Good Girls Avoid Abortion: After getting pregnant from her lover, Rosa asks Lina for help. Lina gets her a potion to cause abortion, but Rosa can't bring herself to use it, instead getting assurances by her lover that he'll care for her and the baby.

Anne Boleyn is portrayed as ambitious, but not callous and mean-spirited. Her loyalty and love for Catherine of Aragon is genuine. Her father is portrayed as a good father who loves his family and while they support the Protestant Reformation (in secret) they are not portrayed as plotting to destroy the Catholic Church and/or kill the Catholic characters like in the Tudors. After Arthur's death, Lady Margaret Pole suggests that perhaps God wills that Catalina accept her fate as Dowager Princess. "He does not," Catalina responds. "I shall insist on what is mine. I know what is my duty and what I have to do" (164). Why is Catalina so certain that it's God's will she become Queen of England? Is this conviction a result of her faith, her upbringing, or something else? The author does quite well in telling the story of the young Infanta Katalina, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, betrothed at three years old to Arthur, Prince of Wales, son of England's Henry VII.

Beyond the Book

She gives the reader such a keen sense of this woman; this Catalina, Infanta of Spain more commonly known to us as Catherine of Aragon, betrothed to Henry V111. It follows her story from aged five in 1491 on the battle fields of Spain to 1529 in England at the Papal Legate to hear King's Great Matter. Henry VIII (or more likely Wolsey) arranged for Bessie Blount to be married to a highborn lord after she had given birth to Henry Fitzroy. Not so here.

Henry VII’s eldest son Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, has been betrothed since childhood to the Spanish princess Katherine of Aragon. Their marriage will cement the alliance Henry Tudor craves to secure his country. Just as a marriage is agreed between Prince Henry and Catherine, her mother Isabella dies. Her father's kingdom is too poor to pay a sufficient dowry, and her sister Joanna refuses to pay. NOTE: I'm no historian, so if you want to see how historically accurate this book is, you might want to seek another review. Since I opened with writing, let me continue in that vein for a bit more. There were no egregious spelling or grammatical errors that I could find. The text itself is a bit dry and bland (although I was stirred a bit when I read of Catalina's poverty). This review is for the audiobook version of “The Constant Princess” by Philippa Gregory, published by RecordedBooks.

BookBrowse Review

Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The relationship between the Catholics and Protestant characters is potrayed this way. It's not as intense as the Tudors and Wolf Hall. Double In-Law Marriage: Queen Joanna's son Charles is betrothed to Princess Mary of England, and her daughter Eleanor is betrothed to Prince Henry. Meanwhile, Catherine is angling to marry her own former brother-in-law, Prince Henry.

Now, I'm no fan of Philippa Gregory. To be honest, I HATE the way she writes. She spins in circles, repeating the same crap over and over again. She includes tons of unneeded fillers. Ugh. I simply read her books because I like the history. The titular Spanish Princess, Catherine ( Charlotte Hope), arrives in England to marry Prince Arthur ( Angus Imrie) to connect the fledgling Tudor dynasty to her parents' Spain. But when Arthur dies, Catherine's already tenuous position at court is cast into doubt, and forces conspire to keep her from marrying his younger brother Henry ( Ruairi O'Connor).Feuding Families: The Yorks and the Tudors. Considerably lessened since The White Queen and The White Princess due to the longstanding marriage between Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, but John de la Pole emerges as a Yorkist claimant to England. Nice Girl: There are several. Maggie Pole, Alice More, Anne Boleyn, Bessie Blount, Lina to name a few. Mother Makes You King: Margaret Beaufort qualifies as this, as in The White Queen and The White Princess, acting as Henry VII's regent during his grieving for Elizabeth of York. In the beginning, the switching of POVs made some sense; something would happen to Catalina, then she would think about what happened. But towards the end, it seemed the POVs changed willy nilly. First person present now had action scenes, scenes where actual dialogue between characters was exchanged. In fact, the number of 1st person POVs increased towards the end, as if Gregory was tired of writing in 3rd person. Splendid and sumptuous historical novel from this internationally bestselling author, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon.