1–What is the title of your latest release?
THE PRINCESS. It’s the final novel in my trilogy about controversial women in the House of Windsor. The other two are The Governess, about Queen Elizabeth’s teacher and confidante, and The Duchess, which is my hot take on that other famous American duchess, Wallis Simpson.
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
It’s a novel, the first novel, about the young Princess Diana. It’s about the part of her life that’s not so well-known; her journey to becoming Princess of Wales. Her childhood, schooldays and meeting Prince Charles. Theirs was the most celebrated royal wedding ever, but why did it come about? How did the awkward country teenager turn into the most famous woman in the world?
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Diana’s early life was spent in very specific places; all very aristocratic and glamorous. Her first home was Park House, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, which is one of the Royal Family’s favorite holiday homes. As a child, Diana used to go to birthday parties at Sandringham House for the young princes Andrew and Edward. This was where she and Charles first laid eyes on each other (during a game of hide and seek). Later, once her father had become Earl Spencer, the family moved to Althorp, the magnificent family seat in Northamptonshire. After that was the lovely apartment in Kensington, London that she shared with her flatmates. And once the royals started to see her as a possible bride for Charles, she went to Buckingham Palace, Balmoral, Windsor, the Royal Yacht Britannia and so on. There’s a lot of location porn in this novel!
4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Definitely. But I felt I was doing so by writing about her. The Princess is a very deep dive into what it was like to be Diana at school, in London as a young woman and when she and Prince Charles first got together. What must it have felt like? She was a fascinating person to spend a couple of years with and I still think about her all the time.
5–What are three words that describe your hero?
A hopeless romantic. Diana was obsessed with romantic novels from an early age. People dismiss this as stupid and childish, but I think it’s important, even fundamental. She sought comfort in syrupy love stories of the Barbara Cartland variety after her parents’ toxic divorce. Gradually, they formed her world view. It’s the only thing that explains why, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, she insisted on seeing Prince Charles as a knight in shining armor who was passionately in love with her. Her Barbara Cartland fixation had world-changing consequences, some of which are still playing out. I’m not sure anyone’s really seen her story from this angle before.
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I knew her parents’ divorce was terrible, but not quite how terrible. After the split, Diana’s father Johnnie got custody of Diana and her three siblings. This was quite unusual at the time because the mother normally got the children. But the reason why this happened was that Diana’s grandmother, Lady Fermoy, gave evidence during the court case against her own daughter Frances, Diana’s mother. She claimed that Frances was an unfit parent, but what was really unfit from Lady Fermoy’s perspective was that she was leaving Johnnie, the aristocratic Viscount Althorp, for the heir to a wallpaper business. Lady Fermoy was determined that the children should stay with the title. So far as she was concerned, status came before everything. Poor Diana.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
A mixture. I must have rewritten The Princess four or five times in all, at different stages. I wanted to make it absolutely perfect, to do justice to my amazing subject. This the first Diana novel so it had to be as good as possible.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Chips and crisps. I can never resist either, although strangely I’m not a great fan of chocolate. Diana’s favorite foodie indulgence was a cereal called Harvest Crunch. She used to eat it out of a bowl on her knee while she watched Crossroads, a British soap opera about a motel.
9–Describe your writing space/office!
It’s a hut in my garden. A large old wooden table functions as a desk, and there’s an old-fashioned dial telephone and shelves of all my novels in all the different languages. I feel very proud when I look at them. The hut also has an outdoor deck, sofas, records, and a record-player. During the lockdowns it became a disco, which it remains. I find pop music therapeutic, uplifting and often very wise. The finishing decadent touch is a collection of framed Aubrey Beardsley prints which I bought at auction, and which cover the bare wooden walls. And there are lots of fairylights and photographs. I love my hut, it’s one of my favorite places.
10–Who is an author you admire?
F Scott Fitzgerald. Like him, I am interested in the rich, glamorous, and famous, and what lies behind this façade. Scott’s life is almost as extraordinary as his work, all that hanging around in Paris with Ernest Hemingway!
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
The battered copy of The Little Princesses that I found in a second-hand bookshop. It’s the autobiography of Marion Crawford, governess to Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) when she was a child. Marion was training to be a teacher in Edinburgh and intending to work with the poor, in the slums. Then her path crossed with the Duchess of York (Elizabeth’s very determined mother) and she found herself working with the most privileged family in the land, if not the world. She didn’t mean to stay but one of the reasons she did was the very close connection she had to Princess Elizabeth. She had a profound influence on the future Queen, helping ground her in reality by taking her on the Tube, swimming at public baths and shopping at Woolworth’s. It’s the most incredible story but it ended sadly. After being with the royal family throughout some of the most amazing moments of the twentieth century – the Abdication of Edward VIII, which propelled Elizabeth’s father on to the throne as George VI, and the whole of World War 2 - Marion was ostracized. The royal family wanted to whitewash her out of history, which is why her story had been forgotten. But when I found it in that bookshop, I instantly wanted to write it as a novel. That became The Governess, and a bestseller, which was brilliant both for me and for Marion. I felt I was helping to bring her back into the daylight.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
It was a rainy day, and I was walking with my son on the Coastal Path in Cornwall, south-west England. It’s a very up and down route over the rocks by the sea, and at once stage I dropped my phone on the path. My son picked it up and said ‘Mum, you’ve got loads of messages’. I thought it was just the mobile company offering me some new bundles or whatever, as I wasn’t expecting anything special. The Windsor Women trilogy had been sent to various publishers, but it was early days. Turned out that the calls were from my British and US agents, and Berkley Press wanted to buy my books!
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
History! I am always thinking of new ways into famous historical characters. I like to think behind the fame; what was it like to be that person? And how did they get to be that person?
14–What’s your favorite movie?
High Society. Obviously
15–What is your favorite season?
Winter. I love the frozen, glittering landscape, the hot pink sunsets, and the early darkness. It’s so intimate and cozy, especially if your house has an open fire in the hearth, like mine does. And Christmas is my favorite time of year, I love the music, the candles, the choirs, the Christmas trees.
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
My favorite way to celebrate was when my husband was living in the South of France, and I was living in London. I used to fly over to see him for my birthday. We would get a picnic and sail across to the Iles des Lerins, the quiet little islands off the coast of Cannes. My birthday’s in June, so it would be warm and we could swim in the sea.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’ve been really enjoyed The Ambassador on Netflix. My first job out of college was in the diplomatic field, concerned with foreign diplomats in London. They had the best parties, with the strongest drinks, in the most amazing, palatial Embassy buildings. And I’ve been to the British Foreign Office a few times, so the wonderful settings were familiar and made me a little nostalgic!
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Everything. Eating is my favorite thing, and my husband is a brilliant cook. As an English person I love our national dish of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. But I also love a French steak frites; spaghetti puttanesca; chicken curry; smoked salmon and most other seafood. I love food so much and am so greedy it would be more revealing to say what I don’t like. So here goes, snails, cold baked beans, insects, salad cream.
19–What do you do when you have free time?
I work in the garden, go for walks or go to the pub. Pubs are a great British institution; the only great British institution, or so it can sometimes feel. I love travelling because I spend so much time sitting on my bottom in my hut. Any journey feels like fun, even trips to the supermarket (see food answer!)
20–What can readers expect from you next?
I’ve got some big ideas, all connected with the rich and colorful tapestry of British history. So get ready, all you historical fiction lovers!
THE PRINCESS by Wendy Holden
The whole world saw Princess Diana step from a gilded carriage for her wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral. But before that fairy-tale moment came a dark and difficult journey.…
Bestselling author Wendy Holden explores the astonishing backstory and young adulthood of the ultimate royal celebrity.
Britain, 1961: A beautiful blonde baby is born to Viscount Althorp, heir to the Spencer earldom. But Diana grows up amid the fallout of her parents’ messy divorce. She struggles at school. Her refuge throughout is romantic novels. She dreams of falling in love and being rescued by a handsome prince.
In royal circles, there is concern about the Prince of Wales. Charles is nearing thirty and the right girl needs to be found, fast. She must be young, aristocratic and completely free of past liaisons. Pure and innocent.
Eighteen-year-old Diana Spencer is just about the only candidate. Her yearning to be loved dovetails with royal desperation for a bride. But the route to the altar is perilous. There are hidden dangers. Ruthless schemers. Can Diana’s romantic dream survive?
Non-Fiction Biography [Berkley, On Sale: August 1, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593437308 / eISBN: 9780593437315]
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About Wendy Holden
Wendy Holden is a British novelist of comedies of manners. She’s authored ten Sunday Times top ten bestsellers and has sold over three million copies worldwide.
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