2*

I probably wasn't the intended audience of this book.

I found it very dry, lacking in personality, and not engaging.

This was an excellent listen. I was invested in the story right from the very start. Excellent listen with a great narrator.

What a wonderful combination of two histories. We all know of Princess Diana, but not so much about Princess Charlotte. Lady Di is engaged and lonely while waiting for her marriage. While she is waiting she reads the journal of Princess Charlotte, who was also very popular with the public. She finds many parallels in their lives, especially regarding lack of control. A truly engrossing read

A very interesting recounting of Diana’s engagement to Charles and of Princess Charlotte’s quest to find a husband (and love) which we hear through Diana reading her diaries. Really clarified some royal family history for me, so I found it really interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for letting me review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The People's Princess begins in 1982 when a young Diana Spencer, in the build up to her wedding to Prince Charles, is given a copy of the diary of Princess Charlotte written in the early 1800's. The story is a duel timeline with chapters dealing with the run up to the royal wedding sitting side by side with Charlottes diary.

Although Princess Diana will undoubtedly be the draw for many readers make no mistake, this is Charlotte's story. And what a story it is. There are definite parallels with Diana - the title of the book is actually a nod to Charlotte - but Charlotte's life is even more interesting in its own way.

It is, of course, hard to know how much of this book is real vs imagined but don't let that put you off. This is a lovely, easy listen and perfect for fans of the The Crown.

The People's Princess is a dual timeline historical fiction audiobook inspired by Diana and Charlotte, Princesses of Wales. The narrator makes the characters authentic and easy to visualise. The listener quickly develops empathy with Charlotte and Diana.

Charlotte's viewpoint stems from a personal journal found by a historian and given to the fictional Diana character before her wedding. The book portrays the Regency period as severe rather than romantic for Princess Charlotte. Diana's story reflects the public perception of the time before her marriage that later emerged through the media. Her story is one of coming of age, disillusionment and poignancy. Parallels between the two teased out in this historical fiction make it compelling listening.

I enjoyed the creative sensory imagery that brought Regency England and London in 1981 vividly to life, immersing the listener in the two different worlds. It is an emotional story with believably flawed characters and pertinent historical details that make this is an engaging audiobook.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

I wouldn't classify myself as a Royalist, but I am interested in all of our monarchy's scandals. Everyone knows the tragedy of Diana, Princess of Wales and her shambolic marriage to Prince Charles as part of British History, and it's hard to find anyone who doesn't.

The storyline is told from the viewpoints of Diana and Princess Charlotte, mixing timelines of the 1800s and 1980s. The plot revolves around the concept of Diana finding Charlotte's diary and the comparables of the two lives. However, despite this entertaining storyline, the fact that Diana portrays as a fictional character makes me uncomfortable and could be seen as bordering on distasteful. The People's Princess blurs the facts and fiction together, and I am not sure how this makes me feel, in all honesty.

As an audiobook, the narration was well-read, and I think there were some good qualities about this book, but these are unfortunately overshadowed by the choice of characters. Although this book wasn't for me, if you enjoy programmes such as The Crown and reading historical fiction, it is worth picking up.

Good narrator but I did feel she was a bit harsh at times - I always thought of Diana as being softer spoken.

Dual timeline between Diana and Princess Charlotte whom Diana sees on a painting on the wall in the palace and she becomes very interested in her past life because she looks fun.

Interesting read, I devoured it in a day. If your a fan of The Royals i doubt there will be much in it that you didn't already know, but its really good to read as a novel format.

Thanks so much for the ARC!

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!

I'm so happy I also got the audio-version, which i thoroughly enjoyed. The narrator has a soothing voice and I loved it so much!

Thank you to netGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest 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 HarperColli

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The People’s Princess’ by Flora Harding in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook was narrated by Julie Teal.

‘The People’s Princess’ explores through historical fiction the lives of two Princesses of Wales; one born to the royal title and the other born into the British aristocracy who married into royalty.

Buckingham Palace, 1981. Lady Diana Spencer has recently become engaged to Prince Charles. It may have seemed a dream come true but now she’s finding herself bored and alone. Courtiers seek to instruct her on royal protocol but the soon-to-be Princess of Wales finds it all very stuffy and rebels. Yet she finds the centuries of tradition too intractable and is increasingly unhappy.

When she comes across a portrait of Princess Charlotte of Wales, the granddaughter of George III and the only child of the Prince Regent, she finds herself drawn to the tragic princess. She is put in touch with Amelia Bell, who is working with the royal archives at Windsor Castle. Amelia lends Diana a transcript of Charlotte’s personal diary.

From here the novel moves between Lady Diana as she prepares for her wedding and Charlotte’s diary from 1813 to her death in 1817. As Diana reads the diary, she sees many parallels with her own life and future as Princess of Wales. …

I had mixed feelings about this novel as while I understand that the 1981 sections were based on accounts that Diana provided to friends and biographers, she comes across as immature and needy. Perhaps those who adore her might have sympathy but for myself it just further highlighted how unsuited she and Charles were even at this early stage. They really had so little common ground.

Perhaps this was Harding’s intention though I also found the Diana chapters rather repetitive and felt that the chapters focusing on Princess Charlotte were more interesting; especially as I knew little about her life, including her death at such a young age.

With respect to the audiobook, Julie Teal has narrated a wide range of audiobooks. Her voice is crystal clear and quite posh, perfect for the royal subject matter.

In her Acknowledgements Flora Harding gives details of the sources she utilised for both timelines and stressed that as a novelist she has made her own interpretations of the source material.

Overall, while I found the Princess Charlotte chapters of more interest than the Lady Diana chapters I can appreciate the appeal of a novel that offers via historical fiction glimpses into these privileged lives.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

A lovely story that I devoured in a day. wonderfully narrated I had a blast. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Such an emotional read and a wonderful story. I also had the opportunity to listen to the audio version. The narration has good pace and flow,and the narrators voices seemed right for the characters they were portraying. I listened to this as an audio book and felt the narrators really helped bring the story to life. The narrator narrated the book beautifully, and I loved the depictions of the different characters. I recommend this book and if you get chance listen to the audiobook!

Princess Charlotte of Wales and Princess Diana were alive years apart, but had so much in common. Both ladies were loved by their country, but had such sad experiences. In this book Princess Diana tried to draw comfort from princess charlotte’s story. Prior to her marriage to prince charles, she had such high hopes, but never felt loved. The bulimia was the way she coped, but her life was so tragic. When Princess Charlotte died, the whole country mourned for her, just like they did with Diana. It’s sad to read how much pressure these royals are put under.