👑🌹 Diana: Her True Story - In Her Own Words 🌹👑 (1992) - Book Review

MY REVIEW

Paperback: 448 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Anniversary Edition (June 27, 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9781501169731

ISBN-13: 978-1501169731

“The sensational biography of Princess Diana, written with her cooperation and now featuring exclusive new material to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her death.

When Diana: Her True Story was first published in 1992, it forever changed the way the public viewed the British monarchy. Greeted initially with disbelief and ridicule, the #1 New York Times bestselling biography has become a unique literary classic, not just because of its explosive contents but also because of Diana’s intimate involvement in the publication. Never before had a senior royal spoken in such a raw, unfiltered way about her unhappy marriage, her relationship with the Queen, her extraordinary life inside the House of Windsor, her hopes, her fears, and her dreams. Now, twenty-five years on, biographer Andrew Morton has revisited the secret tapes he and the late princess made to reveal startling new insights into her life and mind. In this fully revised edition of his groundbreaking biography, Morton considers Diana’s legacy and her relevance to the modern royal family.

An icon in life and a legend in death, Diana continues to fascinate. Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words is the closest we will ever come to her autobiography.”

This review is about the original 1992 version published prior to Princess Diana’s separation from Charles (December 1992), the finalized divorce (August 1996), and her subsequent death (July 1997). This is how Diana Spencer went from being Lady Diana to Diana, Princess of Wales. Though commonly she was called "Princess Diana" following her marriage to the Prince of Wales, this was incorrect because she was not a princess in her own right.

[The 1992 Hardcover]

Diana was a beloved figure by those who saw a plain and ordinary girl (Diana Spencer), despite having some nobility, become a fairy-tale princess – married to the heir to the crown, Prince Charles, on 7/29/1981. Everyone watched over the years as a shy, quiet girl blossomed into a beautiful woman – not only on the outside, but the inside as well. A beautiful woman who never hesitated to hug an AIDS patient; or walk through a minefield to raise awareness. A woman who gave the compassion and love to others she was long denied by those around her.

Deep inside the fairy-tale, Diana was fighting a struggle. A lonely childhood; a lonely and loveless marriage; and a chronic illness that was worsened by the stress, all of which was hidden from the media but in private it plagued the people’s princess. Cries for help went unanswered by those who either didn’t acknowledge what was going on or didn’t know how to help. Some, despite knowing what was going on, chose instead to blatantly ignore her plight.

If you read this when it was published (1992), you’d have no way of knowing what was yet to come some four (4) to five (5) years later. If you read it after July 1997, it is almost a foreboding tale of what was about to happen.

Early on, Diana always had a feeling she’d never become Queen, despite being married to second-in-pine Prince Charles of Wales. It was something she never saw herself doing – but it couldn’t be explained.

Without guidance or assistance, she was thrust into a role that garnered her much attention and admiration from the public, but not the desperately needed affection from those closest to her. Her parents divorce adversely affected her – especially after her father re-married. Diana didn’t get along with her step-mother for most of her life. It wasn’t until her father became Earl Spencer in 1975 that Diana even had a “courtesy title”.

While Diana had access to the best education and most all of her essential needs met, there were some things she didn’t have. What Diana wanted most (according to Morton) was the affection – cuddles, love, and acknowledgement of a job well done. She would find none of this in either her life before marriage or during it.

What you will find in this novel is brutal honesty. If you find a slant trending more to Diana’s side, remember that this is a book about her and her side of the not-so-wonderful fairy-tale. It tells of how her popularity soared, even past that of her husband’s – the future King of England, and how that impacted her marriage. It also documents how she raised Princes William and Harry based on her own experiences – how much more involved she was in the parenting than other monarchs.

This is a book about a woman who struggled between finding happiness and honoring her duty, but knew what she would be giving up if she left – not so much the titles and money, but rather her children. But, this book also gave her a voice to stand on her own as well.

This is not a book you want to purchase – it is more suited to borrow from a library for a weekend or vacation read.

I’m not saying that because of the subject, the writing or the author – but rather that it is such a sad tale of what was yet to come and what happened in the years since. It is a cruel reminder that the fairy -tale might not end the way it should – the “princess” doesn’t keep the prince or even keep herself. Sometimes the Princess fades away.

2 ⭐⭐/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐