Flora Harding

Before the Crown

One of the most iconic Royal weddings of all time.

Lucy

3.75

As a massive fan of the Netflix series The Crown, I grabbed at the chance to read this book. “Before the Crown” is literally set before Elizabeth was crowned Queen and follows the love story between her and Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. 

Even though this is a work of fiction I did appreciate all the research the author went to, to make it as plausible as possible. 

As romance books goes it was okay. The actual love story was a VERY slowburn and this is definitely PG-13. So as a romance book lover I would have liked to have a bit more steaminess. Overall a lovely book but nothing groundbreaking.

Before the crown there was a love story...

Jagoda Nowak

Before the Crown by Flora Harding tells a story of the beginning of the relationship between then Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten. I’m an absolute sucker for royal romance, and I love historical fiction, especially that of the United Kingdom so this book was perfect for me. I read it in two days, and I’m really impressed by how the author presented the story of their relationship and at the same time was able to maintain their characters. Elizabeth was quiet and dutiful, and Philip was charismatic and restless. I really enjoyed seeing how well their characters interact with each other despite their differences. I’m also glad that we got to see some insights into Philip’s family life. The author perfectly depicted their love story, and I really liked this book.
(I received a copy via NetGalley.)

Mariya Tuchinskaya 

I’ve long been interested in the British monarchy so when I stumbled on this book I just knew that I had to read it. I have to say that I’m so glad I did, because this book is phenomenal!

First of all, Flora Harding does a fantastic job of making the reader feel as if they are in the heads of the future Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Thanks to each “character” having their own POV they felt more real to me so to speak. That may seem like a strange thing to say since this book is based on real people, however with the Queen and Prince Philip so rarely voicing any thoughts or opinions it is sometimes hard to think of them as something other than symbols of the British monarchy and people. The different POV chapters allow us to see these two not as royals, but just two people struggling with their roles and budding feelings for one another.

This is definitely not a sappy love story, which fits well with how the Queen and Prince Philip present themselves in real life. And even though we know a “happily ever after” s is sure to come, we are treated to a friendship that eventually blossoms into something more rather than a passionate romance from the very start. The pair at times come off as too practical, in my opinion at least, when it comes to planning their marriage. However the POV chapters help us realize that these are two very guarded people Their roles in life and previous experiences make it difficult for them to let anyone in. That is why any declaration of feelings seems to resonate more and comes off as that much more heartfelt.

Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed was learning more about Prince Philip’s family and background. His mother was definitely an interesting character. Princess Alice was definitely not your typical princess.And Prince Andrew was very much an absentee father. It was also surprising to learn that Prince Philip’s sisters had married high ranking Nazi officers. Learning about Prince Philip’s complicated past definitely goes some way to explain his relationship with his children, especially Prince Charles. I was also very surprised with regards to how much opposition there was to the marriage of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth. It seems that the royal family and even the British government were dead set against the match. Their ability to overcome these obstacles and remain married for so long seems even more impressive now.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. Flora Harding did a fantastic job of making these “characters” and the time period come alive. At times I almost felt like I was witnessing these events rather than just reading about them. I feel that this book definitely deserves a 5 out of 5 and I highly recommend it to all my fellow historical fiction readers.

Roos Kuijper 

Thanks Edelweiss+ for this E-Arc.

Review will come, but I can already say that I liked it a lot!

Before the Crown

Reviews