Alice Sowman’s debut novel, Reimagining Diana: An Alternative History, dares to ask a question many of us have quietly wondered for years: what if Diana, Princess of Wales, had survived the crash in Paris in 1997? In this extended interview, we talk about inspiration, research, sensitivity, politics, and the challenges of imagining an alternative history of such a beloved figure.
Q: Alice, let’s start at the beginning. When did the idea for Reimagining Diana first take root?
Alice Sowman: I think it’s always been with me, in some sense. I was a teenager when Diana died, and I remember the outpouring of grief so vividly. It was one of those “everyone remembers where they were” moments. Years later, I found myself revisiting it — not in a ghoulish way, but because it was such a cultural pivot. What if she hadn’t died? How different would Britain feel today? Eventually that curiosity crystallised into a story.
Q: Writing about real people — and living ones — can be tricky. How did you handle the ethical side?
Alice: With enormous care. This is fiction, not journalism, and I wanted that to be clear. But these are real people with families and legacies, so my portrayal had to be respectful. I tried to build from what we genuinely know about Diana’s character — her warmth, her compassion, her sense of mischief — and imagine how those qualities might have shaped events if she’d had another twenty-five years. Every scene was written with empathy at the core.
Q: Structurally, the book follows history quite closely — Brexit, COVID, Megxit — but tweaks outcomes. How did you decide which events to reimagine?
Alice: I looked at the hinge moments of recent British history — points where the outcome really mattered. Brexit is a good example. Imagine Diana campaigning for Remain, with her charisma and her platform. It seemed plausible that her involvement could have tipped the balance. The pandemic was another; how might a “People’s Princess” have shaped the national mood during lockdown? With Harry and Meghan, I wanted to explore how her presence could have softened what became a painful rupture.
Q: What was the hardest scene to write?
Alice: Oddly, it wasn’t the big political moments. It was the quiet ones. The scene where Diana watches Charles marry Camilla on TV, for example. She’s no longer centre stage; she’s just a woman in her sitting room, watching her former life unfold without her. Writing that required restraint — no melodrama, just acceptance, with maybe a flicker of sadness. That felt very human, and it moved me deeply.
Q: And which scene gave you the most joy?
Alice: William introducing Catherine to his mother. That one almost wrote itself. It was such a tender, natural moment to imagine, and it gave me a chance to let Diana simply be a mum again, proud and protective. I had to stop and remind myself: this never happened. But in the world of the book, it does, and it felt like giving Diana a gift.
Q: How much research went into grounding the story?
Alice: A lot. I read biographies, watched documentaries, and trawled through news archives to get the timeline right. I didn’t want to distort real events; I wanted to set Diana against them and see how the pieces shifted. For COVID, for instance, I revisited government statements, press briefings, and the public mood at the time. It’s all quite fresh, but fiction lets you reframe it.
Q: Do you consider this novel a work of royal fiction, or of political fiction?
Alice: Both. It’s very much a family story — about mothers and sons, reconciliation, forgiveness — but it’s also a political novel. Diana’s survival changes not just her own life but the national trajectory. Readers who enjoy The Crown will find the family drama they love, but readers of political “what if” fiction will also find plenty to chew on.
Q: How do you respond to readers who might say this is wish-fulfilment, even hagiography?
Alice: I’d say two things. First, yes, there’s inevitably an element of wish-fulfilment. Many people still wish Diana had lived. But I also wanted to complicate that — to show that survival wouldn’t have been simple, that she would have faced challenges and criticism, too. Second, hagiography was something I was careful to avoid. Diana is sympathetic in the novel, but not saintly. She makes mistakes, she doubts herself, she struggles. That’s what makes her real.
Q: Tell us a bit about Alice Sowman — the author behind the book.
Alice: I’ve always been fascinated by history, but also by the roads not taken. My husband, Will, writes about alternative approaches to work and life, and in a way this is my version of that: an alternative approach to history. I live in London, I write mostly in cafés, and I like long walks by the river when I’m stuck.
Q: And finally, what do you hope readers carry with them after finishing Reimagining Diana?
Alice: That history is never fixed. That compassion in leadership is powerful. And that imagining the life Diana might have lived can tell us something about the lives we’re living now — and the futures we still have the power to shape.
Reimagining Diana is available now on Amazon Kindle.