Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words

As a little girl, I loved fairy tales and what better fairy tale exists than an every day woman marrying a prince? True love plus instant princess title?  Yes, please!  For most outside of Britain, that’s exactly what Diana Spencer’s life looked like – a prince swept her off her feet during a whirlwind romance, they married creating a new princess, and started a family of royal heirs.  To the world, this happy little family was a dream come true.

As Andrew Morton details in Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words, this fairytale was far from idyllic from the start.  Born to a noble family that would split up early in her life, Diana was forever just longing to be loved.  Parents who hated each other, stepparents who never really connected with her, and siblings who were always in competition with her – her life was anything but a fairytale.  So when a man her sister had once dated shows interest in her, she leapt at the opportunity.

Her later life wasn’t much happier.  Morton includes transcripts of conversations recorded by Diana’s friends at her request that show the pain she suffered from before their honeymoon was even truly begun.  The pressure to be the perfect, camera-ready wife and future queen took it’s toll on her mental health resulting in multiple suicide attempts and a long struggle with eating disorders.  Diana also found herself without close confidants as most of the people around her either worked for The Company (aka: the royal family), or were only pretending to be friends while spying for The Company.  In what we today refer to as “gaslighting”, Diana was frequently told by her husband that she was either imaging any discrimination by the royal family or was making too much out of her pain.

I give Diana 4 out of 5 stars.  Morton details the relationship he developed with the late Princess of Wales and her family which gave him unbelievable access to interviews, photos, and family documents.  The first segment of the book includes direct transcripts of those conversations mentioned earlier – I could hear the Princess’ voice speaking these words in my head!  Later in the book, Morton includes personal photographs of Diana throughout her life – my favorites include photos of her dancing or with her siblings.  However, at times this book felt laborious to read with heavy subject matter and a more documentarian feel to the writing.

Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words  is an amazing biography of a mysterious woman from start to finish of her life that everyone should read.  However, given the heavy subject matter of suicide, eating disorders, adultery, divorce, and death, this book would be best suited to audiences over 18 years old.  I would also suggest that this book may be triggering for some readers who have, themselves, suffered from eating disorders or depression in the past.

I chose Diana as my historical biography for the month of March.  I aim to read one biography of a historical figure each month, and this was a great choice.  I learned so many new facts about Diana such as her noble birth, her sister’s previous romance with the Prince of Wales, her playful nature, and the extreme gaslighting she underwent by the royal family when she refused to conform.  If you have enjoyed The Crown on television, I think you will enjoy this book as well!

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What I’m Reading

• Current print book: Start With Why, Simon Sinek
• Current audio book: Killing England, Martin Dugard & Bill O’Reilly
• Book I’m most looking forward to: The Help, Kathryn Stockett