The People’s Princess

I enjoy reading and watching anything pertaining to the royal family. I previously read Before the Crown by Flora Harding and really enjoyed it
I was delighted to receive a copy of The People's Princess. I enjoyed this story just as much and enjoyed Charlotte's story as well. I have not read much about her but now I am interested to learn more. Great read!

As a fan of all things royal, I thought this was a great book. I love when I get to read a great book and learn some history with it. This book is a dual story book that takes you through the engagement of Princess Diana and the mirroring life of Princess Charlotte, the original "people's" princess. The story of Diana is sad, as I remember some of the footage from my childhood and we also have so much documentation of her life to pull from. I had no prior knowledge of Princess Charlotte. Her life was also sad and bleak. My heart ached for her to not feel love from either parent. I was so proud of her to stand up for herself and find the love that she wanted, even for a short time. This was really an interesting book to read. Well written, the fiction conversation was most believable. I truly enjoyed. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to preview this book for my honest opinion.

absolutely a fantastic book, not only because it tells the story of the engagement of Diana, who I have always loved, but the story of Princess Charlotte, whom I knew nothing about. I loved the way the author incorporated her into the story and compared their two lives.

An enjoyable book that is full of history, both modern and Regency. I recommend this to anyone who loves the Royal Family

Two princesses, centuries apart but so alike in some ways. The author does a fabulous job writing this well researched novel based on history. I loved learning about Princess Charlotte through her 'journal.' Having Princess Diana read the diary as she prepared for her marriage felt very real. The parallel stories of the two princesses showed the struggles both had to find love. Both were dearly loved by the people. Highly recommended!

I always enjoy Harding’s historical fiction. The People’s Princess is about two extraordinary popular Princesses:Charlotte and Diana, almost 200 years apart. I think the author does a good job in giving voice to both women. It was fun to go back to 1981 and relive all the pomp and pageantry and angst leading up to the royal wedding. Charolotte’s story is poignant as she searched for love, never having had it in her own family.
Although I knew how both stories would end, it was still fanciful reading about them.
I remember well watching the dress on tv and thinking how lovely it was, now over 42 years later I think it’s ghastly and all wrong— sort of like their marriage.

Thanks to Harper 360 & NetGalley for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

Couldn't resist the cover and the concept - a dual timeline of two real life British princesses who lived over 150 years apart, yet with surprising similarities of feeling voiceless and powerless. In 1981 Diana, the soon-to-be Princess of Wales, is having butterflies in the last days of her engagement to Prince Charles. While living in the palace to give her security and privacy from the media, she discovers a portrait of Princess Charlotte, Princess of Wales. How fortunate that this fun-loving princess who lived in the 1840s left a diary that the palace historian shares with Diana.

Diana becomes engrossed in Charlotte's story of having to marry or risk being banished by her royal father. She develops a rapport with the Regency-era young woman while reading the diary. The novel alternates the diary chapters with Diana's chapters describing her hopes and fears of the wedding and of her relationship with Charles.

Charlotte's story provided much detail of the culture as well as lifestyles of the Regency era from a royal point of view. She was a likeable though self-centered young woman who wrote about her romantic crushes, as well as the relationships she had with her parents, her servants, and her relatives. The description of sea bathing in the ocean was fascinating, as were other societal conventions of the day. I had to keep reminding myself that while Charlotte was a real person, the diary was the author's fabrication. This was in contrast to the experiences of Diana, which were authentic if only glimpses of the 1981 behind-the-scenes life in the palace, the tensions in Diana’s relationship with the royal family during the engagement, and the wedding itself.

Author Flora Harding certainly provided a well-researched book. At first I was disappointed that there wasn't more about Diana, but then realized in the interest of keeping it real Harding shared all that she had learned from her research, without resorting to gossip. Now it's time for me to read Diana's biography "Diana: Her True Story - In Her Own Words".

If you're a "Royal" fan this will be a must read, but a poignant one, as it is just the beginning of this period in Diana's life, and we all know how sadly it ended.

fictional account of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. Diana finds a diary written by Princess charlottee. very interesting read.

I love all things royal and have always been fascinated with Princess Diana, so when I got this book from Netgalley, I was excited to read it. The People’s Princess by Flora Harding tells the story of Princess Diana & her netting times up to her wedding to Charles. Diana is restless and can’t wait to be with Charles. But for now she is separated from her friends and public life. She feels locked away and she barely sees Charles. While in Buckingham Palace, Diana finds herself bored to tears. She has to many hours to think about things that make her doubt her upcoming wedding. What I loved about this story is that Diana finds the diary of Princess
Charlotte of Wales. Diana finds herself reading this and ring comfort in it. There lives are different but their dreams are similar. I liked how the author went back and forth to both eras. I enjoyed the writing and was pleasantly surprised about the direction it took. This was a four star read for me. I am glad iI was given an advanced copy to read & review. It was my pleasure.

The People’s Princess was a fascinating story about two princesses. While I love anything about the royal family and Princess Diana, I very much enjoyed learning more about Princess Charlotte from the 1800’s. The author did a terrific job of telling the stories of both royal women and showing the parallels between their two lives. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book!

Thanks to Harper 360, I was provided an ARC of The People’s Princess by Flora Harding via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Harper

****Publishing May 17, 2022****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Historical Fiction book that explores Princess Diana’s life starting with her engagement to Prince Charles and ending with her wedding day! Diana becomes interested in learning more about Princess Charlotte by seeing her portrait at Buckingham Palace, so she asks Prince Charles about her. He tells her what he knows, but has a historian tell her more. The historian gives her Princess Charlotte’s Diary to read. This book alternates between Princess Diana’s life and Princess Charlotte’s Diary. In this book, Princess Diana points out similarities of her life to Princess Charlotte.

Clearly a well researched book! I loved how this author chose to write about two Princess’s who lived in different Era’s, but their lives had many parallels.

Perfect book for those who love to read about the Royals or are fans of TV series,The Crown.

Flora Harding has written a wonderful work of fiction depicting Diana’s engagement to Prince Charles. Diana thinks she’s gotten her fairytale romance and will soon become a member of the royal family. Diana finds that being a royal is not as wonderful as she thought.

Diana comes across Princess Charolette’s picture in one of the many palace holidays and is struck by the woman and wants to know more. As she starts to read Princess Charolette’s diary, she finds several parallels to her own life and feelings of being part of the aristocracy.

I truly enjoy this read.

Thank you to #netgalley and #harper360/onelastchapter, for the opportunity to read this eARC. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Many readers enjoy books centering around the royal family especially Princess Diana. The People's Princess by Flora Harding, is historical fiction with a striking cover that drew me in to the book. It is currently on the top ten best-selling list in Canada. The novel is available in the U.S. on May 17th.

Lady Diana Spencer, is engaged to Prince Charles. She is preparing for her wedding when she comes across a personal journal written in the 1800s by beautiful "Princess Charlotte of Wales". Diana finds this journal intriguing and begins to unravel similarities between Princess Charlotte's life and her own.

Flora Harding presents a very well researched story about Princess Charlotte and the parallel between the two women. Readers are given a heartfelt look back at Diana's painful relationship with Charles before becoming a member of the royal family. The People's Princess is a worthy read for historical fiction lovers. (3.5 bumped up to 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Thank you NetGalley and Harper 360, for this look back into Diana's life. I appreciate the opportunity to learn about Princess Charlotte. She is a genuinely interesting character and added a whole new dimension to the plot.

The People's Princess is the story of two princesses never to become queen. The stories of Princess Charlotte in the 1800's and Diana in the 1980's.

When Diana Spencer grew up she always believed she was destined for something greater. She meets Prince Charles and she is smitten by him. All she wants is to marry Prince Charles and be happy. The road to happiness for Diana as we all know. was for her, the love she had for her children.

Diana finds learning what it takes to be a princess not as exciting as she believes. There is so much history and many rules to learn, certainly not fun at all. Diana spies a photo of a young woman on the wall in the palace and asks who she is. Prince Charles introduces her to a librarian that gives her a journal of Princess Charlotte of Wales in the 1800's. The Princess that was never queen. As Diana reads the journal she is surprised to find how much their lives are similar, as she waits to marry Prince Charles.

The chapters alternate from Charlotte to Diana in an interesting and fascinating fashion. There is so much that we have read about Diana and her time before the marriage that we can easily see that happening. Diana's and Charles' story has played out for all the public to see, so there was no real reason to rehash any of it. But this was a sweet story of two women with such high hopes of being in love and becoming the Queen one day.

Though she initially thought her fairytale had come true, Lady Diana now finds herself alone and scared waiting for the day she will walk down the aisle to become the next Princess of Wales. She had no idea that becoming a Royal would be like this, nor did she anticipate all the unwanted attention. Isolated and vulnerable, Diana finds solace in the pages of a journal once owned by another Princess of Wales. Will Princess Charlotte find love? Better yet, are there answers in Charlotte's journal that can help Diana hold on to hers? ⁠

Well, this was delightful! I thoroughly enjoyed this little escape into the British monarchy and definitely recommend it to any and all lovers of Princess Diana and British history. I could see it being triggering for anyone dealing with or recovering from an eating disorder, so please be aware before diving in. The author's portrayal of Diana felt authentic and well-researched. The fantasy/fiction element didn't feel forced, adding to the drama of Diana and Charles' story. The highlight of the book is most definitely the story of Princess Charlotte and her journey to find love. Every time the book flashed forward to Diana's timeline I felt eager for the next flash back to Charlotte, which is a good sign IMO. Overall, this was a great read for those interested in Diana and the history of the British monarchy.

This really tugs at your heart with the loneliness Princess Diana felt all throughout her life with Charles. I liked how we got to learn about Princess Charlotte who is new to me and how Diana relates so much to her.

I am a fan of all things royal and have always been fascinated by Princess Diana. When I read the blurb, I knew this was one that I needed to read. In the weeks leading up to her wedding to Prince Charles, Lady Diana is given the journal of Charlotte, Princess of Wales. I am a huge historical fiction reader and had never read anything about Princess Charlotte short life. After devouring this book, I had to Google Princess Charlotte to find out more about her life. I highly recommend this book to all historical fiction fans!

I was initially drawn to this book because after watching The Crown I have been more interested in the life of Princess Diana. This book alternates between two different timelines: the present (Diana) and the past (Charlotte). At first I was a little disappointed that it was not solely focused on Diana’s life but as the story progressed
I was equally invested in Charlotte’s. This story portrays the life of royals and the expectations placed on them by their family, subjects, and themselves. I really enjoyed this book and felt like the author did a fantastic job capturing the lives of both these women.

See Instagram post below for staged photo and full review

I went into this book thinking it would be a historical fiction book centered around Princess Diana. While it did have parts loosely based on the time leading up to Diana's wedding to Prince Charles, most of this book focuses on a diary that Diana discovers that tells the story of Charlotte, Princess of Wales, from the 1800's. Diana realized the parallels between Charlotte's life and her own as she is trying to handle her betrothal to Charles. I found the Charlotte's storyline more interesting than Diana's (as most of the her storyline is pretty basic knowledge to anyone who's a fan of the British Royal family), and Charlotte's story was a new one to me. Even after finishing this book a few days ago, I'm still pulled to want to know more about Princess Charlotte.

Diana Spencer has recently become engaged to Charles, the Prince of Wales. She dreams that her happily ever after is about to begin. However, her days as Charles’s future wife is not like she imagined it would be. Diana finds herself lonely and rarely spends time with Charles. One day, she sees a portrait of Charlotte, the Princess of Wales. She becomes curious about this princess and discovers her diary. This story tells the tale of both princesses who were trying to find their own happiness.

Charlotte was the daughter of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick. She was the Princess of Wales and in line to inherit the crown of England. Sadly, she died in childbirth before she could become queen. In this historical novel, Charlotte is a very fascinating woman. Her parents are trapped in a loveless marriage and often neglect her. Charlotte is a passionate woman and yearns to find love. She is also rebellious at times to pursue her own happiness. When she enters into a loveless betrothal, she fights against her father to break it. Charlotte also has to deal with the pressure. Charlotte is also in love with a man that does not return her affections. She gives him up and marries another. While she does not love her husband initially, she grows to love him. Charlotte is a tragic figure, and I could not help but wonder what England might have been like had Charlotte survived childbirth and became the Queen of England.

Everyone knows the story of Diana, whose life was a fairytale that had gone wrong. While her story is not surprising and not as fascinating as Charlotte, Diana’s storyline is still very compelling. Diana is portrayed as a sympathetic character. She thought she would have a fairytale romance and live happily. However, she often finds herself alone while Charles is often in the company of Camilla. She often wonders if Charles is truly in love with her. Diana also struggles with the press and bulimia. She wonders if she can be the princess that Charles is proud of. She is intrigued by Charlotte because she finds many parallels with her life. Even though she doesn’t believe Charles loves her, she is willing to marry because Charlotte didn’t love her husband initially, but their affection for each other grew after marriage. Diana believes that while she and Charles are not passionately in love then they can grow to love each other in time. With this reason, Diana is hopeful that her marriage can bring her happiness. Because readers know how her marriage ultimately failed, we sympathize with her and know she is making the biggest mistake of her life. Therefore, Diana is just as tragic as Charlotte.

Overall, this novel is about happiness, decisions, and duty. The novel tells about two tragic princesses who were beloved by the public. All of the characters were very complex. There were some parts of the novel, especially Diana’s story that were repetitive. Nevertheless, the novel is very well-written and meticulously researched. The People’s Princess is a very tragic, heartbreaking, and moving novel. This novel will linger with the reader long after they have read the last page. The reader cannot help but wonder what would have happened to Charlotte and Diana had certain events and decisions happened differently. The People’s Princess is definitely a must read for fans of the British royals! I recommend this for fans of The Other Windsor Girl, The Duchess, and The Queen’s Secret!

What an interesting read! I can not tell you how many times I stopped just to Google more on a name or event. The intimate storytelling was a refreshing POV that came as if I was talking to a good friend and not reading about past events. Flora Harding really made Diana and Charlotte come back to life in a brief moment and I appreciate that.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review.

I initially wanted to read this novel because of my affection, admiration, and sympathy for Princess Diana. But I ended up becoming just as fascinated by the story of Charlotte, a Regency Princess of Wales I knew nothing about.

Diana and Charlotte were both beloved princesses who shared high hopes for their lives and a strong feeling of being destined to help their people. Each faced tragedy. And, although she never knew it, Diana has a granddaughter named Charlotte.

While I had expected a story about Princess Diana, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself immersed in a story about Princess Charlotte of Wales as well, whom I knew little about.

Much of the story is drawn on comparisons of the original people’s princess to her modern day counterpart, and I found the parallel between Charlotte and Diana’s stories to be eerily similar and fascinating. Two favored princesses, yet neither would become Queen, it was interesting to ponder how very different the monarchy would be today, Charlotte become Queen.

A fascinating and enjoyable read about two remarkable young women

A hearty thank you the the publisher, Harper 360, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of The People’s Princess in exchange for my honest review. The opinion I have expressed are my own.