Bookalicious Travel Addict: princess diana

TITLE - The People's Princess

AUTHOR - Flora Harding

BUY LINK - Click here

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.

I hadn't read the synopsis before I read this book, so when I started reading it I thought it was just another book about Princess Diana, and I have read many before, but how wrong I was.

There is obviously some poetic licence taken with this book but a lot is based on fact, having read some of the discussions in a book by Andrew Morton.

Princess Diana, before she married Prince Charles, was intrigued by a painting in Buckingham Palace of Princess Charlotte; The Queen that never was. She was given a journal written by Princess Charlotte and began to read it page by page.

So much has been written about Princess Diana and I felt I knew a lot of it, but I knew nothing about Princess Charlotte. I fell in love with her and was mesmerised by her story. So much so that I am going to research her and read more books about her.

This book didn't always paint Princess Diana in a favourable light, sometimes making her seem like a spoilt teenager, but then at the end of the day, she was a teenager. However the book was very well written and I love how the author blended the stories of the two Royal Princesses.

Northamptonshire - Sidney Hall 1820

Northamptonshire has been my Home County since I was a baby and it’s my home county now.
It’s set in the Heart of England and as the Northamptonshire Tourist Board state “It offers something for everyone who visits or lives here”.

It’s a county not many people really know anything about, but it is actually famous for a lot of things:-

Its Historical figures

1587 - Mary Queen of Scots was executed at Fotheringhay Castle near the beautiful old town of Oundle.

1605 - The Gunpowder Plot was planned at Ashby St Ledgers.

1943 Major Clark Gable, film star, flew combat missions from Polebrook in WWII

Lady Diana Spencer, later to become Diana Princess of Wales, also called Northamptonshire her home, living (before her marriage) at Althorp House in Great Brington. This is still home to her Brother the current Earl Spencer and his family.

It’s Battles.

1264 - First Battle of Northampton

1460 - Second battle of Northampton in the War of the Roses.

1645 - Battle of Naseby

Historical Events

3500BC - The first settlement began in at Briar Hill and it obviously progressed from there.

43AD – The Romans arrived.

1675 - The Great Fire of Northampton destroyed three quarters of the town.

1934 - Work began in Corby on the largest steelworks in Britain. My Dad, Uncle and Grandfather worked there. That could even be my Grandads light blue car in the photo.

Corby Steelworks - unable to find who owns photo.

1948 - The British Grand Prix was first held at Silverstone and it is still held there today, bringing in thousands of visitors to the County. A fact we are very proud of. Silverstone itself is a beautiful village in a lovely setting.

Courtesy of Lesley Anne Vance - Facebook

2003 - The first chip and pin trials started in Northampton. I worked for one of those companies who took part in the trial, Northampton Travel Services. It’s now used worldwide.

Sulgrave Manor - copyright unknown

Stately homes and Castles.

Rockingham is home to the beautiful Rockingham Castle; set high on the hill overlooking several counties.

Boughton House, home to the Duke of Buccleuch and his family, who are relatives of our Queen.

Sulgrave Manor which is the ancestral home of the family of George Washington.

Althorp House courtesy of Pinterest

Althorp House Home of the Spencer Family. Princess Diana's former home and current home to her Brother Earl Spencer.

Museums

We have numerous different museums ranging from railway museums, canal museums, Boot and Shoe museums, Roman Villa museums.

Families

Race Tracks - For thrill seekers there are the thrills and spills of motor racing at Silverstone, Rockingham or Santa Pod.

Wicksteed park, set in 148 acres of parkland with 40 rides and attractions. It was given to the children of Kettering by it’s founder Charles Wicksteed who it is said, told that he wanted the children of Kettering to be able to play for free in the beautiful park, and yes you still can on the swings and slides side of the park, but now everything else comes at a price. It’s a great day out if you have kids. (add picture) Generations of families in the area have bought their children there. My grandparents did their “courting” there, as did my parents.

View from the Zip Wire over to Barton Seagrave my home village

The Old Bank - Turkish Restaurant - Rothwell

Places to stay and eat

We have great places to stay from Hotels, to Canal boats and Farm Stays. Something for everyone.

For eating out you can get almost any kind of meal you want. There’s Indonesian; Chinese; Greek; Turkish; Indian; Malaysian; BBQ; American diners; hundreds of quiet country pubs; chain restaurants and more.There is certainly something for all tastes.

Authors

Added to all of that we also have a plethora of very talented wordsmiths in our County. Check them out on my blog tomorrow, in my post on Northamptonshire Authors.

So you see Northamptonshire has it all… So iff you’ve never visited and never really considered visiting us, you really should!