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Diana : Story of a Princess [Hardcover]

Tim Clayton (Author), Phil Craig (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)


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Book Description

June 14, 2001
The life story of Diana, Princess of Wales, at last is told in full. Here is the first complete, honest, and objective biography that shows all facets of this fascinating and enigmatic woman: her magic, her manipulations, her dazzling public persona, and her role inside the world's most exposed marriage. Drawn from years of research and dozens of interviews with friends and associates speaking on the record for the first time, and based on the groundbreaking four-hour ITV/The Learning Channel documentary series, "Diana" contains never-before-revealed detailed accounts and stunning insights, including

  • Diana's closest friends and colleagues as they refute the suggestion that she was "unbalanced" before she met her future husband

  • confirmation by a family member that Diana wanted to withdraw from the wedding only weeks before, as she learned more of her husband-to-be's secret relationships with other women

  • the loaded implications of Diana's pre-wedding lunch with Camilla Parker Bowles, held, ironically, at the Menage a Trois restaurant

  • new witnesses to the traumatic early years of Charles and Diana's marriage, and the loneliness that lay behind Diana's spectacular public success

  • interviews with senior royal officials, men and women who have never before shared their unique and objective views on the failure of the marriage

  • the truth, at last, about the allegation that Diana suffered from borderline personality disorderthe shocking story of a smear campaign

  • a world-exclusive interview with both James Hewitt and his mother, Shirley, including touching accounts of Hewitt's affair with Diana -- and why his family believed that the romance wasconsidered "authorized"

  • never-before-told details about Diana's "alternative family life" during the late 1980s -- the weekends she spent with the Hewitts even when James was away, and heartwarming stories of the close friendship she established with her surrogate mother-in-law, Shirley Hewitt

  • completely new details of the "arrangement," widely accepted inside the royal household, between two couples -- Charles and Camilla, James and Diana -- and their week-on, week-off sharing of their country home

  • the gruesome tactics of the paparazzi -- and the Palace's refusal to bar the "paps" from royal functions

  • confirmation from her closest confidantes that Diana made nuisance phone calls to a married art dealer

  • surprising revelations from those closely involved with Diana's charity work about how vindictive and spiteful she could be in her final years -- contrasted with a powerful account of her land mine crusade and her tender ministrations to victims

  • the real reason the royal family remained at Balmoral after Diana's death -- and how the fear of angry mobs may have prompted a warning from Scotland Yard: their safety in London could not be guaranteed.

    Featuring thirty-two rare and unfamiliar photographsincluding seven never before published -- "Diana" not only captures the princess as she was, but also places her story in the context of twenty years of frantic social and economic change. It will stand as the ultimate, and ultimately most enlightening, telling of Diana's extraordinary life.


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    Editorial Reviews

    From Booklist

    Less sensational than most treatments of the life of the late princess of Wales, this latest Diana book is published in conjunction with a four-part TV miniseries to run on the Learning Channel this month. Brad Hooper
    Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

    Review

    A complete portrait. -- THE DAILY MIRROR

    A convincing and at times moving portrait. S -- Ben Pimlott, The Sunday Telegraph, 8 July 2001

    An admirably fair, panoramic account...something fresh and pure and clear-eyed. Does not seek to demonise or to sanctify. Recommended. -- Craig Brown, The Mail on Sunday, 8 July 2001 (British critic of the Year)

    An impressively researched cut above what we have come to expect. Goes out of its way to give credit and sympathy where they are due. -- THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

    First-hand evidence cuts through the distortions that surrounded Diana's life...a three dimensional picture of a remarkable woman. -- THE SUN

    Never before-told detailed accounts and stunning insights about this most extraordinary woman, capturing the Princess as she was. -- NEW YORK POST

    No mere celebrity cuttings job, a comprehensive even-handed and scrupulously researched picture. -- THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

    Product Details

    • Hardcover: 416 pages
    • Publisher: Atria (June 14, 2001)
    • Language: English
    • ISBN-10: 2702867235
    • ISBN-13: 978-2702867235
    • ASIN: 0743422058
    • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
    • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
    • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
    • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,633,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

     

    Customer Reviews

    18 Reviews
    5 star:
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    4 star:
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    3 star:
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    2 star:    (0)
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    Average Customer Review
    4.0 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
     
     
     
     
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    Most Helpful Customer Reviews

    12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
    4.0 out of 5 stars at last, something thoughtful about someone fascinating, June 22, 2001
    By A Customer
    This review is from: Diana : Story of a Princess (Hardcover)
    I didn't hold out much hope for another Diana book, but this one really is different. it seems very fair and well written and it makes a lot of interesting points about the whole charity scene that Diana and other celebrities involve themselves in. I think I agree with Christopher Hitchens that a lot of it is cynical and tacky, but you get both sides in this book and there's no doubt that Diana did make a difference on one or two occasions and she had a talent for meeting and greeting the needy. The Angola story is very touching. In terms of her marriage, I found all the insider quotes from the royal officials very revealing. You begin to understand just what had gone on and why the whole thing was doomed from the start - competely different expectations of what a royal wife was for. So, all in all, not only far, far better than anticipated, but actually thought provoking.
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    10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
    4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshingly Intelligent and Balanced, April 29, 2004
    Tireless humanitarian and inspirationally anti-establishment figure? Or beautiful but shallow woman who loved nothing more than a good photo-op and seeing her soap-operaish life grab headlines? Most of us lean heavily toward one of the above perspectives of Princess Diana. Unfortunately, it seems that books dealing with the late princess also tend to be written in this black-and-white way.

    Yet in "Diana: Story of a Princess," authors Craig and Clayton offer material that paints a refreshingly different portrait of Diana. It certainly isn't black-and-white; instead, it emphasizes the complex and elusive character of this eternally puzzling person.

    The biography begins with Diana's childhood, and although it may initially seem a slightly dry chronicle of Spencer family history and aristocratic titles, it quickly beomces much more compelling. It is obvious that the authors have put a tremendous amount of research into the book-this research translates into well-detailed account of every pivotal moment in her life. "Diana, Story of a Princess" is, if nothing else, a complete "life portrait" that Diana fans won't want to be without.

    In my mind, however, this bio is much more than a simple chronicle of events because of the widely varying views and accounts presented about the princess. Everyone knows how Diana was a victim of the Charles-Camilla relationship, but does anyone know the disadvantages Charles faced as he entered the marriage? We all have heard of what a selfless charity worker Diana was, but did we ever know of her supposedly "darker" side during this sort of work? This book explores both "sides" of these issues and others. Through facts, first-person accounts, and their own intelligent, interesting, and balanced commentary, the authors attempt not to trash Diana or transform her into a saint, but simply to raise and explore questions about her true character.

    Overall, this biography is certainly a success. It manages to be generally informative and intriguing-while avoiding the pitfalls of being too one-sided or sensational.

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    7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
    4.0 out of 5 stars A Diana book that's really worth reading, June 21, 2001
    By A Customer
    This review is from: Diana : Story of a Princess (Hardcover)
    What I particularly like about this book is that it destroys the whole 'Diana was mad' thesis (which you'll find, for instance, in Sally Bedell Smith's book - which I found silly and over the top.) This one explains, in detail that I found amazing, just how the whole mental health smear started. There's plenty of evidence here that Diana was perfectly sane and happy before she married into 'that family.' And - unlike many Diana books I've looked at - this does try not to take sides. Diana herself comes in for a lot of criticism, especially in the last few years of her life. But overall you do get a real sense of the pressures she was under and the quite magical things she did sometimes, right up to the end of her life. The landmine section is very touching. I'd recommend this book, in fact, to anyone interested in finding out about the real Diana rather than the 'spun' Diana.
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    Inside This Book (learn more)
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    First Sentence:
    With a light knock on the door, Lady Diana Spencer came into the office. Read the first page
    Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
    royal life
    Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
    Prince Charles, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Prince of Wales, Princess of Wales, Princess Diana, Camilla Parker Bowles, New York, Andrew Morton, James Hewitt, Ken Lennox, Patrick Jephson, Red Cross, Jayne Fincher, Henry Street, News of the World, Queen Mother, Jonathan Dimbleby, Sunday Times, Harry Arnold, Hasnat Khan, Joseph Sanders, Anthony Holden, Arthur Edwards, Daily Mail
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