THE GOLDEN PRINCE

Author: Rebecca Dean ISBN: 9780767930567 1/2011 HISTORICAL FICTION Publisher: RANDOM
Time Period: 1911-12 England and France

It’s 1912, and seventeen-year-old Prince Edward, England’s Golden Prince of Wales, is feeling the burden of his position. As heir to the greatest throne in the world, he hates the constrictions and superficial demands of his royal life. His father, King George, is a harsh disciplinarian, and his mother, Queen Mary, is reserved and cold. Other than his siblings, he has no friends and despairs at his isolation and loneliness.   However, when unexpected circumstances bring him to Snowberry Manor, home of the four Houghton sisters, his life suddenly seems more interesting. As he secretly spends more time with Lily, the youngest of the girls, he finds himself falling hopelessly in love.     But Lily is not royal, and a thousand years of precedent insist that future Queens of England are of royal blood. Worse, King George reveals he already has a princess in line for Edward to marry. Will the strength of their love be enough or will destiny tear them apart?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE GOLDEN PRINCE is a more complex tale than the back cover copy implies. The story begins when the seventeen-year-old Prince of Wales (the future Duke of Windsor) nearly runs over a young woman while driving from his school to Windsor Palace. Isolated and forbidden friends, he is enchanted by the friendly welcome the aristocratic young woman’s family gives him.

The Houghton family is on a much looser leash than the royal family. Four sisters live with their elderly grandfather, an earl, since their father is dead and their mother lives in France. Ranging from late teens to early twenties, the novel is really about them – Rose, the suffragette; Marigold, the sexpot; Iris, the country girl; and Lily, the semi-saintly artist and their love lives.

I appreciated how close to reality the author stayed with the Prince of Wales’ real character. Having recently read a biography of the Windsors, I could see her attention to historical fact, though it made it that much harder for me to see the prince as a romantic character. However, the romance is very young and tragic and may not have been meant to make the prince a grand figure of selfless tragedy anyway.

I did find the book a bit slow going because there were so many point-of-view characters. Even the old-fashioned, omniscient point-of-view slipped in there. The ending was a little odd as well, but in general, I enjoyed the book.

If you are a fan of early twentieth century settings or royalty-based fiction, you will certainly enjoy this novel and its fictionalization of a princely romance. The characters also reminded me a bit of some 50s and 60s movies, so if you like those, you may appreciate this novel as well.

Heather Hiestand