The Constant Princess - Philippa Gregory

Katherine of Aragon is born Catalina, the Spanish Infanta, to parents who are both rulers and warriors. Aged four, she is betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and is raised to be Queen of England. She is never in doubt that it is her destiny to rule that far-off, wet, cold land. 

Her faith is tested when her prospective father-in-law greets her arrival in her new country with a great insult; Arthur seems little better than a boy; the food is strange and the customs coarse. Slowly she adapts to the first Tudor court, and life as Arthur’s wife grows ever more bearable. 

But when the studious young man dies, she is left to make her own future: how can she now be queen, and found a dynasty? Only by marrying Arthur’s young brother, the sunny but spoilt Henry. His father and grandmother are against it; her powerful parents prove little use. Yet Katherine is her mother’s daughter and her fighting spirit is strong.

She will do anything to achieve her aim; even if it means telling the greatest lie, and holding to it.

Blurb taken from Goodreads.

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My love of studying history has always meant that I love historical fiction, and I've read Philippa Gregory's work before. I decided to read The Other Boleyn Girl a couple of years ago, not sure how I would feel about it. I ended up absolutely loving it, and it just made me more keen to read more of Gregory's work. Since then, I've collected a few more of her novels that focus on the Tudor period, as it is an era that I've always had a particular interest in.

I decided to read The Constant Princess next, and was really excited to delve into the world of Catherine of Aragon, and learn a little bit more about her in the process. I knew the basic details of her story within Tudor England, but not in the same level of detail as that of Anne Boleyn.

I thought I'd enjoy this book, but I'm surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. It covers a long period of time for a single novel, which, although necessary, made it feel like it jolted forwards too quickly in places. However, I thought the character of Catherine was painted really beautifully, and I really loved following her story. I really rooted for her, and loved learning about how she came to be so intertwined in British history. 

Rating: ✫✫✫✫

SPOILER ALERT

The Story

This book covers a really long period of time, which I appreciate was necessary in order to really capture the story of Catherine of Aragon. However, it felt a little bit unnatural for the story to go on for so long. The portions of the story that focused on Catherine's relationship with Arthur, and then Catherine's eventual marriage to Henry as well, were really powerful and interesting. I enjoyed the depth that went into these elements of the story, and I really found myself able to connect with our heroine because of this. I liked that the final few chapters of the book focused on the build up to the dissolution of Catherine's marriage to Henry, which is probably the most famous part of her story. However, it didn't necessarily feel natural for it to be tagged onto the end of a prolonged story about Catherine's much younger years. 

The character of Catherine, especially in the early stages of the book, is a very powerful one. We always hear of Anne Boleyn as the most famous of Henry's wives, but I loved that The Constant Princess showed Catherine of Aragon as equally strong and independent in her own right. It was a side to her that I had never properly considered before. She is painted as  young girl, but also as a strong woman who is surviving in a world that could so easily turn against her. I really connected to her.

What really makes this book shine is the way the relationships and emotions are explored, which is obviously entirely fictional. We have to appreciate that although we know certain facts about the history of these figures, we can't really know the ins and outs of the personalities and relationships that went with them. Yet I think Gregory does a fantastic job of creating the fictional conversations to really bulk out the story. I really felt Catherine's connection to Arthur, and my heart broke for her when he died and she was left to pick up the pieces of her life in a strange country. It makes me wish I could know what really happened between them, and what truly motivated her to pursue the crown.

The Verdict

I think authors who write historical fiction are under the most pressure. Not only do they have to create a convincing story, but it also has to fit in with historical facts that we do know, as well as the assumptions that many people have made about events. 

I think Philippa Gregory is very good at crafting very real, emotional relationships out of only a baseline of fact. We know only the facts of Catherine of Aragon's marriage to Arthur, and then the events that led up to her subsequent marriage to Henry as well. We know the details of her miscarriages and the birth of her daughter Mary, but we do not know the conversations that fell between, or the feelings of any of the parties involved. It felt strange to read The Constant Princess and continually wonder how much of it could be true. However, I really enjoyed the fictional account that Gregory created. It made the events come alive on the page, and painted Catherine of Aragon as a very strong individual to admire, which isn't often seen.