Princess Buchanan

**Princess Buchanan**, portrayed by Laura White, first appeared on 2 March 2022. She was introduced as a trainee doctor at Sutton Vale Surgery, which the Mill take over. When Bear Sylvester (Dex Lee) gives Princess a tour of the Mill, she likes what she sees, and Princess "makes an impression" upon her arrival at the Mill. Daniel Granger (Matthew Chambers) asks Sid Vere (Ashley Rice) to become Princess' trainer. Sid is impressed by Princess' skills as a doctor as she is a "hard and dedicated worker". Princess meets with Daniel and Zara Carmichael (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh) to discuss her future at the Mill. Despite them trying to have her situated at Sutton Vale, Princess pushes them to make her primarily working at the Mill, since she prefers the opportunities it has for her career. Princess begins to impress everybody at the Mill with how she has settled into the work regime, but her "cunning and manipulative side" comes into play when she starts "playing the staff for fools". After Sid becomes unreliable with her training, Princess visits her mother, Constance (Linda Hargreaves). She asks Constance if her uncle Zach, a doctor, can help her finish her medical training instead of the Mill, to which Constance refuses. Princess blackmails receptionist Scarlett Kiernan (Kia Pegg) for which she receives a two-week suspension. She is later at the centre of a murder investigation of her former boss, Dr. Jacob Ashdown, who she often clashed with prior to his death.

Over the duration of numerous months, Princess makes a conscious effort to "turn over a new leaf" and get on with her colleagues at the Mill. She becomes keen to impress them and pitches that an ultrasound machine be supplied for the Mill from the partners' budget, to which she gets told no. However, she secures an ultrasound using her uncle, to which Sid thanks her for. However, after Scarlett secretly breaks the machine, Princess goes "on the warpath" with a strong belief that Scarlett is responsible. After nobody believes Princess and become disinterested in her fury, she "realises that nobody is on her side and has decided... to hell with 'em all!" She starts being rude to her colleagues and patients again, as well as contacting a doctor from a different surgery about getting a job there. It was confirmed that this had formed the start of her exit, with Princess' final scenes set to air in January 2023 after being let go from the Mill.

*Metro'*s Chris Hallam felt that the addition of Princess to the cast had "generated fireworks" for *Doctors* and despite her "extremely manipulative personality", he was interested in learning more about the character. He found it hard to sympathise with the character but suggested that her unlikeable qualities may have been caused by a difficult childhood. After Princess' scheme involving Scarlett, Hallam described her as "devilish", while his *Metro* colleague Duncan Lindsay tweeted that she is "such an icon". For her portrayal of the role, White was nominated for the British Soap Award for Villain of the Year twice, in 2022 and 2023. She also received a nomination for Leading Acting Performance accolade at the 2022 RTS Midlands Awards.