Book and Video Reviews, A-C

Book and Video Reviews, A-C: includes reviews on Diana: a Portrait in Her Own Words edited by Bill Adler, Christopher Anderson's Diana's Boys, the video Beautiful Princess, Aaron Becker's novel Whose Death in the Tunnel?, Peter Brighton's novel The Death of a Smile, Paul Burrell's In the Royal Manner, and the book and video of Diana: Story of a Princess by Tim Clayton and Phil Craig.

Bill Adler--Diana: a Portrait in Her Own Words

The only other book published in the US during August was Bill Adler's compilation of quotes
from Diana titled: Diana: a Portrait in Her Own Words. It is thematically arranged: "Childhood",
"Marriage", ""Good Works", "Last Days" etc., but has little new material and though it
sometimes gives the circumstances under which she made a remark, it doesn't list the date it was
made. It has no index, illustrations, or bibliography, and is somewhat overpriced at $16.00, since
it is still possible to get Princess Diana: The Book of Love ( a shorter compilation of randomly
chosen Diana quotes) for about $5.00 at some of the book superstore sites. (Orginally appeared September 10, 1999.)

Christopher Anderson--Diana's Boys

I finished reading Diana's Boys and I can see why the Palace is upset because it casts them in a very unfavorable light. According to Anderson's sources, they have deliberately cut the boys off from the Spencers: refusing an invitation on their behalf from Sarah McCorquedale to spend two weeks with her family, discouraging contact with Earl Spencer, and issuing perfunctory invitations to Mrs. Shand-Kydd to visit Highgrove, which they know she won't accept since she seldom leaves the Scottish island on which she lives. What's more, they have told Diana's friends that the boys are not available to them and they also not informed the boys of invitations to dedicate the Memorial Playground or the Diana Garden and Nature Center in Paris. There are also other details about how Diana has become unmentionable among the Windsors, how the boys have been cut off from their cousins Beatrice and Eugenie because of family disapproval of the Duchess of York,  how they have been insidiously been trying to shape the boys to fit the Windsor mold by encouraging blood sports, and finally, how Scotland Yard and MI-6 have been employed to investigate the backgrounds of any young women who have more than passing contact with William or Harry and compile dossiers which are given to the Queen, since "the last thing she wants is another Diana or Fergie on her hands" (p. 257). If she finds something objectionable, she raises the issue with Charles and it's up to him to apply pressure. And despite all the photos and PR we've seen about Charles being a concerned and caring father, he doesn't come across too well since the unsuitable friends, drinking, smoking, and sexual hijinks mentioned seem more indicative of a father who doesn't spend that much time with his children and has little knowledge of who their friends are or what they do out of his presence. Despite all the recent hoopla as to whether Charles and Camilla will marry based on this summer's events, this book suggests they will not because a) the Queen Mother is so opposed to the match that she extorted a promise from her daughter that they would not marry during his grandmother's lifetime, and b) it also states that Charles will not remarry unless both his sons consent to the match, but according to Anderson's sources, both boys are opposed to it. And the recent Spectator story alleging that the Queen had consented to the marriage is seriously challenged by Anderson's contention that she was adamant that William would not be photographed with Camilla at the Press Complaints Commission reception in Feburary 2001. It seems unlikely the Queen would have changed her mind so quickly when she has strongly opposed the relationship for so many years.

What the Palace said they objected to was revealing so much information about the boys, and it is true there is a great deal of new information in the book about the relationship of the boys with both their parents during the marriage and break-up. Some of it did seem a little too intimate to me, but there were other happy events that were nice to read about and which were an effective rebuttal to allegations by Sally Bedell Smith, Penny Junor and others about Diana's role as a mother. You'll find it a heart-warming read about two promising young men that anyone would be proud to claim as their own sons and who will always be very special because they were Diana's boys. (Originally appeared August 31, 2001)

Beautiful Princess (video)

I got the Beautiful Princess video from Amazon for $6.99. (Note: this is no longer available on Amazon, unless somebody has listed it as a second-hand copy.) In some respects it is the perfect
Princess Diana video because it has no agenda, no voice-over narrative shaping your perceptions,
just images flowing in chronological order set to unfamiliar music which has no emotional
associations such as rock or classical music might have. However, the music credit is attributed to
a company and the images stop around 1988 or 1989, to judge by her appearance, the fact that
Charles is in almost all of it, and the ages of the boys. If you don't own videos from the 80s and
early 90s, its older footage may be a strong reason for buying it since many of the tribute videos
use mostly material dated after 1990. (Originally appeared September 10, 1999.)

Aaron Becker--Whose Death in the Tunnel? (novel)

In Whose Death in the Tunnel?, Aaron Becker claims that Diana was so fed up with the continual
attention she received from the press that she paid a man who specialized in arranging
disappearances of celebrities which look like deaths in order to start a whole new life in Texas.
Although her desperation is very convincingly portrayed, two things about her won't wash: first,
that she would be dumb enough to think that any such scenario could work without a body (a
young actress is coached to become her double), and second, that she could walk away from her
children forever. This book has a great deal of violence, since the Puppet Master who arranges the
death also has personal enemies which he disposes of in particularly gruesome ways. It's also a
dangerous book because the author alleges that he is telling the true story of what happened and
supports it with "facts" about how she was moving her money in those last months and hints at
having contacts with people who knew her, so there will be people who believe it. Stay away from
this one! (Originally appeared October 31, 1999.)

Peter Bright--The Death of a Smile (novel)

Except for a brief glimpse coming out the back door of the Ritz, we never see Princess Diana in
Peter Bright's book, The Death of a Smile. (The only thing I liked about this book was the title.)
In it, a group of five men in the English government, on orders from some person or agency who
is never specified, hire an American who specializes in killing high-profile figures by technological
means to get rid of Princess Diana because she has become a liability to the  monarchy. Three of
the five Englishmen are repelled by the assignment, but they do their duty and the deed is
accomplished by means of a remote control device which causes the car to accelerate out of
control. The book manages to combine several theories dear to the hearts of the conspiracy buffs,
including the possible involvement of Henri Paul. Definitely not recommended unless this sort of
story interests you. (Originally appeared October 31, 1999.)

Paul Burrell--A Royal Duty

I have read Paul Burrell's book, A Royal Duty, twice since I bought it, and I think it is one of the most complementary and valuable books written about Diana since her death. Decades from now, historians will be complementing him on his refusal to be intimidated by the Windsors, but of course he won't be around to hear that. The reviews and other articles I've read about the book are all shaped by the reviewer's beliefs as to whether he should have written such a flattering portrait of the princess (more than one writer has called it a "valentine"), or whether the reviewer believes that he betrayed her confidence, the agreements he signed, the privacy of William and Harry, etc. Admittedly, I'm in the former camp, since in my reading I couldn't find anything objectionable in what he revealed about her, though what he says about the drunkeness that is tolerated in the royal households is another matter entirely, since this is a situation that would not be permitteded for security reasons alone in the residence of any other head of state in the world.
I've read far more damaging and revealing material about Diana in books written by authors who had to have help from people in Prince Charles camp, such as The Real Diana by Lady Colin Campbell, Charles: Victim or Villain? by Penny Junor, The Queen and Di by Ingrid Seward, or Diana in Search of Herself by Sally Bedell Smith. None of them gave much consideration as to whether the revelations in their books would hurt William and Harry. (And unlike Paul Burrell, Patrick Jephson, Wendy Barrie, or Ken Wharfe, none of those women were employees who could be muzzled by threats of legal retaliation.) I do think that Paul would have never written a book about her as he originally stated unless he was forced to it by all his legal problems and loss of income as a result of the aborted trial last year.  The paperback edition has some additional material not in the hardcover edition. And Paul has stated after his appearance on I'm a Celebrity--Get Me Out of Here (Dec. 2004) that he has no intention of writing another book about
Diana; indeed, that he intends to move on with his life and he hopes to make a career in television.
(Originally appeared December 28, 2003)

Paul Burrell--In the Royal Style (British title: Entertaining with Style)

Paul Burrell's In the Royal Style (British title: Entertaining with Style) is sheer delight for any of us who have wondered what it's like to attend an elegant dinner party, with its directions on what
cutlery, china, linen, and wineglasses one should own;  how to fold a napkin in the fleur-de-lys
design of the Prince of Wales, how to properly eat asparagus, mussels, and other tricky foods, and
the history behind certain food and dining customs. He has menus for all four seasons of the year
for occasions ranging from an elegant Valentine's dinner for two to a summer children's party to
a Highland high tea to the grand finale Christmas feast of roast goose; and he also has directions on how to assemble appropriate floral arrangements for some occasions, including a Christmas
wreath. And unlike the meals featured in Last Dinner on the Titanic, any of the fifty recipes in
this book could be prepared in your own kitchen. This ease of effort is very much in keeping with his three essential rules for successful entertaining: 1) Relax and have fun, 2) Resist anything too
adventurous, extravagant, or expensive, and 3) Keep it simple because simplicity is often the most
stylish principle. (Originally appeared December 10, 1999.)

Tim Clayton and Phil Craig--Diana: Story of a Princess (book and video)

I just completed Diana: Story of a Princess by Tim Clayton and Phil Craig, which was published in conjunction with a four part documentary that aired on Britain's ITV in June and that will air on The Learning Channel later this year. (I have e-mailed them for the date, but have not yet received a reply.) The book is a refreshing change because they are historians who have done books on  topics other than royalty, and so they approached their subject with no preconceptions. Many people were interviewed for the documentary, including persons who have not been interviewed before; and lengthy quotes from their sources appear in the book. It doesn't go in for rumor or scandal, and it does an excellent job of establishing the origin of the Borderline Personality Disorder calumny. (You won't be surprised when you learn the name of the writer who initially broached it, since this person has always been one of Charles' defenders.) It is probably one of the most balanced books you will ever read about the marriage, since it becomes clear that it was a union of two equally needy people who, sadly, could not learn how to give to each other. Their flaws are realistically depicted and there are no extremes in depicting their virtues or failings. Princess Diana emerges as a much stronger and happier person than she is depicted in many of the other books written about her since her death, so it's a joy to read. There are also some seldom seen photos in this book, including a shot from the series of pictures taken on the beach in the Bahamas when Diana was five months pregnant and wearing a bikini.

In regards to British press reaction to the documentary, there have been the usual screaming
headlines about its "revelations", but compared to some of the stuff dished out by Penny Junor,
Lady Colin Campbell, Chris Hutchins, and Sally Bedell Smith, what's served up is pretty tame and
just seems spectacular when yanked out of context. According to James Hewitt's mother, Diana
would "steal" a bottle of Charles' orange vodka every time she came down for a weekend to Mrs.
Hewitt's home. (Isn't there such a thing as community property?) We also learn the restaurant
where Diana and Camilla had the pre-nuptial lunch during which Camilla was quizzing Diana
about her intention to hunt was oh-so-ironically named Menage a Trois! And speaking of Camilla,
James Hewitt shares his impression that there was tacit acceptance by the royal establishment of
both affairs, down to agreeing upon which couple would get to stay at Highgrove for the weekend.
Probably the most damaging allegation was that assertion made by a reliable source to whom Diana admitted she had made the nuisance calls to Oliver Hoare, since it does make her look like an obsessed woman. However, Lady Colin Campbell provides a very interesting detail about the
relationship on page 218 of the hardcover edition of her book The Real Diana that makes you
understand why Diana might have felt impelled to make the calls; and though I don't ordinarily
take much stock in many of the things she says, it is the one motivation I have heard that makes
sense. And some of the papers were in a snit that Princess Diana referred to the Royal Family as
"the leper colony" and the Queen Mother as the "chief leper"! Considering some of the things
that the Countess of Wessex said about the family in April, I think Diana showed remarkable
self-restraint and certainly a bit more imagination. (Originally appeared July 1, 2001.)
 

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This site originally launched July 1, 1999                           This page updated December 24, 2004.