Diana: Finally, the Complete Story

I always like Sarah Bradford's books. I won't read any by any of Diana's staff or Christopher Anderson because they seem to exploit Diana. Neither will I read any by the Prince Charles fan club. Sarah Bradford is totally objective. This book is thoroughly researched and perfectly balanced between Diana's faults and Charles'. One of the biggest in my opinion is that he wouldn't give up Camilla. No wife wants to know that her husband doesn't really love her. Having a mistress and a wife worked for his great great grandfather. It didn't work in his marriage. He should have just married Camilla back in the 70's any maybe Diana would still be alive with a husband, kids and grandchildren to love her. Losing her mom at 6 was really traumatic for her and colored who she became as an adult. She was starved for love and Charles just wasn't there. Also when she got cold feet her sisters shouldn't have told her it was too late to back out. If she really didn't think she could handle it, she should have had the option not to marry Charles. The Queen and the rest of them should have realized that she was a 20 year old girl with no idea what she was getting into. Sarah Bradford did a good job of bringing that out.

One can read this book for a number of different reasons. First, it provides a glimpse inside the lives of Britain's landed aristocracy that most readers will never experience. Downtown Abbey may be a better choice if that is the main appeal because one would have to read through hundreds of pages of facts about Diana to capture this slice of the life of Britain's most fortunate.One could also read this book to get the definitive account of who, to put it bluntly, Diana slept with. The author does cut through a lot of the rumors to give a fact based account but somehow reading the book for that is to miss the whole point of Diana's all too brief life.What comes through powerfully in these pages is that Diana lived a life, from the age of six on, of incredible personal suffering. She then used that personal experience to connect to people who were also deeply wounded. By doing so she literally changed world history. Before Diana AIDS was a scary disease, possibly God's punishment for the sin of homosexuality. By shaking the hand of a man dying from AIDS she began the transformation of public perception of the disease from something scary to a health care crisis that needed to be dealt with.She also transformed the perspective of what is to be expected of the royal family. People now demand their princes and princesses not to be remote demigods but people actually interested in the problems of everyday citizens.Modern people do not necessarily want doctrines or policies to solve their life but they do want to feel like the most privileged care and empathize with them. This is what all the scandalmongers about Diana fail to see.Diana was not a role model in the full sense of the term. She believed in silly things like astrological forecasts and psychics and could be dishonest and arrogant in her private life. But none of these "revelations" matter because people adored Diana because they believed, rightly, that she cared about people who were suffering. The only kind of revelation that could ruin her reputation is if it was discovered that she privately made fun of the many victims she visited. Such a revelation would be so completely contradictory to everything said about her, even by her enemies, that it would almost certainly be false.Diana made bad decisions, could make people recognize how her royalty elevated her above them and believed in ridiculous things like astrology but somehow managed to live one of the most important lives of the 20th century because, instead of wallowing in pain, she used intense personal suffering as a means of empathizing with the unfortunate and forgotten.Surely, this should be the primary focus of those of us who will never experience her privileged life rather than obsessing over a detailed history of her failings, both personal and public. I personally believe that as time passes, and those Diana personally hurt fade from the public scene, her importance as a world figure will only increase and her peccadillos will be more and more simply forgotten.

This most certainly did not live up to its reviews at best. Every sad detail was painstakingly delivered in a dry way. I had always found Diana a very relatable celebrity, as I could identify with her story and found her a lovely yet tragic figure. She did a lot of good in her life. This combs through every detail of her life in a way that presents her as less a victim and more a spoiled, aristocratic, manipulative woman.Her story is truly heartbreaking, but this is more an outline rather than a narrative. I question how much is fact, but if it is, it has tarnished her memory for me.

This is one of the better bios of Princess Diana. The author is not afraid of telling the truth even if some of the revelations aren't pretty.

I've read many biographies of Diana written by the usual suspects and wasn't going to read this one. It was recommended to me by a friend and I'm so glad I bought it.It is a very well written biography by an author who obviously knows her craft. She touches on some events that are well known, but treats them in a different way---crisply and to the point. I'm learning some new things, too.I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a good book about a subject that seems will never be over.

Well researched and written. Sarah Bradford never dissappoints.

Very good book

The book was well documented giving what I consider to be an even handed treatment to everyone involved. I came away feeling that none of the principal players were without blame for the tragedy and pain of Diana's life including Diana herself. The greatest impression I gained from this account was that no matter what her personal failings may have been her empathy and compassion were real. As a result of her own struggles she developed the extraordinary ability to empathize with and bring comfort to those who suffered.

There were parts of this I'd not known about and some photos I actually hadn't seen before, which was nice. She located some lovely shots, one I couldn't find on Google of her in the sea which is just lovely. BUT there is sooooooo much repetition after repetition !! The same passages over and over again. Like the author reached a part referring to one incident in particular, read a host of articles about it and copied the lot across, whether they said the same thing or not. That I found pretty annoying.I'd realised I have a Royal birthday cos' the Queen Mother's was the same day, August 4th, but I never knew till I read this that Prince William was Christened on the same date. As a matter of interest, our new Duchess of Sussex's birthday is also that day......It was touching to read how Diana danced with people in wheelchairs from the front, whereas most people would steer from behind. Something thoughtful not many would think to do. Also to learn how seriously she took her "job" in that she always boned up areas or languages and was always punctual. Plus, SHE could sing the Welsh national anthem whereas Charles had never had the courtesy to learn it. That made an impact on me. In comparison, he comes across as an arrogant, boorish, rude bloke, just like his father, really. We got to read a lot about him in this volume, which was expected to some extent, but on the other hand, I wasn't really that interested in his life story, too.This wasn't without errors. Mostly regarding the usage of hyphens......Riddles-worth, dormi-tories, mean-while,Knights-bridge, Mount-batten, then spaces-- Dimble by, them selves, usnow, in famous. Then odd words were missing in sentences like to or with and instance written instead of insistence and Kashoggi and not Khashoggi. The odd sentence made no sense to me at all-"Nor did she seek to meet Heads of State as of right" or "....she had a worldwide public not only for her beauty and charm." Could've been checked better.I loved the quote from Diana herself, "I come from an English family." If anything, she brought a more blue-blooded lineage into the family, for which they should be bloody grateful if you ask me !!

When it came to when Diana had the accident and afterwards there were so many mistakes and disinformation such as, "Diana did have an autopsy in Paris as is French Law" - actually in French law, victims of car accidents are not subject to autopsy. The author did not highlight the botch job of an autopsy done in Paris as ordered by Kay. The author also stated that Diana's heart had moved across her chest during the accident, this was not the case as highlighted in the inquest.

Princess Diana is properly one of the most, if not the most known personality of our times. We have all our own recollections of her life. I had been in the crowds when she married the PoW and I had been in London during the days of her funeral. In one way or the other she had an impact on us. Many books had been written about her - some just presenting her side of the sotory, other of course the one of the PoW and more recently just books trying to make money of her name by selling so-called secrets. Still unresolved what really happened in Paris as the investigations are still on-going. Of course, the marriage of the PoW and CBP revivded much of the controversy.So is this one of the typical books on Diana? NO it is not. For the first time an author tries to gibe as mcuh as possible an even handed account. Sarah Bradford achieves this. She is neither besotted by Diana, nor is she against her. She recognizes her extraordinary qualities without forgetting the darkes sides. The same applies to the PoW. Reading this remarkable account of Diana's life one feesl the drama, the emotions, the happiness, the sadness. Diana4s and Charles's incompatibility is exposed but not in terms of pointing the finger to one side. It is qn extraordinary story and one often wonders why all this had to happen. This books gives explanations and creates understanding. It gives one as well an insdie into the life and morals of the 3upper classes3. Judge for yourself. It is definetely worthwhile reading.From all the books I have read insofar on Diana I feel that this is by far one of the best. It does justice to all involved.

Am halfway through this book which, whilst being sympathetic, isn't blind to the faults of those involved. Bit verbose in places with explanatory comments between commas that somehow stop the flow of the dialogue.

I found this book extremely revealing. Many facts about Diana's life that explain her appearance to the outside world. I have quite changed my opinion of her and several members of the Royal family.