A historically interesting book, that reveals facts and historical truths about a young princess thrown into rulership post at an early age on the death of her father the King. Interesting and mind-blowing revelations concerning the early stages of the present day reigning Queen, Elizabeth the second. These facts were contributed by the loving Palace staffs, who painted a fairytale in living colors, which brought to life certain interesting information about the early times as we have never heard or seen. The author did an excellent job of relaying these events, like a true historian. This revelation is done with such style giving the book a fairytale facade. It was like reading one of my historical fairytale romance adventure novels. The only difference is, this tale is a true one, retold by the faithful and loving servants of her majesty. It shows her growth from a young princess with romantic dreams to that of a powerful and memorable ruler, who was loved and revered by all. She held the reigns and ruled with dignity, style, elegance, honor and a subtle iron will that could not be questioned. A most astute and interesting collaboration of facts and events recorded about an iconic ruler, a living legend, God saves the Queen, nicely presented autobiography a job well done.

I'm not really into the Royal Family frenzy but I was curious to read about the early years of Queen Elizabeth II. A very well documented memoir.It was a pleasure reading it!

Thank you Thistle Publishing and Netgalley for this lovely book.

I've read this book with pleasure. Being a fan of series about historical figures, I obviously loved The Crown but it was interesting to have background information presented in a very readable book. It could have done with pictures, I think, but on the other hand it provided enough links to look them up myself.
Since I'm no expert I cannot say how well the book was researched but the end product is informative and entertaining.

I've developed a bit of an interest in Queen Elizabeth II in recent years due to the different films and tv shows revolving around her and the royal family. I was excited to read this book because it focuses on her life before she became queen whereas most of my limited knowledge about her is stuff that has taken place after her coronation. The book also provides some background info about other members of the royal family, including her husband Philip, her uncle who famously abdicated his title, and her mother whose true parentage remains under scrutiny.

While I did enjoy reading about Queen Elizabeth's family, I much preferred when the attention was on her. Regardless of your feelings on whether the monarchy should still exist in today's times, you have to admit that being a princess and later queen isn't all sunshine and rainbows. I can't imagine having to live your life under a microscope which she has had to do since birth. It was fascinating to learn some of the little things you take for granted that she is/was unable to do because of her title. I do love though that her parents did try their best to make sure they spent quality time together as a family when they could. Overall, a really interesting look at the Queen's childhood and early years of her marriage before her father died.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Princess is a good summary of Elizabeth II early life. It has interesting information about other people around her and thankfully, it does not focus on royal family’s scandals, it gives interesting synopsis of the queen to be life from birth till her coronation. The only thing that really irked me was the ending of the book. It just ended with the fact that there was the coronation. No summary that this was how her reign started, and how she will become one of the longest reigning monarch.

The study was good and it offered interesting new information, but the summary was missing, and it left the story incomplete.

I have read many books on The Windsors and Queen Elizabeth, so the challenge was to find something fresh and new in a well-trodden subject. Coming to this book presented by a small British publishing house, I wondered how this would measure up against other bestsellers on the topic. To my pleasant surprise, this was a worthwhile read; well-researched and sprinkled with new information.

The book begins with the death of Princess Elizabeth's father, King George VI, triggering Elizabeth's ascension to the British throne. It then backtracks in time to the marriage of her parents, the birth of Princess Elizabeth and later, her younger sister Princess Margaret. There is much depth to the telling of this history such as deeply fleshing out the family background of Elizabeth's mother, the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. The book covers the princesses' upbringing such as schooling, friends, activities and social interaction, lodgings, etc. It is always very interesting reading about the challenges faced during the war such as air raids, rationing of food, clothing and utilities. The abdication by Elizabeth's Uncle David (King Edward VIII) of course thrust Elizabeth's father into the role of Monarch, where he braved the uncertain times of war and set a good example for his nation. Naturally, the book also covers Philip Mountbatten who married Princess Elizabeth and became Prince Consort.

Immediately following each chapter are reference notes to expand on various information in that chapter. The book comes full circle when it ends as it began...with Queen Elizabeth's assumption to the British throne following her father's death.

This was a quality book about the early years of the former Princess Elizabeth, jam-packed with detail for both British royalty novices and passionate royalists. In closing I'll leave you with a lovely line from the end of the book where a close family member commented on Elizabeth and Philip's marriage:

"Philip's been wonderful and he's mellowed tremendously in old age. They're delicious together."

This is my first time reading a biography of a living monarch which came about because the cover captured my attention. This book has accomplished what it set out to do: to document the early life of Queen Elizabeth II up to her marriage.

Given the large ensemble of people mentioned throughout, I wished the author would address them using their courtesy titles since there were, for example: cousin Margaret and Princess Margaret. But she probably wanted to keep the tone of the book somewhat informal.

Thankfully that makes it rather readable. It also follows the time period chronologically so that’s a big plus for me. I’d say that all that research and writing pulled off well, seeing how the text ‘flowed’ on the page.

On the other hand I would not advise anyone to spend the whole Sunday afternoon just to finish this book. There is just lots of details and information to chew over. Overall it sort of hampered my excitement of reading it. I was reading chapter after chapter to sustain my waning interest. I am also dismayed by the fact that there weren’t any photographs in the book.

To sum it up, the book is quite informative with exciting bits peppered here and there but as I reached the end of it I found it quite bland. It would have been nice if some of the chapters were shorter than it was.

Well documented book about the current Queen Elizabeth. Really enjoyable reading about her life and how her uncle abdication completely changed her life. Quick read but lots of details about the royal life.

I have always been curious about real royal life. This was a really good book and offered a unique insight into Queen Elizabeth. It didn't read like a biography (some are like history books) the author did this in a way that made it seem like you were reading a novel.

An excellent and well-written biography of Elizabeth II before she became Queen. While the outline of her life is known, most biographies don't spend much time on this period, which is a shame. Here Dismore did extensive research, including many in-person interviews to give us a wonderfull portrait.

A wonderful biography of Queen Elizabeth II, perfect for Royal Family addicts and lovers of Netflix’s The Crown!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#Princess #NetGalley

Meticulously and thoroughly researched, this book starts before Elizabeth II was born and traces her childhood, her love affair with Prince Phillip, and her ascension to the throne after her father's death. It is very much a family story, showing the royals as mothers, fathers, sisters, daughters, brothers. This makes the story engaging and intimate. Some of the ancillary characters got confusing—too many names to keep straight—and the storytelling lagged and got a bit repetitious at times, but Dinsmore's research is impeccable.

I thank NetGalley for a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest assessment.

On February 6, 1952, at age 25, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II. At the time, she was married to Philip and the mother of 2 children. Her father, George VI, died when he was thought to be recovering from lung surgery. As Elizabeth and Philip were on tour at the time of the King’s death, many plans were set in place for her return to England and her succession to the Crown.

This book is broken up into spans of years. It delves into some early history of the Royal Family which I found fascinating. We learn about each of the family members and some history about each of them. The book also goes into how World War II affected the people of England and how strong even the royals had to be. There are snippets about the nannies of Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret and the differences in the girls’ personalities.

I have read numerous biographies of Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Royal Family and I was delighted to learn many new facts. I was also impressed with how well the author wrote the story in that she did not show any bias when writing about the family members. That has always been a pet peeve of mine when reading other biographies. Too many authors let their bias shine through loud and clear. So, I congratulate Jane Dismore on her fair account. I highly recommend this book and I know readers will love it. If you are a Royalist like me, this will be a book you won’t want to put down.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Jane Dismore's Princess provides the foundation for that period of Queen Elizabeth's life with which we are least familiar, her childhood. It is interesting and yet unsurprising to read of her early years and realize that she was born - and reared - to be Queen. The qualities that the Queen exhibits in her daily life were present from her birth. All the things we know of her - duty, common sense, discernment, dependability, patience - were true of her from the beginning.
The author has, specifically through the words of those who knew the Princess and her family, revealed a genuinely good, happy person to us. It pleases us to watch Elizabeth's protective care of her sister, her dutiful yet loving and adoring attention to her parents and grandmother, and her willingness to work and to serve others, even as a child. That the Princesses were musical and loved to dance and that their father participated in their entertainments adds to the picture of them as a normal family. Though normal was certainly not their circumstance, apparently all efforts were made to see that the girls were grounded in appreciation and respect for others.
The reader should be prepared for lengthy passages containing much detail about lineage and locations, sometimes seemingly irrelevant to the focus of the book.
The biography is an in-depth look at the early years of a remarkable woman and her remarkable life.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thistle Publishing for an ARC of this book. I was excited to see a book available about the royal family. I devour most anything about the royals and this was no exception, and this biography included information I hadn’t read about. I think that’s what makes this biography stand out. I hadn’t read that much detail about Queen Elizabeth’s childhood and early years. I found the book the be well written and it kept my interest. I would recommend this book to anyone interested or wanting to know more about the Queen or the royal family.

Thank you NetGally.com and Jane Dismore for the opportunity to read this fabulous story of the Queen. I have read numerous books on the Royal Family and this is by far a favorite. I love the very detailed moments and the intimate portrait of the young princess. Five Stars!

This book offered a rare glimpse of Queen Elizabeth's life from birth to right after her marriage to Prince Philip. I am a huge fan of the show The Crown and love that this book offered a lot more information on Elizabeth's life before she became Queen. The author did a great job covering this period of her life and of describing the various events and people that influenced Elizabeth. Anyone that enjoys reading about the Royal Family will love this book!

Princess by Jane Dismore is an excellent Biography of Queen Elizabeth II. The minute historical details woven into Elizabeth‘s story of her early life. The influences of the Royal Family, friends, World War II, England and her faith. The reader has the feeling of being there and watching it all happen. I thank the author, publisher and netgalley for allowing me privilege to read and enjoy this book,

Interesting insight into the life of Queen Elizabeth II. I haven't read much about het history before, so it was new information for me. Very interesting.

Thank you to Net Galley and Thistle Publishing for an advance read of Princess, in exchange for my honest review. I have read many books on the royal family. I wasn't sure if this one would be too dry to keep my interest, which can sometimes happen. I'm happy to say that it was not. The only caveat I'll give is that this book has a lot of pre-story to Elizabeth, as it covers her entire life, pre-birth and just after her marriage to Prince Phillip. If you're looking for insight into her childhood, I'd highly recommend this book. I kept going back and looking at pictures throughout her life, just to match the "girl" with the information in the book. I loved it, and if you love books on the royal family, you'll enjoy this a great deal. #Princess #NetGalley