Interview with Wendy Holden - Author of The Princess
‘THE PRINCESS is the most moving, heart-breaking royal story I have ever read. I had tears in my eyes and lumps in my throat continuously...this wonderful, wonderful novel brought Diana’s life into focus with such clarity, I felt I knew her as a friend.’ 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Cindy L Spear (Full review here.) ️️️️️
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Number one bestselling author Wendy Holden has written ten consecutive Sunday Times Top Ten bestsellers. A former journalist on the Sunday Times, Tatler and the Mail on Sunday, she contributes to a range of publications and is a TV and radio regular. She was a judge for the Costa 2013 Novel and Book of the Year Awards. Wendy lives with her husband and two children in Derbyshire.
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INTERVIEW
Why did you decide to write a novel based on the late Princess Diana?
I’d always been interested in her. I watched her wedding as a teenager and have been fascinated ever since. And once a generation had passed since she died, I thought she was a proper historic figure— so deserved a historical novel.
Please provide an overview of your story and the royal world you created?
My novel is about the young Diana, her childhood and youth, and the route she took to the altar. It’s about her engagement to Prince Charles; how, why and with the help of whom it came about. It’s about the part of her story no-one knows, and stops at the point we all got to know her; on the steps at St Paul’s.
Your novel comes across as well researched. This is a work of fiction but how difficult was it to acquire and utilise the information you needed to create your own story? What were your best resources? Did you take any excursions?
There’s a lot of information about Diana, many biographies, films, TV programmes. I worked my way through a lot! Excursion-wise, I am often in London, so it was easy to visit her stamping-grounds there. The main challenge was to decide what my angle on the story was going to be, and how I was going to tell it. In that sense my best resource was my ability to fill in the gaps between the events, and imagine what everyone said and felt.
Although a large part of your story is based on Diana’s younger years, we know that once she took that step towards the royal realm, she was in the world’s eyes 24/7. How do you think this affected her and shaped her life?
The press adored Diana – they were determined to push her and Charles together. So they completely shaped her life! At first she dealt with them brilliantly; she had an amazing ability to connect and empathise. She loved tabloid newspapers, so in a sense she was their audience and knew what they wanted. But after the engagement it got very intense and started to affect other people. She had to develop ways of protecting herself and those around her. This was the reason she moved into Buckingham Palace for that strange and lonely period right before the wedding.
Your story shows that Diana early on held a romantic view of life. That she read romance novels. How did this both help and hinder her?
I think they helped by providing escapism but hindered by giving her an unrealistic view of love and relationships.
Why did you create the character Sandy and give her the traits and background she has? How did she help in the telling of your story?
Diana’s story is very complicated and in terms of the royal engagement, many people were involved. I wanted to write the story from many different points of view and needed something to frame it all. The invention of Sandy, the old schoolfriend to whom Diana tells the story of her engagement, was perfect for this.
Diana was deemed the People’s Princess. Her passion for helping others is well known. How does your story show she was different from other royal members?
I wanted to bring out how very young she was, how starry-eyed, innocent and well-meaning. Every other royal was the complete opposite of this. And there were incidents in Diana’s youth that pointed towards the compassionate person she would become. Her school sent its girls every week to a local psychiatric hospital to interact with the patients as part of an early social outreach programme. None of the other girls knew what to do, they were terrified of the patients. Only Diana was completely at home from the first. This was a great scene to fictionalise; I could imagine it so vividly.
Matchmaking and royal training are part of your story’s plot. Please share a little of how Stephen the Valet and the Queen Mother assisted others in this task?
The Queen Mother was adamant that Charles should be married. She had lived through the Abdication and was determined that her grandson would not be another Edward VIII. She was therefore in the forefront of the efforts to find him a bride and it was she who spotted Diana at a family wedding. As Charles’s right-hand man, Stephen’s role was to manage the relationship; fix the meetings, arrange the comings and goings. As readers will see, he too had his own special reasons for doing this!
Why do you think after all these years, there is a still a fascination with Diana’s life? Does the interest in fairy-tales come into play here?
I think it’s more the drama of it all, the huge scale of her rise and fall, all played out on the public stage. It’s more a tragedy than a fairy tale. I think people care because they thought Diana had something in common with them. She had a link with ordinary people that none of the others have ever had.
Have you always wanted to be a writer? Please share an overview of your publishing journey: your favourite and least favourite parts of the experience. Before I was a writer I was a journalist for fourteen years on glossy mags and newspapers. I enjoyed the buzz but it could be stressful. Writing is very different; it’s very solitary for one thing. I have had to develop self-discipline!
Name two authors who have inspired you? For each, list two of their books that are your favourites and what is unique about them.
Hilary Mantel’s Tudor trilogy was just amazing. I found the way she entered the heads of her historical characters and changed the way we thought about them simply extraordinary. So that would be Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. On a non-historical, humorous and completely escapist note, I love P G Wodehouse, especially his Jeeves books. So I’d say Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen and Eggs, Beans and Crumpets.
What fun or relaxing activities do you like to engage in when not writing a novel?
Travelling. Moving instead of staying in one place! My favourite places are Paris, Rome and the South of France. But honestly, I’m happy to go anywhere, even to the supermarket. Anything that gets me out of my hut!
Where is your number one place to visit for a holiday or for creative revitalisation? What makes this location special to you?
I love Scotland. We go every year to the West Highlands, by the sea. It made visualising Balmoral and the countryside around it very easy!
Are you working on any new projects or series that you can share a little about? You will have to wait and see!
Thanks so much Wendy for being my guest author today. I wish you much success on the release of your exciting new novel and encourage everyone to get a copy!
