I really loved this story. The prince who doesn't want to be one and the glimpse into the pressures of a royal life are so interesting. The other characters kept me interested, too. ( )

The Golden Prince by Rebecca Dean is a historical fiction story based on the a young Prince Edward who was, in the future, destined to give up the British throne for the woman he loved.

The book is set when he is seventeen and I believe is meant to justify the callow lifestyle he eventually followed. In this book, he hates the restrictions and protocol of being the crown prince and yearns to escape. He does stumble into the life of four sisters and before too long fancies himself in love with one of them. Of course his rigid disciplinarian father and other officials will never agree to a love match, only a royal princess is fit to marry their future king.

The premise of the story was interesting but the writing just didn't capture me. The characters felt flat and formulistic and the author's attempt to romanticize this self absorbed, overly privileged young man didn't ring true.

I have a number of other books on my shelf by this author, including the sequel to this novel, but I don't think I will be in any hurry to pull them down. ( )

This is a nice slice of historical fiction. Set during the formative years of Prince Edward, who would much later abdicate the throne and turn it over to his brother (the subject of the book/movie The King's Speech), it lays out the story of his first love and strong desire to break free from his rigid royal life. While some of the names are changed and new settings created, many of the plot points did actually occur. The story covers the lives of four sisters and how their life pursuits unfold against the prince's as he becomes a dear friend to all and falls in love with one. There is one character that I struggled with in how he plays out in the story, especially toward the end. It felt forced and distracting to me. But other than that, I loved this story and recommend it to other loves of British historical fiction. ( )

Having finished this book yesterday I have been trying to work what annoyed me the most about it, and there are many
- why I continued to read it, even though I didn't like it?
- the fact the ending makes no sense in light of what we know Edward VIII went on to do (not be a good king, but abdicate)?
- the predictability of what who was going to marry who?
- the fact the book really centred on the four sisters, not Price Edward (despite being called Golden Prince)
- the ridiculous (and often stilted) dialogue

But I think my biggest bug bear is that it fiction masquerading as fact. I don't mind historical novels where the main characters are fictional - Sharon Kay Penman does it very successfully in her Queen's Man series, but Penman also makes it clear that Justin de Quincy is fictional. What she does do is fit a fictional character into the real world, without effecting history. I probably wouldn't have minded so much in the Golden Prince if there had been a foreword or postscript that said 'for literary purposes I made Lily Houghton and her family', but there is nothing like that .

A quick search reveals that
a) Lily Houghton was made up, so was the whole story
b) there are a good number of people out there who believe the book to be based on history!
That I think is misleading ans unfair on the reader. ( )

A good read and an interesting exploration of the early life of Edward VIII, the British monarch who famously abdicated in order to marry a divorced woman. In this imagined tale, Edward - or David to his friends - falls in love with Lily Houghton, but their chances for happiness are thwarted because Lily is not royal and David's family is insistent that he marry only a royal bride. As fascinating as the royal affair is, I found Lily's sisters - the suffrage Rose and the scandalous Marigold - infinitely more interesting characters. In comparison to the adventures and experiences of her sisters, Lily felt like a flat character, which is likely why her sisters emerge as more prominent characters. A good read and an exciting look at the era, but royal romance at the center of this book fails to live up to expectations. ( )