The early days of a young girl who is in love with the idea of being in love, with heroes, with paperback romances. Whatever love means. ‘The Princess’ by Wendy Holden starts with two thirteen-year old girls, Diana Spencer and her friend Sandy, on the train going back to boarding school. Love, thinks Sandy, sounds ‘like a particularly delicious bath, deep and warm, with lots of bubbles.’
It is Diana’s character that beams off the page. Packed with contemporary references, foods, music, expressions, we see what happens when the enthusiasm and can-do attitude of a teenage girl meets the tradition and rules of royal life. Through Diana’s voice and thoughts, through Sandy’s eyes and that of Stephen Barry, valet to the Prince of Wales, we see the young girl who is destined to become a queen. Holden has captured the exuberance as well as the shadows and emotional bruises of a broken family. But this isn’t a love story, it’s the story of old-fashioned matchmaking by two grandmothers.
The second part moves quicker than the first. I enjoyed the meetings between Diana and Princess Margaret. The pace, and sadness, picks up after the engagement when Diana moves into an empty, soulless Buckingham Palace; foreshadowing the days her body would lay at rest at St James’s Palace before her state funeral in 1997.
A poignancy hangs over this tale, the knowledge of the marriage’s failure and Diana’s death. Also the sadness of Charles, trapped in his role, unable to marry the woman he loves, forced into marriage by the need to marry and produce an heir. But ‘The Princess’ is Diana’s story.
Though young and naïve in this book, she was also smart and not afraid to challenge the status quo. Her influence can be seen in the royal family today. Holden ends her story in 1992, the divorce was finalised in 1996. The book is packed with familiar incidences and quotations mixed in with many inventions. The story of how the famous photograph was taken of her in a transparent skirt at her nursery school in Pimlico, her sister Sarah saying, ‘Your face is on the tea towels,’ the Emmanuels taking in the waist of her wedding dress at every fitting.
Holden gets the tone of Diana’s voice spot-on. So familiar from page one from her public appearances and recordings, it is clear that the spoken words on the page, and the inner thoughts, belong to Diana.
Not as compelling as I expected, perhaps because the story is so well known. ‘The Princess’ seems to end when it is just getting going.
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Diana Spencer seems to have a privileged life but underneath is all she just longs to fall deeply in love like the heroines in her favourite Barbara Cartland novels. When she meets the dashing Charles, Prince of Wales, she thinks she will never meet anyone as wonderful again. Charles loves a woman he can't marry and his family (and the nation) are looking for a suitable bride. Diana ticks all the boxes, she is young, aristocratic and a virgin, so will family pressure and expectations bring together two people for both the right and the wrong reasons.
I was worried when I started this book that it would be a romantic fantasy with both characters portrayed at the ends of the spectrum of good and bad. In fact as historical fiction goes it is fairly frothy but it does seem to give a balanced picture. Diana does come across as a really nice girl, albeit one who was incredibly naive, Charles as a man bowed down by duty. Both parties went into the marriage with the right intentions but a successful relationship is built on more than that as history has shown and this story tries to add the romance to the start of the relationship.

Wanted to like this. I'm a sucker for all thing British royal family, and though much of what is exposed in this story is a tale I know (from having read sooo much about the royals), it just felt really weird - the hops through all the possible POVs throughout made for a difficult read to follow. It almost felt like reading what I expected Valentine Low's 'Courtiers' to read like, with every employee or so dropping in for a POV along the way. It was supposed to be Diana's story, but there's so little of her in there, it just didn't add up to the riveting read I was expecting

The Princess is the final novel in the trilogy of royal outsiders and focuses on Lady Diana Spencer from the age of 13 when she was at boarding school to the time of her marriage to Prince Charles in 1981. It's told in an interesting format, from multiple perspectives including that of Diana's school friend Sandy and by Diana looking back in 1992. I enjoyed the second half of the novel more, this part was more strongly written and the author really conveyed just how Diana was exploited by the royal machine. I felt so much empathy and compassion for the young Diana and the author movingly portrayed just how desperate she was to be loved and to have her own family. A moving and emotional novel. 3.5 stars
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This is the author’s third novel on Royal outsiders.
Showing how Diana went from shy Di to the Princess of Wales.
The book opens in 1992 just prior to the Prince & Princess of Wales decision to separate.
Told through multiple points of view and through a series of flashbacks.
We see her childhood through the eyes of one of her childhood friends, Sandy.
Diana grows up amid the fallout of parents’ messy divorce and her refuge is romantic novels - determined to meet her prince and live happily ever after.
Although a work of fiction, loved the research that gone into the book, making it a genuine read, and thought the author tells the story sympathetically
Thanks @wendy_holden @welbeckpublish & @netgalley for the eARC

Firstly thank you Netgalley for this Arc

What a brilliant book about Diana loved it and love the author

A wonderful read a look at Diana from her boarding school days up to the wedding.Another royal classic novel by Wendy Holden A truly magical read highly recommend,#netgalley#the princess.

A fascinating, shocking and very well written historical fiction story about the life of Lady Diana Spencer, from the age of 13 until just before her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981.

I am so intrigued to know how much of this book is based on factual events and conversations and how much is the author’s imagination, however looking at the books Wendy Holden references in her research, there appears to be a large amount of fact and the book felt true and accurate - either it is, or it is extremely excellently written - probably a bit of both!

I was shocked to read about how few times Diana met Charles in this book, prior to their wedding. The earlier part of the book was really good fun to read - Diana’s playful personality, zest for life and love for others really shone through.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Wendy Holden and Welbeck for an ARC in return for an honest review.

The princess is just magic. I have always had a deep fascination with the beautiful Princess Diana and I felt this was just the perfect story to get lost in. At times I forgot I was reading and if you love anything like the crown etc you are going to love this

The Princess tells the story of Princess Diana from her childhood to just before her marriage to Prince Charles. The story is largely told through a friend who gets to know her at school and later comes across her again just before her marriage where Diana tells her more of what happened after school, with input also from journalists and members of Palace staff. The author has obviously done a lot of research and gives a reasonably well balanced view of everyone involved - nobody is perfect, everybody has flaws, the situation and tradition causes a lot of the issues and the story is interesting, particularly as the pace grows in the second half of the book. It is certainly eye opening in many ways and gives a clear idea of why their marriage was never likely to work - a husband not keen to marry her and in love with someone else, a wife far too young and naive and obsessed with romantic novels, and an institution pushing them together.
So in many ways it's enjoyable, probably particularly to those who enjoyed TV programmes like The Crown, but I'm afraid it just wasn't for me. I found the first half a little slow and some of it did not ring true - for example, the school friend is supposed to be a very clever girl who has managed to get scholarships to all sorts of schools so her lack of knowledge of things like aristocratic sons' inheritance rights (despite knowing it happened in history) does not ring true. In fact, there are too many occasions for me where the dialogue felt as though it just served as a means to put in some more of the research the author had done and did not really reflect how people talk. I understand the need to give more background for those who may not know it but it felt a little clumsy to me. I did finish it however and it gripped me far more in the second half - in fact, by the end, I'd have liked it to continue further into the marriage.
Thanks to NetGalley for the copy in return for an honest review. #ThePrincess #NetGalley

Perfect for lovers of The Crown and anyone who lived through the hype that surrounded ‘The People’s Princess”, Wendy Holden.’s “The Princess” is a fictional tale based on the early life of Princess Diana before she gets married to Charles.

It is written in a way that is very gripping, with the framing structure of Diana relating how she came to be The Princess of Wales to a childhood friend. It basically follows her life between the ages of 13 and 19 and makes her a very engaging and likeable character. One particular strength is in the use of dialogue, I could hear her distinctive voice you hear on tv interviews in the writing and I feel the writer captured her essence well. The story mainly is interested in the conniving and political game playing that contributed to Diana’s position and this is very well done, I read the entire book in one sitting,

One criticism I do have is that it ends very abruptly and I could have quite easily have read the same again. It just feel like it stopped halfway through. I hope the author writes a continuation of Diana’s life, even if that is a ground well trodden.

3.5 stars, mainly for the abrupt ending. If it had been more masterfully done, I would have given this book a 4.

I requested this book as my mother adored Diana and I shall definitely be purchasing it as a gift for her. I thought it was a beautifully told, respectful and heartwarming story of her early life with lots of tidbits that I didn’t already know.

Thank you Netgalley, Welbeck Publishing and Wendy Holden.

An interesting take on the life of Diana, considering lots of people will have their own opinions and views on the love life of the princess this is a thoughtful and insightful insight to what she may have felt at the time and her life before marriage.

Well written and well plotted with a wonderful cast of characters

Thank you Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

Just when you think there is nothing more to know about Diana, and her story, we can rely on Wendy Holden to knock it out the park with another Royal classic.

I loved that this focussed on the pre marriage times and not too much beyond. Heart warming, thoughtful and portrayed wonderfully.

Gorgeous.

The Princess by Wendy Holden

Diana believes in love. Growing up amid the fallout of her parents' bitter divorce, she takes refuge in romantic novels. She dreams of being rescued by a handsome prince.

Prince Charles loves his freedom. He's in no rush to wed, but his family have other ideas. Charles must marry for the future of the Crown.
A great read for those that are still fascinated by this story. Is it a love story ?
I guess we will never know ( whatever love is )
A great read .

I loved this historical fiction glimpse into Lady Diana. The story follows her from her boarding school years to her wedding day.

Although I was aware of a lot of things that she endured, it was a great insight into what she could have been thinking. I enjoyed how it was written through the eyes of Diana and the people she was in close contact with.

Obviously, we will never know what truly went on behind closed doors, but this is a credible account of what might have happened.

Fans of The Crown would love this.

I absolutely love Wendy Holdens Princess Diana books. I am so excited for this one and the previous ones were so popular here. I love how we get this insiders view of how things might have played out even if they are not 100 percent ruebInbelive they portray the life of Diana in a respectful and interesting way.