This book focuses on the different women throughout history who were given the title of Princess Royal by the British royal family. It gives you peeks into the far past as well as insight into the modern royal family.

If you’re intrigued by history, especially British or royal family history, I’d recommend this book! I learned so much that I didn’t previously know and enjoyed this telling of these stories.

The Princess Royals tells is a compilation of British princesses who were given the title of The Princess Royal. I found many of these women to be very fascinating. I also like how the book explains what the Princess Royal title is and the duties of the role. Therefore, this was a fascinating and comprehensive biography. I recommend this for fans of the Royals!

Detailed, engaging and fun. This book is very interesting and well written. The sections on princess Anne are particularly good.

This historical novel tells the story of many princesses and the creation of the role "Princess Royal". The author Helen Cathcart, is extremely knowledgable and this book is heavily researched and thoroughly written. With each consecutive princess Cathcart is able to give more detailed information about their life and role in history, culminating with close to half of the book focused on Princess Anne. There were many interesting facts and details sprinkled throughout the story and there is so much to learn about Princess Anne. I appreciate the detail about not only each Princess Royal and the approximate coining of the term, but also with the family members and historical information of the time. As with any work of history, at times things can get a bit bogged down by too much information and I definitely felt that at times with this story. That being said, the purpose for reading a book in the history genre is sometimes not for pleasure as it is with historical fiction. For someone wanting to research or learn about this role in the monarchy, Princess Anne, or other Princess Royals through time, I feel this is the perfect book for you. There would be more than enough information for a history paper or for someone who is really just wanting to know more. For myself, reading this for pleasure, I at times felt a bit bored by the amount of information. Thank you so much Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

This was an enlightening read which i loved so much. As a history student it was fun knowing more about the title of the princess royal over time and how it came to be.
Definitely a must read.

A very interesting look at the history of the title- Princess Royal and the women who have held it. I was not aware of this title prior to reading the book so I found it very interesting and I always love an opportunity to read about Princess Anne and her position within the royal family. She is often overlooked in favor of her more flashy or tabloid fodder relatives.

To understand what it is to be a Princess Royal, the ‘doyenne of royal biographers’ Helen Cathcart skilfully portrays the lives of the foremost royal daughters from the days when princesses were ‘ladyes’ and the King’s eldest son was styled Prince Royal, through to our present Princess Royal.
Definitely a book to read. I was pulled into the book and it did not let go

Very interesting and detailed biography, a lot of I formation that I had never heard about Princess Ann, written in a very engaging way, very enjoyable

This book offer insight into the lesser known Princess Royals and the origin of the title. I thought the history side was stronger than the parts on the current Princess Royal, Princess Anne. The book is definitely dated and ended in the 1980's.

A fascinating look at the history of British princesses throughout the ages, and how each one explored the inherited destiny she lived in. Excellent writing.

The title of Princess Royal is usually granted by the British monarch to their eldest daughter. It was Henrietta Maria of France, consort of King Charles I, who wanted to have a title similar to the "Madame Royale" title in France. It was their daughter Mary who became the first Princess Royal in 1642. However, the French Madame Royale was often used for the eldest unmarried daughter and could pass to the next daughter when the elder married. The British Princess Royal title is for life and can only be granted again when the holder dies.

So far, there have been seven Princesses Royal.

Princess Royal by Helen Cathcart covers all seven of these women, but most of the book is spent on the latest Princess Royal, Anne. The information seems to be factual, and the book is easy to read. However, the original version of this book is from the 80s, and although it has been given a new cover, the information has not been updated. I would consider this an enormous miss. I can't even imagine publishing a book again and not updating it, even though so much time has passed. 

Don't even bother.

The early part of the book delves into the history of the title “Princess Royal”, a style customarily (but not automatically) given to the eldest daughter of a British monarch. It was first used in the Stuart era, and has only been given to seven royal daughters.
The first half of the book focusses on the first 6 holders of the title “Princess Royal” and This section of the book really delves into the history, status & changing roles of princesses and royal ladies. I learnt about some princesses that I had hitherto overlooked as little mention is given to them in much other royal history – Princess Mary (daughter of Charles I), Princess Anne (daughter of George II) and Princess Charlotte (Daughter of George III). On the otherhand, I felt that the sections devoted to Princess Victoria (daughter of Queen Victoria), Princess Louise (Daigter of Edward VII) & Princess Mary (Daughter of George V) were somewhat skimpy but I suppose information on them is available elsewhere.
The second half of the book focuses on the current Princess Royal, Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter. It was interesting to read some of Anne’s early life, her schooling & young adulthood, and see the affection between Prince Charles & his sister.

The writing style is clear and accessible and it has been very well researched, and gives an interesting insight into a little used, and thus highly prized title, that will likely pass to Princess Charlotte in due course. However the book was originally published in 1988 and has not been updated for its re-release so the latter part of the book feels incomplete and I can’t really recommend it because of that.

If you follow the blog, then you know that I’ll read anything about the British royals, past and present. When NetGalley offered me a chance to read The Princess Royal: From Princess Mary to Princess Anne, I knew I just had to read it. I received a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The first half of the book goes through the origin of the title Princess Royal, which dates back to the Stuart era. There were a few others as the years went on, but it’s interesting to note that the title was only used seven times, and three of the princesses were in the 20th century. It was interesting to read about these princesses, since little mention was given to them in my previous readings of royal history. The history of the first six princesses takes up the first half of the book.

The second half of the book focuses on Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter and current Princess Royal. I did not know much about the princess, other than stories of her on the periphery of her mother, father, or brother, Charles, the Prince of Wales.

One of the things I always enjoy with books about the royals is that sometimes you get a glimpse into the inner workings of the Royal Family. The stories of Princess Anne’s early life and her closeness to Prince Charles was sweet to read about, It became clear early on that though the two had genuine affection for each other, they are very different in personality. Princess Anne is always described as being more like her father, the rather matter of fact, blunt, the late Duke of Edinburgh.

With that said, it’s no surprise that Princess Anne has always had a busy work schedule. She really is on of the busiest members of the working Royal Family. But at least here in the United States, you don’t hear much about her work. Maybe it’s different in Great Britain. Or maybe it’s that get-on-with-it attitude that makes her less exciting to write about in the press. I became very impressed with the hard-working ethic of the princess and the breadth of her charitable work.

But here’s my big beef. This book was published in 1988, and a whole lot has happened to Anne in the time since this book was first published. The Princess Royal was not updated when it was re-released. I understand the author has since passed, but it makes me wonder why the book was offered up through NetGalley at all. I did feel a bit deceived, as I wanted to know more about Anne and the breakdown of her marriage and relationship with her children and you know, anything that’s happened to her in this century, too. So while I do recommend this book if you want to learn more about Princess Anne, you’ll be short-changed of the last thirty years of service. Downgraded because of this.

I loved this so much. I would like to also give major praise to Helen Cathcart who continues to churn out the amazing royal book content. Learning about the Princess Royal is incredibly interesting because the concept of being a "spare" is a life I could never imagine.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
This is an interesting book highlighting the position of Princess Royal, from the complicated status of English princesses in the Middle Ages, then through each era from the Stuarts, when the position was created.
I definitely preferred the first half (parts 1 and 2) to the part solely focused on Anne. She’s still alive and has done so much since this book was first published in 1988 (a fact which is not apparent in promo material for the book). I understand the author has passed on by now, but it still makes it an odd choice to re-release. I did like getting insights into Anne’s early life, especially since she’s one of Queen Elizabeth’s kids who doesn’t get as much media attention, due to her position in the line of succession and it was cool to learn about her.

Very interesting reading! By necessity, and the sheer amount of information available, nearly half of the book is devoted to the current Princess Royal, but the earlier history, starting with Mary Tudor, is fascinating. The writing style is clear and accessible--this is not dry or stuffy history! The variety of sources used to tell each princess's story adds interest as well. Since this is a new edition, I feel like it should have included information from 1988- since we all know how things turned out with the current PR and her family. It would be interesting to see her change as a leader and as a grandmother.

This book takes a look back at the history of the position for the monarch of England’s oldest daughter. Although focusing primarily on Princess Anne, Cathcart explores the position back to the Middle Ages. She discusses all the royal daughters plus how the title developed. It’s an interesting look at royal daughters and the role they played in the family as well as a prominent title and all it entailed.

The bits of this book that covered the development of the title of Princess and the lives of earlier holders of that title were interesting and fun to read. A good half of the book covered the life of the current Princess Royal. I've always had a soft spot for Princess Anne -- her no-effs-given attitude is one that always appeals to me -- so I didn't object to this, although the writing was more fan-girlish and less scholarly than I would have preferred. The real problem was that that the book is an re-release which was originally published in the late '80s and was was not updated before being republished. A number of things have happened to the Royals and to Princess Anne in the last 30+ years! In the end, although I did enjoy the book, I felt it was a bit of a bait and switch.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

A fascinating read so well researched so well written.Iloved reading vabout tge lives of the royal princesses a very engaging read.I highly recommend to all who are interested in the royal family.#netgalley #saprebooks

I have enjoyed all the books that I have read by Helen Cathcart and The Princess Royal is no exception.
The author has done a great deal of research into the history of the British royal family and I find it most interesting.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who follows British history.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Sapere Books. The opinions in this review are completely my own.