Diana is on the verge of marrying Prince Charles when she becomes interested in the diaries of Princess Charlotte in the 1800's. As her isolation and anxiety builds, she finds comfort in Charlotte's story of her road to happiness.

This book was not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting it to be all about Diana (from the synopsis and the cover) but it is really nothing new about Diana and really centers around Charlotte. Of course, Diana's eating disorder and anxiety are there, but no new Diana insights are revealed. At first, I found the scenes with Charlotte boring, but as it went on, I preferred them over Diana's insecurities and immaturity. I was saddened by both of their isolations and was ultimately happen that Diana could use her knowledge of Charlotte's life as inspiration.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

The People’s Princess by Flora Harding is a captivating read. The dual storyline in this book is tied together very well. Princess Diana, during her engagement, sees a portrait of Princess Charlotte and digs into learning about her. I do think both their stories could have been standalone—a recommended read.

This book is marketed to fans of “The Crown” and there is no doubt that many of these fans will like it. However as a lover of history, historical fiction & royal intrigue I found it very lacking. Yes, there has been some research, but even allowing for the fact that this is meant to be fiction not fact it lacks so much for me.
The dual storyline in this book is tied together very well. Diana during her engagement sees a portrait of Princess Charlotte and starts to learn more about her. I suspect that many readers will never have heard of Princess Charlotte but she is the ultimate “Queen who never was” and her death resulted in a second major threat to the succession of the British throne (remember it was only 100 years since Queen Anne had died & the crown had passed to the Hanover family & King George). Of course we know the rest of the story with the King’s younger sons racing to find wives and produce children – resulting in Princess Victoria, son of the Duke of Kent, who of course became Queen Victoria. I think we are supposed to see parallels in the two “Princesses of Wales who never became Queen” but the difference is that Charlotte was heir to the throne in her own right, Diana would only ever be consort. I do think that we can see both women as having the ability to reform/modernize the Royal Family, bringing something fresh & different, but not being able to deliver that potential due to untimely deaths.

The Princess Charlotte sections were far more interesting & to be honest, if you remove the Diana sections this book would be better! In fact you could retain the “Diana is given the journal” and the “Diana realises that she & Charles could grow to love each other” sections and just skip the “Diana was bored, Diana ate lots of custard (why so much custard??!?), Diana vomited it up & felt better” sections which to be honest are repetitive, boring, predictable. We know that Diana was very young when she married, that Charles didn’t love her but thought her “suitable, and that Diana was likely more in love with the idea of marrying him than the reality. We know that Camilla was in the background but there is no doubt that this has been written from a 2020s perspective rather than a 1980s perspective.
I can believe that Diana was somewhat lonely in the run up to her wedding, becoming aware of the reality of the role ahead of her rather than the fairytale - and the “it’s too late to back out, your face is on the teatowels” quote has become legendary - but Diana is portrayed as a sulky spoilt teenager, clingy, whining, sullen, throwing tantrums, rebelling against those trying to help her (“I’m not going to listen to stuffy Mrs Hussey telling me what to wear, I know better”) & quite honestly what you would expect from a 12 yr old, not a young aristocratic women who should have been more aware – in fact her sisters pretty much tell her this!

If you enjoyed “Before the Crown” by the same author and TV dramatisations like “The Crown”, or you have an adoration of Diana then you will probably enjoy this. If you are a historian or lover of history, or you do not hero-worship Diana, you will probably see this as work of relatively poor fiction that could be so much better if it wasn’t try so hard to be something it isn’t!

Not only did this wonderful book follow Princess Diana in the months following her engagement and up to her wedding, along with all the scandal and intrigue surrounding Charles and Camilla's then-unknown affair, but this book introduced to me a lesser known character that I would come to love. The story surrounds Diana, but in conjunction with Princess Charlotte, who was considered the first people's princess. She was the daughter of the Prince Regent at the beginning of the 19th century and was beloved by the people. The story was wonderful because it showed that even at a time when women were not considered to be on the same level as men in some ways, this young woman did things her way, and did not allow the monarchy, or her family, to get in the way of how she wanted to live her life. I would definitely recommend this book because it taught me new things, and gave me a whole new era of the British Monarchy to learn about, as well as highlight a young women who is not as well-known as Diana, but was just as interesting.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollin UK for the chance to read an advanced copy of The People's Princess by Flora Harding. As I have always been a huge fan of the English Monarchy and the current Royal family, this book definitely appealed to me. This story is told in two timelines'; in 1981 just before her wedding, Lady Diana Spencer sees a painting of Princess Charlotte of Wales, an almost forgotten princess, and is given a recently found diary of hers from the 1800's. In this diary Diana discovers a princess born to be Queen, yet her life is not a fairy tale. As she reads the diary, Diana can see many parallels with her own life and future as Princess of Wales. As she reads the diary we step into the story of Princess 'Charlotte. Princess Charlotte is not well known to most people; the daughter of the future William IV, she was the only legitimate heir to the British throne during most of the rein of George III. Had she lived, the British Royal family would not exist as it is today. While I enjoyed the story, I found I was a bit disappointment, as much of Diana's story was repetitive. Overall, the parallels between the two women were fascinating. 3.5 stars roiunded up to 4.

The People’s Princess is told in two timelines. Beginning in 1981 as Diana is preparing to marry Prince Charles, she is given the 1813 journals of Princess Charlotte, the Princess of Wales. What she discovers is a striking similarity between their lives.

While I enjoyed learning about Charlotte, I felt that her chapters just didn’t flow well. Maybe that’s been cleaned up in the final editing as I did read an advanced copy of the book. I would have preferred if they had been written as journal entries, since Diana is gathering this information about her by reading her diary. That said, I will say that I enjoyed Charlotte’s chapters more than I did Diana’s.

Perhaps my expectations were too high as I loved the author’s first novel, Before the Crown. I give this one 2.5 stars.

I love reading about Princess Diana. The grace and dare I say normalcy she brought to the Royals has always fascinated me. Her life and her death brought so much joy and such supreme sorrow to those who have never met her. I was excited to delve deeper into her world. The People's Princess was not what I was expecting and by the end I really enjoyed it. It is told in a dual timeline bouncing between 1813 and the months leading up to Diana and Charles wedding in 1981.

Diana has been moved into an apartment in Buckingham Palace soon after her engagement to Prince Charles. She imagined cozy times spent with her fiancé, when in fact she rarely sees him. She is supposed to be happy, ecstatic, she is planning her fantasy wedding to the prince. All she feels is alone and bored. She stumbles across a painting of Princess Charlotte of Wales, and she becomes fascinated by this woman. Who is she, what is her story? Diana is given her Charlotte's journal to read. She is fascinated with how much her own life mirrors Princess Charlottes'. As she reads, she becomes increasingly enraptured with this young woman who slowly grows into a strong well-loved Princess. She is kind, generous, and cares about her subjects. Diana pulls strength and courage from this journal to make it down the aisle and marry her own prince.

I had a tough time connecting with Diana. Which I know sounds weird, since we all should be able to connect with her no matter what. Since her life was constantly on display. On the other hand, I was fascinated with Charlotte. This was a figure I do not know much about, but I will be doing more research on. Thank you to Flora Harding, One More Chapter, HarperCollins UK, and NetGalley for sending me this book.

I am a fan of the The Crown and this book was right up my alley! Before The Crown aired I really didn't pay much attention to the lives of the British royalty. I heard and read lots of news about Princess Diana of course, but still not much interest. Loved this book. Not sensational news like that of the past, , writing that actually made you identify and relate to them as human beings. A good read!

Flora Harding draws parallels between the stories of two Princesses of Wales - Diana and Charlotte - in her new novel The People's Princess, which combines fact and fiction to shine a light on Diana's lonely days locked away in Buckingham Palace leading up to her wedding to Prince Charles. The public's fascination with the ever popular Diana, Princess of Wales, is still going strong, even 20 years after her untimely death following a paparazzi chase in 1997. Surprisingly enough, biographical fiction accounts of Diana's life are few and far between, so I was eager to pick up Flora Harding's tribute to the "People's Princess" to learn more about Britain's beloved Princess of Wales.

Harding uses creative license in The People's Princess to reimagine Diana's oft-reported on days of loneliness and isolation after her engagement to Charles. In the novel, Diana becomes fascinated with a former Princess of Wales - Charlotte, born 1796 - and is gifted with Charlotte's diary, which Diana devours in the months spent at Buckingham Palace ahead of her highly publicized wedding. Diana quickly learns that she and Charlotte share a lot of the same experiences and feelings, and the desolate Diana finds a kindred spirit in Charlotte. Reading Charlotte's diary gives Diana something to look forward to amidst days spent obsessing about her weight, wedding, and Charles' former lovers, particularly Camilla Parker-Bowles.

The narrative alternates between Diana's life at Buckingham Palace and Charlotte's diary entries, combining the storylines and drawing parallels between these two "People's Princesses." Harding brings to life a historical figure that few have likely heard of in Princess Charlotte, while linking her story to the well-known one of Princess Diana. The result is essentially that readers get two stories in one with The People's Princess, doubling the pleasure by painting a compelling portrait of two prominent women in British royal history.

Obviously, The People's Princess is recommended to readers who are interested in Princess Diana's life, but don't mind her story being intertwined with that of another princess that captured the public's heart - Charlotte.

I AM SPLIT 50/50

First of all, I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I was intrigued about reading a book with Princess Diana as the main character. I haven't seen too many of those around. But I found myself being not as drawn to Diana as a character as I thought I would be. In stead, it was the other MC, Charlotte, who captured my attention. I think Diana could have been a better character if Harding and made some different choice. But that is, of course, just my opinion.

👍 What I Liked 👍

Parallels: Even though I was familiar with the story of Princess Charlotte, I had never before noticed the parallels between her and Princess Diana. They can both be called The People's Princess and the Queen that Never Was. Their lives as well as their symbolic value to the people of Britain were in many ways similar. They each represented a break with the established royal household, a promise of something new and different. I really enjoyed diving into these similarities.

Charlotte: While Diana was my original reason for picking up this book, I soon found myself being more drawn to Charlotte's story line. Charlotte was, first of all, a bit more fleshed out as a character in my opinion. Second of all, in her story we follow her over the course of several years, which allowed me to connect with her more deeply and become invested in her arc. I really liked following her evolution and her life.

👎 What I Disliked 👎

Diary: For me, the diary format just doesn't work. I have yet to find a book written as a diary that really spoke to me. Honestly, I find it unrealistic. In my opinion, nobody writes their diary as if it is a novel. It just doesn't happen. And it might be silly, but it something that really frustrates me and bothers me when I read books in diary format. I constantly find myself thinking: "Who on earth would write their diary like that?" So the format of this book just didn't work for me.

Repetitive: As I said, I enjoyed Charlotte's parts more than Diana's. One of the reasons why was the constant repetition in Diana's parts. It's pretty much the same chapter over and over again.

Diana: I am, of course, not saying that I do not like the real Princess Di. But I found it hard to connect with the portrayal of her in this book. She was sullen, negative and spend all her time bellyaching over the same things over and over. It made her hard to like. I also felt like the character suffered from a lot a telling and not a lot of showing. Diana's chapters are mainly her thoughts and her emotions, so I was wanting some more action on her part.

When I first saw this book cover and the title, I remembered being a little child and watching Charles and Diana’s wedding on television with my mother. I’ll admit, I didn’t even read the description, so much did I already knew I wanted to read it -
* I loved Flora Harding’s Before the Crown,
* I’m a huge fan of historical fiction,
* I read a lot of history titles about the history of England,
* I’m always interested in learning something more about the BRF,
* I adore historical fiction about the BRF

I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of this novel and once I downloaded it I started reading it immediately and didn’t stop until I was finished with the story. I found myself engaged from the first page to the last, the dual timeline was at times fantastic, and at times frustrating in that, at first, I wanted to return to reading about Diana/Charlotte but then after a couple of sentences, I was drawn right back into C’s or D’s tale.

I found this story such an enjoyable read and would recommend it for anyone who can relate to the list above.

I love Diana so naturally was very excited about this book, however the title and description are a little misleading. The book mainly focuses on Charlotte rather than Diana like I had expected and hoped. I did still enjoy the book and learning about Princess Charlotte, who I didn’t know much about. I definitely want to read more about Princess Charlotte in the future!

I really enjoyed the dual timelines between Diana leading up to her wedding and Princess Charlotte in the 1800s. It was also interesting to see the parallels between Diana and Charlotte!

The book is fairly dark and emotional given Charlotte’s tragic death and Diana’s struggles with her eating disorder and relationship with Charles. As someone who has struggled with an ED, Diana’s chapters were difficult to read.

It slowed in the middle a bit but overall an interesting story and characters, and great writing that had me immersed in both time periods!

Rating: 4.5

Triggers: eating disorder, vomit, body dysmorphia, toxic relationship, miscarriage, stillbirth, death, grief

This was a very nice read for me, so much so I've bought Harding's prevous book (Before The Crown) as soon as I've finished it.
The People's Princess is very well written and easy to read, informative and deeply researched. Despite what I thought at the beginning, I liked Charlotte's story best in the end and was really touched by her life.
This is the perfect read for fan of The Crown and of the Royal Family!

Thank you to netGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did enjoy this in the same way that I enjoy watching The Crown taking events with a pinch of salt. I was particularly fascinated by Princess Charlotte's story and enjoyed learning more about her after I finished it.

I love reading books about Princess Diana, and this was an interesting take on her life. It felt very realistic in how it portrayed Diana and how she was feeling leading up to the royal wedding. I didn’t know anything about Charlotte and found her story fascinating too.

would like to thank netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this amazing book

yes its about princess diana but is also about another princess and she was known as princess charlotte of wales who was destined to be queen, and the similarities of dianas life and charlottes are spectatular.... and i can admit to having a little cry at the end...

it was a fun read to remember back in 1981 with all the excitement of the royal wedding being on the outside but this book gives a glimmer on the inside...

but its charlottes storyline that grabs your attention and keeps you reading

will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors works

enjoyed this book and the parallels between Diana and Charlotte - well written and intriguing made for an all round great read

In the months before Lady Diana Spencer marries Prince Charles, she is given an apartment of her own to keep her from the constant onslaught of the media. While Diana had the thought that this would bring her and Charles closer, she finds that is not the case when his constant engagements keep him very busy. As a future Princess, Diana was required to learn about those royals who came before her, and she becomes interested in the list of Princess Charlotte of Wales…another Princess most beloved by her subjects.

Princess Charlotte was an only child of the Prince Regent and the wife he loathes. Moreover, neither parent truly cares for Charlotte and she is given her own household at a young age with her own staff who she loves like family. As Charlotte becomes of age, her father begins to push her towards a marriage of alliance as opposed to the love match she would have preferred. When she turns down her first arrangement, she is kept away from the public as punishment. At some point, she understands that the man she loves is unwilling to marry her and she must move forward. She finds someone willing to marry her and ends up having a short but wonderful life with him.

I have always been fascinated by Princess Diana and what her life as a Princess was like. In reading this dual timeline, I saw many similarities between Diana and Charlotte and the way the media and other family members treated them and saw them as nothing more than frivolous women. Knowing how important fashion was to Diana, it was fun to be able to google the specific event mentioned and have a complete understanding of what she was wearing. There are also various pictures of Charlotte online, specifically an artists' rendition of her wedding dress which was opulent by standards of the day. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading Harding's backlist.

I appreciated what the author was trying to do but I just couldn't get into it. I love Diana and I loved looking back on further historical members of the royal family but just didn't do it for me.

It’s 1981, and before her wedding to Prince Charles, Lady Diana Spencer is living in apartments at Buckingham Palace.
While walking the long corridors she finds a portrait of a young woman, Princess Charlotte, who she has never heard of. As Diana makes enquiries she discovers that some of Charlotte's diaries are currently being transcribed and they show a fascinating insight into her life. Drawn to this young woman who lived in the early 1800’s Diana immerses herself in the diaries drawing parallels with her own life.
While her father, the Prince Regent is publicly reviled, Princess Charlotte is loved by the people and is seen as a beacon of hope for the future. While Charlotte did not get her happy ending Diana is still hoping that her marriage will be the fairytale she dreams of.
Such a beautiful moving story. I had heard of Princess Charlotte but didn't know anything about her life. I found myself utterly mesmerised by the story of a strong, friendly, feisty young woman who was under the rule of a father who cared only for himself. Knowing how Princess Diana’s story ended only makes this more poignant.