When I first picked up this book, I thought it was going to be another Diana story. I soon discovered that this was really more the story of Charlotte, Princess of Wales, who tragically died in childbirth in 1817. The author weaves Charlotte’s story in with Lady Diana Spencer’s story from her engagement to her wedding day.

Lady Diana discovers a portrait of Charlotte as she is skating through the corridors of Buckingham Palace. Curious, she asks Prince Charles about the portrait. He puts her in touch with a historian who gives Diana a transcript of Charlotte’s diary. Diana carries the diary around over the next months as she plans her wedding. She draws parallels between her life and that of Princess Charlotte. This gives Diana the strength to face an uncertain future.

Though I didn’t learn anything new about Diana, I did learn about Princess Charlotte. If Charlotte had lived, she would have been queen instead of Victoria. If you love reading historical fiction about royalty you will love this book.

The People’s Princes by Flora Harding was an unexpected delight. This is my second book by Ms. Harding. Having read “The Crown” I was very happy to delve into “The People’s Princess”.

Full disclosure, I am a Royal watcher. Diana and Charles married one year later to the day that I married. Yes, I got up before dawn to watch history being made and again for her funeral.

What I adored about this book took place during the short time span between Charles and Diana’s engagement and subsequent wedding. There are two timelines in this story. The second timeline is about is about Princess Charlotte who was the Princess of Wales in the 1800's. The shifting of timelines is seamless. The connection and similarities of Diana and Charlotte made the story very magical.

The reader must remember that this is a work of historical fiction, and I might add, at it’s best. A tremendous amount of research was obviously done. As in “The Crown” Ms. Harding weaves a magical story with actual descriptions and events. The character development is wonderfully crafted. You really feel what Diana and Charlotte are feeling. You watch their characters develop beautifully. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Charlotte since I hadn't known anything about her. Princess Charlotte was a well-loved princess in her own right. Actually Ms. Harding could have gotten two novels out of this book. I would have loved a more in depth look at Princess Charlotte. However the comparisons that are drawn are remarkable.

As with “The Crown”, this book was most engaging and so fascinating. I couldn’t wait for the next chapter. This was one of those stories that kept me up well past the midnight hour because I couldn’t put it down.
It was extremely well-written by Ms. Harding. My one small complaint was that I wanted more details about Princess Charlotte.

This was an excellent story that gives you an interesting perspective of both women and their experiences. I highly recommend this book. I can hardly wait to see what Ms. Harding has in store for us! Well done.

I did enjoy it. I found I needed a break and then dipped back in. It was lovely reading something from Diana’s perspective somewhat and that’s what sold it to me.

Everything I had thought about her was developed further in this book. I did enjoy it.

I had read Before the Crown so I knew that this was going to be well researched, and well written historical drama. And I was right this is exactly what this is.

The story follows Lady Diana preparing for her wedding and adjusting to her role as Princes Charles’s wife; and the historical Princess Charlotte – the Queen Who Never Was – granddaughter to George the Third.

Both have parallel lives – Diana being more popular with the populace than her fiancé; Caroline being more popular with than her father; both are beautiful and funny and ill at ease with the claustrophobic life of a Royal. The author manages to intertwine both stories and keep both women are equally interesting.

Thank you to the Publisher, and to Netgalley, for the advance copy in advance of an honest review.

I do not know where to start with this book.
This really set some emotions in me.
Princess Diana is planning her wedding with Prince Charles but she comes across a portrait of Princess Charlotte.
The princess becomes intrigued about her and wants to find out about Princess Charlotte.
The history which is explored is so fascinating, especially when we do not know much or anything about them.
While reading this book i could hear Princess Diana's voice it was a warm feeling and for a brief moment i forgot she had died.

As a culture that is so fascinated with Princess Diana I find it rare to find something that is new and enthralling when it comes to works about her life. However, this was definitely that rare thing. The story is honest when it comes to Diana’s struggles which I really appreciated not glorifying what she went through. The ficitonalized parts that deviated from history got a bit off course from me and I could’ve done with less Charlotte but other than that I found it completely captivating.

A dual timeline novel of 2 "Peoples Princesses"...Diana in the 20th century and Charlotte of the 19th century.
I was a huge fan of Princess Diana during the eighties, so knew the events retold here did happen...or were alleged to have happened. But I knew nothing of the royal family before Queen Victoria, so was surprised to learn about Charlotte and ultimately how she caused the Royal family as we know them, to come about, via a complex web of succession lines.
Flora easily hops from Charlotte's to Diana's story. Because I knew more about Diana, I was more fascinated by Charlotte's story of love, loss, amazing love and then finally the most tragic loss. I tried to picture the clothes of the time, not successfully, but actually appreciated the easy to read modern dialogue, rather than being too tightly constrained by how language would have actually been back then.
I know the people's love for Diana was magnified and more widely available to the whole world, due to the media. Charlotte also felt loved by the people (her father sounded horrible!) and it is interesting to see back then she had the adoration and also expectation of her subjects.
Both were princesses who were taken far too young and at a time when both lives were unfolding into true happiness.
Thanks to NetGalley, Flora Harding and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for the chance to read this book.

I love stories about The Crown and Diana so I was thrilled to receive a copy of this book!! The movie Spencer was one of my favorites of all last year and I was excited to learn a little more about Diana through this book. I didn’t realize I would learn so much about Princess Charlotte though, so that was an added bonus! I honestly didn’t have much knowledge on Charlotte so I really enjoyed that aspect of this book and seeing the parallels between her and Diana were interesting. I look forward to reading more from this author!

DNF at 21%

Felt like bad fan fiction / wattpad read. The tone of voice felt out of place and dare I say it, rather childish and colloquial

I love Princess Diana. Very interesting storyline. I enjoyed the details in this story!
Thank you NetGalley!

This was a really interesting read and I enjoyed hearing about both Princess Diana and Princess Charlotte in their dual timelines.

As with many people I have been fascinated with the story and life of Diana and found this to be a really sympathetic telling of what could have been her story up to the wedding and her thoughts and fears. As a work of fiction it is difficult to judge what actually happened but it seemed plausible and was really easy to read.

I enjoyed hearing about Charlotte, who seemed a very similar character to Diana, although somewhat more feisty. Diana finds the diary of the earlier Princess of Wales and uses it as comfort for her own misgivings.

Highly recommend and thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows a dual timeline, featuring Diana, Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte, also a Princess of Wales, who was a complete non- conformist.
I enjoyed the historical detail of Charlotte’s story, though as a diary, it was incredibly detailed. There was much about Charlotte’s era which I did not know, so I found it very interesting,
By contrast, Diana’s story was underwhelming, perhaps because I knew most of it, having lived through it and read news reports of that time. The writing style came across as more YA, it was repetitive and dull at times, I’m sorry to say.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Review will be posted on 4/13/22

It's 1981 and Lady Diana Spencer is going to marry Prince Charles. This should be a very happy time, but instead it's been very difficult for Diana. She has to deal with a lot of time spent alone at the palace, Charles's close relationship with Camilla; plus, her own insecurities. While at the palace, she discovers Princess Charlotte of Wales's diary and as she reads it, she becomes more and more intrigued by this woman. Diana realizes that even though Charlotte lived in the 1800s, she shares more in common with her than not. They both have tumultuous relationships with their elders, they both live in a gilded cage, they both have high expectations placed on them, and they both have dealt with difficult romances. Even though both women are well loved by the public, ultimately, it won't save them from their fate. Flora Harding's The People's Princess is an interesting glimpse into Lady Diana's life during her engagement as well as a captivating tale about the lesser known Princess Charlotte.

If readers are familiar with Diana's time in the palace before her wedding, it won't come as a surprise to find out Diana is supremely unhappy. She is finding it difficult to connect with Charles, she resents his relationship with Camilla, she is feeling trapped, and quite honestly, an after thought. When she comes across Princess Charlotte's diary, it's almost like someone threw her a life raft. She can recognize so many similarities between Charlotte and herself as they are both living an outwardly beautiful life, but are trapped in a cage of expectations. Diana is also dealing with her insecurities as well as bulimia. It's very sad and frustrating at times as she clearly needs help. Readers must not forget that she is only nineteen as I think that really puts things in perspective in The People's Princess.

Even though I am a big fan of Diana, I found myself gravitating more towards Charlotte's story which was really captivating as I already had a lot of prior knowledge regarding Diana's. How did I not know about Princess Charlotte before reading The People's Princess? I was utterly captivated by her story, her plight, and her untimely death. Honestly, it broke my heart, and the similarities between Diana and Charlotte were definitely shocking at times. Readers can't help but wonder what would have happened if Charlotte would have been Queen? What would that look like now as her death really upset the monarchy and succession.

If you are a fan of the Royals as well as The Crown, give The People's Princess a try this spring. While I didn't enjoy The People's Princess as much as Harding's Before the Crown, it was a satisfying tale and the parts depicting Charlotte have definitely sparked my interest in her life.

So, are you a fan of the Royals? Do you like reading books about them? Is The People's Princess on your TBR list? Let me know in the comments below.

This was an interesting book, told in two timelines. I really liked the Princess Charlotte diaries. The Princess Diana chapters are her first person thoughts during the period between her engagement and the wedding. Diana is bored when she finds a portrait of Princess Charlotte, and eventually someone finds her diary for Diana to read.

I was put off somewhat by the use of the first person in Diana’s case. Her thoughts are based on interviews she gave, and I was reminded just how young and naive she was.

Blurb:
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.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

It still takes me by surprise to realise that the era of the Princess of Wales is now being written about in historical fiction but then the fascination we have for Diana will never go away. You only have to look at the popular TV dramas, and movies, which continue to speculate about Diana, Princess of Wales.

The People's Princess brings Diana Spencer to life in 1981, just after her engagement to Prince Charles, when she is a lost and lonely figure rattling around the great empty space of Buckingham Palace. Desperate to alleviate her boredom, Diana is intrigued by a portrait she sees on a corridor in Buckingham Palace and wants to know more about Princess Charlotte of Wales, another tragic princess who died at a young age. Intertwining Diana's story as she awaits her wedding with that of Princess Charlotte adds a nice dual time element to the story.

I enjoyed the story, it's a light and easy read, with well researched historical detail to keep alive the authenticity of the story. The author captures well the mood of both historical periods and brings these two tragic, and charismatic, young women to life.

This book was not for me. I was excited because I love anything about Diana but it seems like an immature high school biography.

I had to jump at an opportunity to read this book featuring an iconic photo of Princess Diana on the cover. Even though it’s a work of fiction, the peeks into her life before her marriage to Charles were juicy and I found myself feeling her loneliness when she was kept hidden at Buckingham palace. I loved the unexpected dual storyline and all the parallels drawn with Princess Charlotte who I didn’t know anything about before picking this up! Turns out she was such a badass and refused to live by anyone else’s rules.
Definitely pick this one up if you’re looking for a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of both a beloved historical figure along with a lesser-known one!

It was an interesting and entertaining novel, the parallel story of two women in two different ages.
I appreciated how the two characters interact and it was an entertaining and compelling read.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I chose this book just because it looked exciting, and despite knowing a little about Princess Diana, I don't know a huge amount. I enjoyed watching the Crown on Netflix and was interested in seeing how this compared.

It wasn't what I expected. I thought it would just be about Princess Diana. Still, I obviously didn't pay enough attention to the blurb as it's pretty much half and half about her and a previous Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, from the 1800s. The two timelines work so well together and draw comparisons between Diana and Charlotte, the queen that never was.

The People's Princess focuses on the love lives of both Princesses. They are both tragically in love with people and searching for the love of their lives. Unfortunately, Princess Charlotte died young during the childbirth of her first child, so she never became Queen of England. The title passed to her cousin, Victoria, ending the Hanover family reign. The book ends with Diana walking down the aisle, the beginning of the marriage we all know how it ends.

This has a lot of information shown in The Crown, Camilla, the bulimia, the loneliness, Charles' lack of love and compassion for Diana. I loved Princess Charlotte and the comparisons to her life. There are many twists and turns, and I loved how Charlotte grew through the book and finally got her fairy-tale, though it was very short-lived.

This is historical fiction which I think is worth pointing out, Princess Charlotte did exist. There are plenty of factual elements to both storylines. However, this is not a real account, though it is done very well to come across as such a book. I did look up Princess Charlotte after reading this book. I found lots of information about her, her life and her untimely demise on the internet. This, for me, is the best and most exciting way to learn about history through an exciting story and a compelling read.

My only, very mild criticism was that there was a lot of focus on Diana's bulimia. I understand this demonstrated her distress and how she dealt with it. Still, I think that came through well enough without the constant mentions, and this could be triggering for anyone with eating issues.

This is a well written and poignant comparison between the two princesses and shows how all that glitters is not gold. Two unfortunate endings and two unhappy princesses. This was a joy to read, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or the royals. I will be looking forward to reading more of Flora Harding's books in future.

Whilst at first I expected a book on Princess Diana, I was pleasantly surprised by that this story focussed on Princess Charlotte, interwoven with Diana and Charles’ engagement. As Dian begins to prepare for her wedding, she discovers the personal journal of Princess Charlotte from the 1800s. As she reads the journal, she finds herself intrigued by the similarities between Charlotte and herself. Told using a dual storyline, the life of Princess Charlotte is gradually revealed whilst drawing some glimpses into the fragile relationship Diana and Charles shared. The detail into Charlotte’s life was fascinating but I wished that I could have learnt more about Diana if that was at all possible. An interesting story, well told with the two stories, highlighting the struggles of two princess.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Harper Collins. All thoughts and opinions are my own.