Diana: Finally, the Complete Story

by Sarah Bradford

Overview

An icon remembered in death as vividly as she appeared in life, Diana, Princess of Wales, is one of the most enduring personalities of the twentieth century-and one of the most enigmatic. With exclusive access to all those closest to Diana, Sarah Bradford now casts aside the gossip and lies and takes us to the very heart of the royal family to separate the myth from the truth of the Diana years. With the authority missing from previous accounts, as well as remarkable new sources, Diana delivers a complex and explosive look at a woman who continues to fascinate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101533246
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/03/2007
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	551,583
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sarah Bradford is a historian and biographer. Her previous books include Cesare Borgia, Disraeli, Princess Grace, George VI, Splendours and Miseries: A Life of Sacheverell Sitwell, Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen, America’s Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Lucrezia Borgia.

Editorial Reviews

Oxford-educated historian Sarah Bradford might be called the royal family's ex officio biographer. Her lives of George VI and Elizabeth set a high standard; indeed, it said that the queen herself keeps a copy of Bradford's biography of her father on her desk. In Princess Diana (1961-97), Bradford encounters a subject even more controversial than the ruling monarch or her predecessor. This respectful, elegantly written study traces Diana Spencer's often-uneasy journey from nervous schoolgirl to world figure. Without tabloid speculation, the biography explores Diana's doomed marriage, personal problems, and postmarital life, discussing her deep commitment to her charitable activities.

This biography of the doomed Princess of Wales by Bradford, an experienced British celebrity biographer, was published with far less fanfare, though also embargoed, than the concurrent one by Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, it still purports to be the definitive look at what it was really like for Diana Spencer to become the princess of Wales. But even the most casual student of Diana mania will be hard pressed to find much that hasn't been told before. Bradford, the author of books about such disparate figures as Benjamin Disraeli and Princess Grace of Monaco, does offer up a more balanced portrait than some: Diana was not the brightest bulb, but her compassion for others was central and real; in spite of-or because of-this sensitivity, she was a master at playing people off each other (most notably her onetime lover James Hewitt). According to Bradford, Diana truly did love Charles and was "obsessed" with him until the end. More surprisingly, Bradford also insists that Charles genuinely loved Diana, even as he carried a torch for Camilla Parker Bowles, and that his apparent ill treatment of his wife came from ignorance more than hostility. The usual cast of famous characters appear, but two portraits particularly stand out: Sarah Ferguson and Dodi Fayed. As for Fayed, Bradford downplays it; Diana liked him, she says, but was far less interested in him, personally, than in what he could provide (private yachts, freedom from the press and-ironically, as it turned out-safety). Surely, Fayed's friends and family will not enjoy Bradford's take on him as a spoiled layabout with a cocaine problem, drug use being one the few weaknesses of which Diana disapproved. For those for whom there can never be enough said about the late princess, Bradford's book may provide some color and perspective; those looking for dish will likely be disappointed. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

From a biographer who has ranged from Cesare Borgia to Queen Elizabeth. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal