The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, was met by the greatest public mourning this century: 2.5 billion people around the world watched the funeral on television; floral tributes flooded London's royal parks and sprang up, too, in small towns in Texas; conspiracy theories ricocheted around the Internet; commemorative stamps were issued in newly communist Hong Kong. Press coverage of the death was also unprecedented. Traditional distinctions between tabloids and quality papers, right-wing and liberal press, were submerged in an avalanche of schmaltz and instant punditry. In After Diana, leading cultural critics dissect the enormous welter of words and images to determine what can be made of this extraordinary response to the princess's death. Did Tony Blair's public emoting herald a new kind of politics? What did the deep anguish of so many who never knew Diana in person reveal about the English character? How did the intertwining of the ideas of celebrity and victim, physical beauty and moral worth, affect people's responses and what is the significance of this event for the future of the royal family? For those perplexed by the events surrounding Diana's death, this book seeks to provide some answers. Underpinned by the idea that all aspects of the affair are open to investigation, that nothing -- especially royalty -- is sacred, it brings together a group of distinguished writers whose primary interest is to analyze the death rather than lament it.
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...After all, Diana photos "constitute a vast resource from which one can construct any image one likes of her," observes [contributor Sarah] Benton. "Mum; shy ingenue; jet-setting Glam Queen; weeping, therapised anorexic; heroic campaigner against land-mines; neurotic narcissist." This excellent, often witty collection spares none of these Dianas. -- Brill's Content, Jeff Pooley, March 1999, p. 117
About the Author
Contributors include: Sarah Benton, Robin Blackburn, Beverley Brown, Richard Coles, Ford Higson, Christopher Hitchens, Sara Maitland, Mandy Merck, Adam Philips, Naomi Segal, Elizabeth Wilson.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoughtful, revealing and depressing,
By
This review is from: After Diana: Irreverent Elegies (Paperback)
As a recent British immigrant (May 1998) to America, I found this book enthralling. I have vivid recollections of the day of her death and the bizarre week leading up to her funeral. This book provides a fascinating reminder of those events. As an anthology, it allows many well informed and intelligent writers to provide considered reflections on the deeper significance of Diana's life and death. They range from Christopher Hitchins' hilarious diary of his week in the middle of the media frenzy (being sought by hordes of TV and newspaper people as an all-purpose commentator on both Di and Mother Teresa)to Sarah Maitland's parallels between the cults of Diana and the Virgin Mary. My predominant recollections are the nauseating hypocrisy of the British papers who, in true "1984" fashion, reversed their assessment of Diana overnight (their general assessment of "dim-witted promiscuous tramp embarassing Her Majesty" instantly became "the most saintly woman in history") and the terrifyingly Stalinist behaviour of the BBC who broadcast news on no other topic for nearly 24 hours after her death. You could not help remembering that George Orwell's Ministry of Truth in "1984" was based on his wartime experiences at the BBC. Plainly nothing had changed inside Broadcasting House in the intervening 55 years. This book recalls both these media behaviours and much more besides, with the writers freed from the pressure to produce instant quotes and wisdom. Sadly, the book omits the funniest newspaper item on the day of her death. The "Sunday Express" staff created, at the last minute, a wrap-around outer sheet for their paper so it was about the only national paper announcing her death (in enormous headlines) on that Sunday morning. Unfortunately, the main paper inside the dramatic outer sheet contained two articles ferociously attacking her behaviour with Dodi....... Another writer, going off the main theme, recounts a list of the Royal Family's shortcomings; vulgarity, racism, mind-bending extravagance to make Imelda Marcos look like a pauper, high living in the middle of World War 2 and post-war austerity, Dickensian tight-fistedness towards their staff, philandering on a Clintonian scale, hypocrisy (the Queen objecting to Jackie Kennedy's divorced sister!!) and blatant manipulation of a supine press. It gives a totally sordid picture of the family Diana married into, but you cannot help feeling that they thoroughly deserved each other. Diana's high profile charity work formed a grotesque contrast to her lifestyle beyond the dreams of 99% of the world's population. Her own extravagance, promiscuity, greed ($25 million divorce settlement to a woman seriously wealthy in her own right)and media manipulations made her a true British royal in many ways. The most depressing aspect of the book is the portrait of the so-called "free" British press being willing to suppress any embarassing evidence of Royal misbehaviour and equally ready to crucify or exalt Diana as it suited circulation figures. If the "courageous" British journalists had been honest about the known misconduct of the Royal family over the last 60 years, it is difficult to see how such a group of worthless parasites could have survived as beneficiaries of the public purse. I heard about 4 years ago that there is an "H-bomb" royal story which is far bigger than the Charles/Di split. This book gives TWO H-bomb stories (see pages 199-205) which have been suppressed in Britain. This is characteristic of the unspeakably vile British tabloids who keep a huge stockpile of stories in their archives - partly for future circulation battles with their equally evil rivals, and partly for political manipulation and blackmail. I won't spoil the best bit of the book for potential buyers. All I can say is BUY LOADS - for your own enjoyment and as presents for your friends and family to correct their misconceptions of the wretched Royal family and the pathetic rich girl who bought into the regal dream.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Intensely irritating,
By A Customer
This review is from: After Diana: Irreverent Elegies (Paperback)
A collection of short essays, most of which consist of little more than psychobabble. Get it through the public library - don't buy it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intellectual and a welcome relief,
By A Customer
This review is from: After Diana: Irreverent Elegies (Paperback)
I am a member of the large, but mostly silent, majority who simply could not understand why so many people went berserk following Diana's death. I was never interested in Diana's travails while she was alive, but the mass hysteria in the wake of her death prompted me to try to understand this phenomenon and its implications on modern-day society. It was difficult to find literature that would answer my search for comprehension, but this book has certainly delivered. It is well-written, academic, well-balanced, provocative, and laden with perceptive and practical insight.If you worship Diana and believe her to be a saint, you'll hate this book. It portrays her as a human being with both strong points and bad points. If on the other hand, you want to understand the meaning of Diana's death, why the mass hysteria erupted, how it reflects on our culture, and attendant food for thought, then you'll love this book. I certainly enjoyed reading it.
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