Philippa Gregory’s latest novel continues her exploration of Tudor women, this time dealing with the often forgotten early years of King Henry VIII’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Gregory’s female protagonists are usually notable for their fieriness and here Katherine is no exception. Gregory presents to us not Katherine the wronged wife, but Katherine the determined young princess.

The novel opens with snippets from Katherine (Catalina’s) childhood in Spain, in particular the events surrounding her parents’ capture of the magnificent Alhambra Palace from the Moors. Raised by a warrior queen, Katherine has learnt from her earliest years to do her duty and put her country and God before her personal needs. The opening chapters establish Catalina as a young woman convinced from her earliest years that it is her God ordained destiny to be queen of England.

Katherine is of course sent to England to marry Arthur, eldest son of King Henry VII. Thus establishing an alliance between England and Spain. The blossoming and idealistic young love between the young couple is beautifully captured by Gregory and the tragic ending of the marriage brought me to tears despite the fact I knew from history what was doomed to happen. Arthur’s dying wish is for Katherine to marry his younger brother the spoilt Henry, despite the fact this requires Katherine to tell one of the greatest lies in history. The history of this point is debatable, however Gregory’s version of events is highly convincing.

Gregory has the wonderful ability to breathe life into the ‘unknown’ characters of the past, and here, as she did for Mary Boleyn in ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ and Amy Dudley in ‘The Virgin’s Lover’ Gregory presents us a Katherine very different to our perceived idea of her as the cast aside, barren, first wife of England’s fat king. Gregory’s Katherine is a beautiful young woman determined to do her best for the country she believes it is her destiny to rule. Gregory finally helps us to understand the often misrepresented wife, the mother of ‘Bloody Mary’ and the woman usurped by the far more popular (in modern eyes at least) Anne Boleyn.

The novel is a definite page turner, however it is not perfect. There were moments when I felt Catalina’s feelings towards the Moors were a little too politically correct, it seems to me unlikely that a girl bought up in an atmosphere of such fervent Catholicism (her parents introduced the inquisition) would have such forward thinking ideas about religious toleration.

Also Gregory’s choice to alternate between third and first person narrative, whilst a good idea in theory, I do not believe was effective. It would have been considerably less jarring had she kept to one tense and I often found Katherine’s point of view to repeat what we knew from the narrative. Gregory’s writing is so clear we do not need Katherine to reiterate every point made.

‘The Constant Princess’ is an elegant and engrossing book, well worth reading. Gregory brings the characters of the past to life so vividly that I almost found myself wondering if Katherine would manage to marry Henry! I certainly found myself feeling far more sympathy towards the tragic queen. The Constant Princess was a wonderful read and I await Gregory’s next Tudor novel with considerable excitement.

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