Customer Reviews

Diana: Her New Life

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Though Diana: Her New Life is clearly written from within Diana's camp (and, I suspect, with her cooperation), there are some clues to the difficulties of being close to this enigmatic icon. Her staff knew that it was going to be a rough day if there was anything negative about her in the press, or if she was expected to deal with the Royal Family. It was a delicate dance staying on top of who was "in" and who was "out" of her inner circle. It is an understatement to say that the book is on her side; her affairs with James Hewitt and Oliver Hoare are referred to as "friendships," whereas Charles and Camilla were accurately described as lovers.

I would prefer to read something more objective and even-handed regarding this fascinating woman, but this was an interesting look at what was going on in her life in the years between her separation and 1995.

The book is so sad in retrospect. Diana expressed a desire to live in Paris, because the photographers were slightly more respectful there. At one point in the book, her dealings with the media were described by the phrase "if you live by the press, you'll die by the press." This was written before her Panorama interview and before the finalization of the divorce, and at the time of the publication of Her New Life, Diana was finding her role in a semi-Royal world, without the protection of the Royal security services and the publicity machine of the Palace. She was naive, immature, mercurial and for all that, immensely popular with the public and thus a huge thorn in the side of the Old Guard.

Diana wanted to make a difference, and was starting to do so. Though she had aligned herself with the Red Cross, she hadn't yet found her niche in public service, and of course we now know that she wouldn't have the chance to solidify her usefulness.

I loved this book, I felt as if I was there writing the book as it happened,rather than reading the book years after it happened.

Without question, this is a book sympathetic to Diana's side, and justifiably so. The grey-suited eunuchs of Buckingham Palace have never done the monarchy a favor by meddling in the marriages of the royal family. Morton tells the tale of Diana, her remarkable courage and resourcefulness, and her feelings of alienation, in the face of a smear campaign that would have shriveled us lesser mortals. Diana is a flawed, but nevertheless feeling, human being who did not deserve the ill treatment she received at the hands of her prince and his minions. This is an interesting book to read in light of what's happened since the book's publication in 1994. One can believe that Diana's death may not have been an accident.

I love Andrew Morton's writing style. This is such a touching story. Highly recommended.

but just as good. This book is an update on Diana since her separation from Charles in 1992 and what the future could hold for Diana as a single woman.

Unfortunately, only a year after her divorce, we got the answer, and it wasn't good.