The People’s Princess ⭑⭑⭑⭒
Genre: Historical Fiction
US Publication: March 31, 2022
Print: 400 pages
Audio: 9 hours 28 minutes
Confetti Rating: 3.5 stars
REVIEW:
Before I get to this book, can I talk about that coo coo for cocoa puffs 2021 movie “Spencer” for a second? Anyone else go into that expecting “The Crown” and end up wondering if they wandered into a horror festival for mushroom smokers by accident?
Anyway, in that weird piece of cinema, Princess Diana comes across a book about Anne Boleyn and realizes as she reads through it that it was placed in her room as a not-so-subtle hint that if she doesn’t play nice as Charles’s wife she’ll end up like that beheaded predecessor. The lives of the two women ebb and flow in Diana’s mind throughout the film.
So that’s pretty much what was on MY mind as I listened to the audiobook of Flora Harding’s new historical fiction novel, The People’s Princess. It would be hard not to compare the two, since in the book Diana again compares herself to a royal before her - this time Princess Charlotte of Wales from the 19th Century. That’s right my friends, it’s dual timeline time!
Now I know me some Diana. A publisher says “jump for this book about her,” and I say, “How high?!” The People’s Princess doesn’t really bring anything new to the conversation about her. If you’ve seen season four of “The Crown,” the book’s sections about Diana read almost like its novelization.
On the other hand, I knew diddly squat about Princess Charlotte. Never even heard of her. She was supposed to become queen, until she (spoiler alert… but not really… it’s history, people) tragically died delivering a stillborn son. I surprisingly would have enjoyed her sections if not for the fact that…
…the dreaded diary technique was used. Yes, once again Diana finds Charlotte’s diary, which serves as the vehicle to transition to and from her story. It just bugs me to no end when a “diary” reads like a first-person novel, where we’re supposed to believe that the “diarist” wrote out entire scenes including both sides of lengthy dialogue. Come on now, editors, why you gotta play us readers like that?
All things considered, this was a pretty solid 3.5 star audiobook for me. One narrator, Julie Teal, performs both time periods, but it was still easy to distinguish which princess was the focus at any moment.
In conclusion: Absolutely 100% watch “The Crown.” Maybe check out this book. Run like h. e. double hockey sticks from “Spencer.”
My thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and One More Chapter for the gifted review copy. The People’s Princess is now available.
PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:
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.