Customer Reviews

The People's Princess: Cherished Memories of Diana, Princess of Wales, From Those Who Knew Her Best

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You know its bad when you have Barbara Eden as one of the people who pay tribute to Diana. Yes that Barbra Eden as in "I Dream of Jeannie". Did I miss something? The book's title suggests that the tributes are written by "those who knew her best" Who are these people coming out of the woodwork..Tyra Banks, Donald Trump, etc. Some of these people never even met her how can they know her best? I am a die hard Diana fan and have most of her books but I must say this one put me to sleep. Did you ever hear the expression,"I was so bored I couldn't kill myself"? Well lets just say it was that bad. Don't waste your time nor money. If you really must read this just go to the library. This has got to be the worst Diana book I have ever read.

Unlike the other reviewers to date, I disliked this book and found it a bid to cash in on the anniversary of Princess Diana's death. How well did Larry King - or many of those who contributed to the book - really know her?

I usually enjoy compilations and had there been more substance, this would have been no exception. Instead, I found the book shallow and barely skims the surface. Perhaps these people did know her, but after reading the book, a more appropriate title would seem to be ".... From Those Who Met Her". I wanted to like this book, but it was like going to dinner and getting only a few hors d'oeuvres.

A really wonderful book--a series of tributes to the late Princess of Wales by people from all walks of life, the famous and not so famous.The tributes are from people who knew Diana and met her and some were close friends, some were from people who admired her and were inspired. Each tribute is a vignette from one paragraph to several pages summing up their impressions of Diana and their experiences. Among these are: Larry King, Donald Trump,Sarah Bradford, Heather Mills, Joan Collins, Barbara Eden, Richard Kay, Twiggy, Catherine Walker, Tessa Dahl, and Ken Wharfe. I was moved by Tessa Dahl, a contemporary of the late Princess, she wrote about the parallel lives she and the Princess led and her story was quite moving. Bravo to Heather Mills who wrote in her tribute: "Remember--monuments are not erected to those who criticize, but rather to those who have been criticized." I also liked actr Christopher Biggins tribute and agreed fully when he wrote: "The biggest mistake of her (Diana's)life was to fall in love with her husband. If she hadn't cared for him so much it would have made everything easier to deal with. I don't think anyone had ever taken her aside and explained that her husband had a mistress. She was too young and innocent..." This is a vivid book that captures the personality of Diana. I do have several quibbles but these don't detract from the excellence and spirit of this book. One is that in Joan Hanger's tribute she writes that Will Carling "admitted" having an affair with Diana. I don't recall this happening and Carling who was in the middle of a nasty divorce would not have said a word. And those who knew the late Princess deny that there ever was a physical affair. The second is that in the Timeline at the end of the book, James Hewitt is said to be the man that Diana conversed with on the Squidgy Gate tapes, it was not Hewitt but James Gilbey. The third is the rather sour "tribute" by Dickie Arbiter who seems to pay tribute a little too grudgingly. I am thankful that Joan Rivers was not asked to pay "tribute" to Diana particularly after her rather acid appraisal of Diana after she died (she was invited to Charles and Camilla's wedding and appeared on Larry King and added particularly nasty comments about Diana). This is a fantastic book, Diana fans will want to buy this.

Excellent book - reading and pictures - adore Princess Diana's legacy.