Era. The author's rendering of the character of Lady Diana was spot on. When I decided to read this book, I had no idea that the author was Flora Harding who wrote the exquisite Before the Crown, a book I rated 5 Stars. I didn't enjoy this book quite as much due to the content, but no doubt this was a quality read.

Thank you to the publisher HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley

The Peoples Princess by Flora Harding


This is the first time I've read a book by Flora Harding. I have to say that I can't wait to read more.

The author wrote a intriguing book and what caught my attention was the title of the book. Every one knows who the people princess is. I remember watching the wedding on t.v. I loved that the book talks about Diana and how her life as a princess began. Her life was also reflected in the life of another princess. Charlotte Princess of Wales in the 1800, has the same struggles with the struggles ,as everyone whom comes from or weds into the Royal family. One thing I noticed is being a royal isn't a easy task and is it really worth it in the end.

The book is worth a rating of 5 out of 5

I will gladly recommend this book to others



I received this complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley for a honest review. All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.

The People’s Princess is definitely geared towards fans of the Netflix’s The Crown or PBS Masterpiece’s Victoria. What you have is two different timelines: the months leading up to the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981, and the early 1800’s with the story of Princess Charlotte, King George III’s granddaughter and the first “people’s princess.”

Lady Diana Spencer is having a hard time adjusting to life in the palace before the wedding. Charles is often engaged and she doesn’t want to do any of the prep that one should do before becoming a royal princess, like learning the royal family’s family tree. That is, until she sees a portrait in the halls of Buckingham Palace of a young lady. It turns out to be Princess Charlotte, granddaughter of George III and in the line of succession to be Queen of England. Diana’s intrigued, and a staffer gives her a diary of Charlotte’s to read.

Diana’s story is told in the third person and doesn’t cover any new ground for those that have read about Diana’s isolation and hard time adjusting to life living in a bubble. She reads about Princess Charlotte, whose father kept her hidden most of the time, refusing to let her attend balls and the like. As Prince Regent, he’s highly unpopular, but the same can’t be said for Charlotte, whom the public adores whenever they get a fleeting glimpse of her.

The majority of the book concentrates on Charlotte’s “diary” and her insubordination to her father, who wants her to arrange her marriage for his advantage in the ruling of Europe. Back then, it was all about alliances by marrying off your children. But Charlotte wants none of it and refuses to marry the man her father picked. He’s in a rage, so she runs to her mother’s household since her parents loathe one another and live separately. It’s decided that Charlotte will live elsewhere while she considers whom she should marry.

Charlotte is young and impulsive, and after two brief romances, she think she’s found the one in Leopold. It’s true, she doesn’t love him, but she certainly likes him. Eventually their relationship grows and they develop true love with each other, so you expect a happy ending. That is, unless you know British history and know that there was no Queen Charlotte. Alas, she dies young after childbirth, leaving Diana to wonder what sort of queen she would have made.

Overall, this quick read satisfied my royal fix; I’ve enjoyed Flora Harding’s works before and can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Lady Diana has just got engaged to Charles and moves to Buckingham Palace to prepare for their wedding. But Diana is lonely in the big palace. She comes across a portrait of an earlier princess of Wales, Charlotte. When she gets her hands on her secret diary, she soon discovers Charlotte's life and passions might be more familiar to Diana than she thought.

I was very hesitant to read this book because Diana is hard to call history and we all have memories of her. But Harding created such a beautiful image of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (I read it when both were still alive) in 'Before the crown' that I decided to give 'The people's princess' a start.

Diana feels very human in this story. It takes place in the weeks before her famous wedding in St Paul's Cathedral. You feel her struggling with the distant Charles, the unreadable queen, the press and her eating disorder. One day, she gets hold of the diary of another princess of Wales, beloved by the people. And so we read the story of Charlotte in the 19th century.

Charlotte was the only child of George IV and thus heir to the throne. Her parents were unhappily married and lived apart. Charlotte was trapped in golden cage yearning for passion with only her loyal staff for company. Her only chance at freedom was to get married but she didn't agree with the proposed match of her parents. Yearning for love and freedom, Charlotte tells her story in her diary.

The fact that the author chose to tell Charlotte's story via a diary didn't feel credible in my opinion. Many scenes weren't written in diary form, so it felt a bit artificial done to weave Diana's chapters with Charlotte's. But ignoring the diary part, the story of Charlotte herself is interesting and well portrayed. The parallels between the two princesses are nicely highlighted in this novel.

But it doesn't cut deep enough and sometimes felt inauthentic. Harding does write smoothly but the book unfortunately did not get under my skin. Of her two novels, I preferred 'Before the crown'.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. Fictional Royal families are either ridiculously cliched or wonderful in my opinion. This novel falls into the latter. A lovely book to unwind with in the evening. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to NG and the publishers for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! I love Princess Diana and Royal Family History! This beautiful HF novel is perfect for fans of The Crown! This book was so well written I forgot this was fiction! Highly recommend!

The author Flora Harding has taken the universally known story of Princess Diana and added a clever twist by introducing us to the life story of Princess Charlotte. The two different timelines create an interesting storyline, although I did find it frustrating at times when the story changed between the two Princesses (just as one story was getting interesting, the timeline changed,whichI felt that this interrupted the flow of the book). Overall, I found Princess Charlotte’s story far more engaging, perhaps because Diana’s story has been written so many times. There was also a little too much focus on Diana’s bulimia, which was obviously part of her sad story but not the only factor. I would definitely recommend this book as it is so well written.

Diana's voice in this book seemed very spot on. The peek behind the scenes of the palace was interesting, even though this is a fictional story. I think if you're a royal family fan and loved watching The Crown, you would enjoy this one.

Diana stumbles upon a diary written in the 1800s by Princess Charlotte. The two princesses though living decades apart experienced many of the same feelings and even experiences of royal life. While I was already familiar with Princess Diana, I had not heard of Princess Charlotte prior to reading this book and it provided a very interesting and emotional glimpse into both woman’s experiences. A great read.

Well, what can I say? I will never be tired of reading about Princess Diana, and this book was throughly enjoyable. I liked Diana's chapters as well as Princess Charlotte's. Though I must admit that Diana's chapters were my favorite. Diana's 'voice' was very spot on, and you felt for her all throughout the book.

I am quite the fan of Flora Harding's books. I loved "Before the Crown", and found this novel just as fascinating. Not so much the Diana side of the story, which we all know intimately, but the Princess Charlotte story was wonderful. I knew nothing about Princess Charlotte and to learn about her sad, solitary life up until marrying Leo and finding the love she so desperately sought was great. And the similarities to Princess Diana's life were uncanny at the least. It really made for a interesting story. My interest was captured and held solely due to Princess Charlotte's life, I was completely enthralled with her story, awed by her compassion and kindness she genuinely felt for the English people, much like Princess Diana herself. They both were truly People Princesses.
Any fan of "The Crown, or of reading about the royals in general will love this book, I highly recommend it. It is deeply researched, and is a compelling, fast read. You won't be disappointed.
Thank you to the publishers at Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. If you are interested in the Royal Family, The Crown, or are obsessed with Princess Diana like I am, you need to read this book! I absolutely LOVED this book!

I loved this book, I knew nothing about Princess Charlotte but, as most people I knew quite a lot about Princess Diana. The television series The Crown showed a lot of what was in the book so, I wasn’t surprised by what I read. This was such a good dual time-line story based in fact. Some of it was very tragic and the. Some of it my me smile. A perfect read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Thankyou for giving me the chance to read this book in advance. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Would highly recommend.

Interesting historical fiction with the back and forth between Diana and Charlotte. Overall pretty good read. Reads very quickly as well.

The Peoples Princess is a very enjoyable historical fiction book .It is about Princess Diana and Princess Charlotte a little known Royal who was Queen in Waiting in the early 1800's.It was interesting to know that if she had survived Victoria would never have been crowned Queen and history would have been changed forever .I had not heard of Princess Charlotte but the comparisons with Diana were striking, both young and caring and loved by an adoring Public but led tragic lives .Told between two time lines leading up to Diana's Marriage to Charles I think this is a really very interesting story which is also very sad .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC .

Do you remember where you were when Princess Diana died?

Being British, I’m an avid royal watcher and supporter. I remember exactly where I was when I found out about Diana’s death.

The author of Before The Crown brings readers a new royal delight, The People’s Princess. Told in a dual timeline, fluctuating between 1813 and 1981, she compares the original people’s princess, the Georgian Princess Charlotte of Wales to her modern royal, Princess Diana.

Both princesses had remarkably parallel lives. Charlotte was the daughter of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick and her unhappy childhood mirrors Diana’s. Charlotte’s parents' marriage was one of convenience and they separated almost immediately. Charlotte’s birth drove a wedge between them and they fought constantly. Likewise, Diana’s parents had a tumultuous divorce and their fighting made Diana unhappy. Both women were insecure, lacked control over their lives and sought attention from wherever they could find it. Neither princess fit into the typical princess image and garnered excessive attention in public. Both princesses represented a brighter future for the monarchy at the time. Finally, both princesses had untimely deaths and public outcry and mourning followed.

I loved how Harding introduced Princess Diana to Princess Charlotte! Although I did enjoy reading the Regency timeline and did read it slower to absorb the knowledge presented, I thought that the author breathed more life into Princess Diana’s timeline. I know there are a variety of reasons for this, but I was more emotionally invested in the modern timeline. My heart ached when I thought about what the world missed by having these two women’s lives cut short. Harding truly honoured their short, yet influential lives, in her latest historical fiction.

I was gifted this advance copy by Flora Harding, Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.