Amazon.com Review
Ingrid Seward, a prolific writer on the English royal family, was the last journalist to interview Princess Diana before her death in August 1997. In this intriguing book, Seward gives a worm's-eye view of Diana's trouble-plagued life, layered with episodes of betrayal and illness, and she accords full sympathy to the minor noblewoman who became "the people's princess." She is still more sympathetic to Diana's sometime nemesis Queen Elizabeth II, who, in Seward's account, labored endlessly to preserve the dignity of the monarchy in the face of a family that behaved in anything but a dignified manner.
Rising above the caricatures that color the popular press, Seward depicts a queen who tried her best to accommodate Diana--who was, it seems, never shy in voicing her displeasures and had an undeniable flair for recruiting the media in her cause, all the while protesting the press's intrusion into a fairy-tale life that "turned into a Gothic nightmare." Diana's insistence on airing her dirty laundry in public was bound to irritate the ever-sensitive queen, but more, Seward writes, "in her demands for love and sympathy, she gave self-fulfillment precedence over duty"--and for Elizabeth, dereliction of duty was the greatest possible sin one could commit. Their relationship could end only in tears; and so it did, taking much of the English public's good will toward the royal family with it.
Sometimes racy and breathless, but intelligent all the same, Seward's account enlarges our understanding of the internal dynamics of the modern court while delivering no end of scandalous news, just as a palace chronicle should. --Gregory McNamee
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
It is hard to imagine a need for yet another look at the short, glamorous, tabloid-trashy life of Diana, Princess of Wales, but this in-depth analysis of the princess's rise and fall distinguishes itself with its restraint, psychological insight and abundant insider knowledge while never veering very far from good gossip. Steward, who has written seven books on the British royal family and was editor of Majesty magazine for 17 years, has had personal relationships with many of her subjects and often speaks from the position of a critical insider. In her account, Queen Elizabeth II extended herself time and again to her new daughter-in-law, and was at times Diana's lone defender within the royal family, until Diana's self-absorption and cultivation of the media in her public relations war with her husband alienated her. Steward is unafraid to make judgments: when Charles asks Di, "Why can't you be more like Fergie? Why can't you be more jolly?" she deems it "not a kind question." She's also more then happy to detail royal failings (such as Charles's inability to satisfy his wife on their wedding night and later), but generally prefers an empathetic and kind view of her subjects. While Steward provides little new material here, her book is filled with the details and minutiae of private lives, which should keep royal watchers more than happy. 16 pages of color photos. Agent, Mike Shaw, Curtis Brown, Ltd. (Apr.)Forecast: Celebrations of the late princess have proven more popular than the latest crop of tell-alls, making the publisher's announced 40,000-copy first printing appear optimistic. Still, this measured look at court intrigue will do well if Steward's six-city author tour and TV satellite tour succeeds in reaching those interested in the most informed tattling on the royal family.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
