H.R.H. by Danielle Steel Read in February 2008

Over the years I have read around twenty of Danielle Steel’s novels. A small proportion in fact considering she has written over 70! Not an author that I am a huge fan of, but having said that her books are always a satisfying quick and easy read. Often rather slushy though in a happy ever after way.
H.R.H is no exception. The heroine is Princess Christianna of Liechtenstein who finds that the role in life she was born to an intolerable burden. Honor, duty sacrifice and courage mean she battles to come to terms with the conflicts her life imposes on her.
She knows that one day she will have no choice but to take on the responsibilities expected of her. So determined to have some freedom before she does so, persuades her father to let her volunteer for the Red Cross in East Africa. From her protected life in a palace she travels to Eritrea and experiences the chaos of a country suffering from the devastations of terrorism and disease and on the brink of war with Ethiopia. Here as part of a team in an international relief camp, she discovers freedom from her royal duties and a passion for the work. This was only ever going to be a temporary respite though and as violence approaches she has to once again return to her real world torn between duty and love.