num_pages: 496
description: Splendid and sumptuous historical novel from the internationally bestselling author, Philippa Gregory, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon. We think of Katherine of Aragon as the barren wife of a notorious king; but behind this legacy lies a fascinating story. 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 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.
language: English
title: The Constant Princess
titlecomplete: The Constant Princess
characters: Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, Catherine of Aragon, Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII of England, Henry VIII of England, Arthur, Prince of Wales
genres: Fiction, Historical, British Literature, Romance, Adult, Tudor Period, Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Audiobook
ratings_count: 160971
places: Ludlow, Wales, London, England
series: The Tudor Court, The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction Longlist
publisher: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster