As Diana Spencer counts down the days until her wedding to Prince Charles, she relies on the diary of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the would be queen, to keep her nerves at bay. Regarded as the peoples princess, Charlottes generosity to her subjects and the love she found with her husband gives Diana hope that she too can make a difference with the people of Great Britain and find true love with Charles.

The story of Princess Diana and Charles is well known in this day and age. What this book taught me is about the life of Charlotte of Wales whom I knew absolutely nothing about. I turned to google a few times to learn more about her short life and when a book sends me on a hunt for more information, it’s a winner!

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK and Flora Harding for an early preview! The royal family is so intriguing!!

Diana was so much more than her eating disorder, and I tired of reading it in her chapters. It's probably a personal nuisance for me, as I was bulimic and don't want it to be a focus or a legacy.

This was an absolutely marvelous story! I'm so thankful to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel! I've always been fascinated by the English monarchy, and this Historical Novel has given me more individuals to look into!
The similarities that are drawn between Princess Diana and the late Princess Charlotte was phenomenal. The way the author went back and forth between the time periods was flawless, and the way she makes you feel you are a part of the past was unbelievable. I highly recommend this book and will be reading more by her.

I'd already read and loved Before the Crown by this author and so was looking forward to reading this. I wasn't disappointed. Flora Harding has a knack for drawing the reader in and keeping them enthralled. I will be looking out for her next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me an early look at this in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed this book, and honestly didn't want it to end.
It is a great story of two intriguing women living similar lives in different times. The story focus is on Princess Diana, and her life during her engagement leading to her wedding day. The story is based on fact, but much has been inferred by the author.. It is beautifully written, covering a multitude of emotions and situations. The sub story is that of Princess Charlotte, the Queen that wasn't. I absolutely loved the sub story and was as engrossed in her story as I was in Diana's.
Highly recommend this book, great read as always from this author.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review .

I really enjoyed this book. Flora Harding does a wonderful job getting the reader into the mind of two princesses, Diana and Charlotte. It was interesting to learn about Charlotte since I didn’t know much about her as her life was cut so short. The fact that she was phenomenally popular in her day was intriguing.

While I wasn’t as interested in Diana’s story, which focused quite a bit on her bulimia, the insider story of her engagement to Charles was interesting to revisit. The author made me feel her excitement, anxiety and anguish at the discovery her marriage-to-be didn’t look like it would be a fairy tale. I think this was a more difficult story to tell since so much has already been written about Princess Diana.

The story is very well told and Flora Harding handles both real-life characters deftly. I highly recommend this book to historical fiction fans and also those who enjoy reading about royalty.

I enjoyed "Before the Crown" by this author so I was excited to request this one from NetGalley. This one has two time periods. We see Diana when she was engaged to Charles leading up to the wedding and Princess Charlotte leading up to her death. The only thing I knew about Charlotte was that her death led to Queen Victoria. Diana is just such a sad situation because everyone knows Charles' love for Camilla. In their engagement interview, the interviewer says "and I suppose in love", Charles responds "whatever in love means." Cringe. And Diana is only 19. She was so young to be thrown into this. She had to live in the palace because of the paparazzi after the engagement was announced. So she had to have been very lonely. In this book Diana starts reading Princess Charlotte's diary since Charles is always off on obligations. Diana sees how lonely Charlotte was and she made it through so I think Diana was trying to pull from Charlotte's strength. The book ends with Diana and Charles' wedding day and we all know how that ended. Being alive through Princess Diana's troubles, I think I was more interested in Charlotte's chapters, but I knew how hers would end as well. Two people who died too young. I also want to say with regards to Charlotte, that is why you always have to have an heir and a spare. There was no spare so when Charlotte died there was no heir. Her uncles immediately had to marry and have a legitimate heir, and that is how Victoria was born. History can be so fascinating.

When Lady Diana Spencer reads an entry from the diary of Princess Charlotte she is intrigued by the similarities between them.
Told in dual timelines, the early 1800’s and the early 1980’s, the lives of these woman weave a history that is emotional and quite moving.
For Diana, stepping into Royal life has not been all that she dreamt it would be. Amidst the stuffiness and lessons she must learn within the palace walls, she is filled with insecurities and self-doubt. She has a yearning to be loved and accepted as Charles’s wife and in her role as Princess of Wales. As Diana reads on, she finds strength and comfort in Princess Charlottes life. Although they lived in different centuries, a kinship develops. She quickly learns that her feelings, struggles, desires and inner turmoil parallel Princess Charlottes and only then she finds comfort to face her journey.
Flora Harding does an excellent job of bringing vibrancy and color to the lives of these fascinating women. The emotions are real and identifiable and the connection established with the reader is immediate.
If you love the Royals, romance and historical fiction, this is a ‘must read’.
I highly recommend The People’s Princess and thank NetGalley, One More Chapter and Flora Harding for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.
Magnificent! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed Before the Crown by Flora Harding and this too was such a treat. Told in two timelines, 1981 and 1813, I enjoyed Princess Charlotte's timeline much more than Diana's, I think it was because I already knew the Diana story plus the recent rehashing of it on The Crown. What I appreciated the most was how similar these two women are even though they are nearly 170 years apart. Both had glitz, glamour and an adoring public, yet they both led tragic lives.

The writing in this book is beautiful, it makes you feel like you are part of the story and in the princess' heads and it just took me along for the ride. Even though the author herself admits this is purely fictional it comes across as completely authentic but does not read like a history book, that takes an incredible talent. Kudos to the author for doing so.

Just when we begin to believe "it's all been said," regarding Lady Di, a fascinating historical novel like this one appears. Diana's story, juxtaposed alongside that of Princess Charlotte, provides the grist of this plot.
In the novel, Diana discovers a diary, and this diary gives her hope that, somehow, her life will continue to parallel that of Princess Charlotte and that her fairytale will end happily. Flora Harding's novel is a jewel that deserves reading straight through to the end!

The People’s Princess is a historical fiction novel told in a dual timeline. It begins in 1981 as Lady Diana is preparing for her wedding to Prince Charles. She discovers a portrait of Princess Charlotte of Wales in the 1800s and is given a journal/diary of Princess Charlotte..
Lady Diana and Princess Charlotte were both looking for happiness, love and to do good for others.
This was an amazing novel . I loved every page and did not want it to end. Will definitely be searching for more books about Princess Diana
and Princess Charlotte and would recommend The People’s Princess to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
Thank you Harper Collins UK, Chapter One and Net Galley for the ARC and Flora Harding for writing this wonderful novel.
I loved it !

Thank you for the opportunity to review. As a loyal royalist, this hit the mark for me.

I liked the dual timeline and thought this was a clever take on mixing fact and fiction.
It made for really engaging and addictive reading.

Two princesses, different times, similar lives. In this fictional account, soon-to-be Princesss Diana finds a diary written by Princess Charlotte, daughter of the infamous Prince Regent. Unlike her profligate father, but just like Diana, Charlotte is a popular member of the royal family and is known for her kindness and common touch. Both find public attention rather overwhelming at times. A marriage has been arranged for Charlotte to a man she hardly knows. Both have doubts about their forthcoming weddings. If you can get past the unlikely scenario of Diana finding the diary at just the right time, it's a lovely story, full of warmth and hope.

Lady Diana Spencer has just become engaged to Charles, Prince of Wales. She moves into Buckingham Palace to prepare for the wedding. But her fairytale is not all it seems. Diana is lonely – Charles is busy and has little in common with his younger fiancé. He’s also still spending time with his former girlfriend, Camilla.

Diana takes an interest in the portrait of a young woman, Princess Charlotte of Wales, daughter of the Prince Regent. Reading her diary, she find she has much in common with the young woman looking for love.

Charlotte is a fantastic character. Caught between her warring parents, she is expected to marry well, and make a match that is good for the country. Charlotte is isolated, seldom allowed out in society and bored. Her only friends are her servants and her father is jealous of her popularity.

There are striking similaries between these two young women searching for happiness.

Both have little control over their lives and search for the things that they can influence. Charlotte finds herself looking for affectionate in the wrong places, with some unsuitable romances. Diana turns to fashion and her obsession with her appearance in the media escalates her eating disorder.

Marriage is a key theme of the novel. Charlotte marries for duty but finds true love and companionship with Prince Leopold. Diana soon realises that she and Charles are not a good match, but hopes that marriage will bring them closer.

Both women have tragic stories. While Charlotte’s play put to the end with her tragic death in childbirth, it’s hard not to read any fictional account of Diana without seeing hints of her own future.

The oppressive, behind the seen atmosphere of 1980s Buckingham Palace is subtly and respectfully recreated. This is not a sensationalist drama. Similarly, the details of Charlotte’s life, parties at Carlton House and the Royal Pavillion in Brighton add lots of historical atmosphere. Harding had an eye for describing fashion, something that bring joy to both Charlotte and Diana.

This is a well-written story of two fascinating young women that fans of The Crown will love.

Thank you to One More Chapter and Netgalley for the gifted advanced copy of The People’s Princess which out this spring

I haven't read the previous work of this author and so had no expectations. I was interested to read a story about Diana as I have lived through her times as Princess of Wales. However, I found it tedious to read. I much preferred the diary entries written by Princess Charlotte of whom I had no prior knowledge.. unlike other reviewers I was not confused by the timelines as the stories were so different. One came across as totally self centered and the other as stronger & more resilient, despite both having experienced difficult childhoods. Charlotte's story was a tragedy.
I do not think that I will be reading anything else about Diana or by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for providing me with this book for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this book and how it went between Princess Diana leading up to her wedding to Prince Charles and Princess Charlotte in the 1800’s. The way the story had Camilla on the sidelines back then and taking Charles’ attention from Diana and then Diana reading Charlotte’s diary which she found and then her reflecting on what Charlotte was going through at the time made for an interesting read. Whilst both of them were in very privileged positions neither of the were living the life that the essentially wanted, but the story of Princess Charlotte and how her life ended was unexpected as I didn’t know anything about her.

3,5/5. So i know some people would believe this is a biography about prince Diana but this is a work of fiction and it's not inspired on her life per say. I have to admit that the two timelines were a little bit confusing and they made my reading experience less enjoyable. However, the diary mystery and the princess of Wales kept me intrigued enough to read the whole book. i think the writing was good, but as i said before, the dual timelines didn't help the cause because they could be confusing at times. I think the characters were well written and I've enjoyed seeing something new about Diana, even if it's fiction. It's refreshing and something new.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own

3 stars for THE PEOPLE'S PRINCESS by Flora Harding, out March 31st, 2022.

This historical fiction novel has two POV's -- Charlotte, the queen of England that never was, and Princess Diana.

In the early 1800s, Charlotte was the heir to the throne as her parents' only child. As her time for the throne gets closer, the pressure for her to get married mounts. We follow Charlotte along as she navigates this challenge and through a tragedy, never gets to be Queen. In fact, it got pushed to another line in the family tree that gave us the Royal Family the UK has today. Princess Diana has gotten what she always has wanted -- to marry Charles and to be royal. But she soon realizes, it's not all it's cracked up to be and cracks begin to form.

When I saw that this novel featured Princess Diana, I knew I had to request it. I had also read and enjoyed Flora Harding's previous work, BEFORE THE CROWN. This novel unfortunately didn't exceed my expectations. It was somewhat interesting to learn about Charlotte's story as I didn't even know she existed before reading this novel but most of the time, I just didn't feel invested in her story. Her POV took up the majority of the book so it weighed the novel down for me. I was always relieved when I came across a Princess Diana chapter. I'd love a novel that centered more on her, but I did think it was unique to bring Charlotte into the story.

I look forward to sharing this title with our community, as they love royal plotlines and may use it as a monthly pick for our community's book club.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers UK for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book covers Princess Diana's time from becoming engaged to being married. Being lonely and cooped up in Buckingham palace she starts to read the diaries of another Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte.
Princess Charlotte was being forced into a marriage she didn't want and she rebelled against it. Her father more or less imprisoned her in a palace until she found a husband.
I found this to be such a tragic story. This poor girl was surrounded by people who didn't care about her and only her servants loved her.
The story of Diana I have read many times before . If you are going to write about Diana then something has to be new about it, nothing new here. It's like a repeat of TheCrown TV series.
The story of Charlotte saved this book for me or I would have given up reading it.
If you don't know much about Diana and you're interested you will enjoy this book. I'm glad I read it for the story of Charlotte whom I knew nothing about.

Not only was this book a great read, I was totally fascinated with it. Yes, having watched "The Crown" and read and watched many documentaries about Diana and Charles, this novel was so much more than that. Bringing Princess Charlotte of Wales into the story made even more interesting. A well written novel thanks to Ms. Harding and one I would totally recommend. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.