Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words [Mass Market Paperback]

Andrew Morton (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 1, 1998

The sudden and tragic death of Princess Diana caused the world to reflect on how much this singular woman meant to us all. This new edition of her life story -- which includes Diana's personal recollections in her own words, as well as an account of the events surrounding her death -- poignantly strengthens her hold on our hearts.

From her fairy-tale wedding and the births of her two wonderful boys to the stunning collapse of her marriage, Diana's luminous but troubled life transfixed millions. Despite enduring heartbreak, illness, and depression, she never wavered in her commitment to the less fortunate, or in her determination to make a better life for herself and her sons. This revealing book is the closest we will ever come to her autobiography -- a lasting and powerful testament to her courage and spirit.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Diana: Her True Story was originally published in 1992 under the guise of a quasi-authorized biography, with mostly unnamed courtiers and royalty as the accredited sources. It instantly became a sizzling, international bestseller that lanced the boil of Windsor family dysfunction, triggering a chain of events that led to Charles and Diana's divorce. After her tragic death in 1997, Andrew Morton revealed that Diana herself had not only been the main source for the book, but had also edited his original drafts for accuracy. In return for this gold mine of information, Diana wanted complete anonymity for fear of retaliation from the queen. Her True Story in Her Own Words is enhanced by more than 75 full-color photographs of the princess, from her childhood in Althorp to her marriage to Charles at Westminster Abbey to her humanitarian efforts, and finally to her unforgettable funeral service. However, the most poignant portrayal of the princess emerges from the unedited transcriptions of Diana's interviews with Morton: "I think I'm going to cut a very different path from everyone else. I'm going to break away from this setup and go and help the man on the street." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Paul Levy The Wall Street Journal MR. MORTON STRONGLY INSINUATES THAT HE HAD THE PRINCESS'S HELP...[he is] an ideal mouthpiece for the Friends of Diana, who have openly blabbed to Mr. Morton, a brilliant ploy that allows the princess herself to deny any involvement.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books; Rep Rev edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671024124
• ISBN-13: 978-0671024123
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Diana, the "People's Princess November 12, 2003

By happymammaw

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I enjoyed reading this book, and found it to be fascinating. However, I have since read "A Royal Duty" by Paul Burrell. Some of the statments made in these two books are conflicting. In "Diana, Her True Story", it is made to sound like Princess Diane was always at odds with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. In "A Royal Duty", Paul Burrell tells a different story. He maintains Diana had a loving and close relationship with the Queen and Prince Phillip right up until the time she died. It is a very interesting book, but after reading almost everything written about Princess Diana, there are so many different views and stories, it is hard to know which to believe.

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, but definitely one sided June 24, 2000

By Becky

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This book has been called "the longest divorce petition in history", and when you read it, you would have to agree with that statement. But what you have to remember is that at the time when Diana agreed to co-operate with Mr Morton, she was feeling sad, lonely, and unhappy, but she was never allowed to express that publicly. She was unhappy with her life, unhappy with her royal image, and most of all, unhappy with her marriage, yet she couldn't do what anyone else in that situation would be able to do - she couldn't visit a local solicitor and obtain a divorce. Poor woman, she couldn't even go to the gym without being followed by a throng of photographers.

When this book was published in 1992, it was dismissed by the establishemnt as being a pack of lies, but ultimately they, and the public too, discovered that it wasn't when Charles admitted his infidelity with the redoubtably ugly and gauche Camilla Parker Bowles, and when, in her astonishingly frank Panorama interview, Diana candidly shared the harrowing details of her eating disorder, bulimia.

This book succeeded on many levels. It certainly exposed the shocking truth about the Royal marriage and portrayed the Royal Family, for the first time ever, not as cherished icons but as ordinary individuals with more than their share of character defects (and this means Diana, too!) But it ultimately succeeded in its portrayal of an immature twenty year old girl, who won the hearts of the world when she kissed the Prince, only to have him become a toad, to the beautiful, compassionate symbol of kindness, caring, and humanity that she was when she was so tragically snatched away from the world.... For it was the publication of this book that enabled Diana to seek a new life for herself, and in doing so she developed the character traits that enabled us all to fall in love her, this time more completely, again and again and again. Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I would definitely recommend this book for several reasons. December 10, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I primarily wanted to read it becasue when Princess Diana died, people all around the world mourned for her. She touched the lives of so many people in lots of different ways. Not only did I think it was interesting because of that reason, but also because she had many struggles and hardships to overcome. I found that encouraging. Also, Diana was of the royal family, which added to my curiosity. Lastly, it was very interesting to discover how misleading appearances, statuses, titles, clothes, money, jewelry, and other materialistic things are. These things don't make lives perfect and carefree. Sometimes being a normal, ordinary, plain person isn't that bad after all. Katie Cannada

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A great and truthful biographical book, wonderfully written July 22, 1998

By Karina A. Suarez VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

For us admirers of the late Princess of Wales, this book is certainly like a Bible. It is very thourough and painfully eye-opening, especially as it reveals the story of a simple young girl and her very rude - sometimes cruel - awakening to a life where the heart of gold is really as cold as ice. My hat is off to both the Princess and Mr. Morton for having been so courageous.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The real Diana at last September 1, 2004

By Fruit Loop VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Diana's authorized, however covertly, biography finally tells the truth about this remarkable human being from her own lips. Morton's frank, honest telling of the grief behind the glitz shows us a very vulnerable woman who isn't all that different from the rest of us. Diana, young girl, schoolteacher, princess, wife and mother should have been embraced by the royal family instead of frozen out. One can only hope that her sons will follow the trail she fought so hard to blaze for them and live real lives instead of rigid imitations. The world is a poorer place without the people's princess.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars NO PREDICTIONS OF IMPENDING DEATH HERE November 6, 2003

By Jeff Howard

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Now that she is gone and the word is out that Diana did cooperate with the telling of this story the book is all the more interesting. Having never read a book about Diana, I found this to be very informative and tragic. Diana appears to have been a very misunderstood and lonely person, caught up in circumstances she had no control over. You just want to reach into her life and comfort her.

Prince Charles was clearly the villain in the relationship as much of his behavior has been confirmed in the media since her death. His refusal to discontinue his relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles speaks for itself. How anyone could pick CPB over Diana in unfathomable. What was never addressed was what Andrew Parker-Bowles thought about the relationship between his wife and Prince Charles. Both Camilla and Charles denied there was a relationship. What a crock.

The book provides a great back-story to Princess Diana's untimely death. But there is no prediction about an impending car accident as Diana's Butler Paul Burrell now claims. However she did make a haunting prediction in 1992 on page 220 that did come true, "I am performing a duty as the Princess of Wales ... but I don't see it any longer than 15 years."

A good introduction to someone who knows nothing about Diana.