Diana - Hardcover

Bradford, Sarah

3.89

1,461 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067088166X ISBN 13: 9780670881666

Publisher: Viking, 2006

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With the authority missing from all previous accounts, acclaimed royal biographer Sarah Bradford delivers a complex and explosive study of the greatest icon of the twentieth century: Diana, Princess of Wales.

With access to those closest to Diana and her select circle, Sarah Bradford casts aside the gossip and lies and takes us to the very heart of the Royal Family, talking to those who know them intimately, and finally separating the myth from the truth of the Diana years. Drawing on remarkable new interviews and first-hand accounts from friends, courtiers and employees, Diana paints an extraordinary portrait of a woman riddled with contradictions. Magnetic, affectionate, compassionate, stylish, and dutiful, on one hand; destructive, needy, self-absorbed, and consumed with insecurity and suspicion, on the other.

Diana follows the blighted childhood, which left her feeling she was an unloved disappointment; the old-fashioned courtship which saw her capture the Prince of Wales; the transformation of an unworldly teenager into an emotionally demanding yet adoring wife and mother; the damage caused by the ever present spectre of Camilla Parker Bowles; and the eventual collapse of the doomed marriage once hailed as the ultimate fairytale. Bradford examines Diana's relationships with her lovers, staff and friends as well as her children, husband and in-laws. She also charts Diana’s profound commitment to her charities and her rare connection and empathy with all those she met; the struggle to find an identity after the separation from Charles; and the final, complicated year as a single woman.

From the bestselling author of Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty The Queen - Sarah Bradford's Diana is the most revealing, insightful and accurate portrait of the Princess, and her continued impact on the Monarchy.

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Review:

The definitive biography. In this authoritative account, Bradford paints a revealing, accurate portrait of a complex woman flawed and adored in equal measure. (Daily Telegraph)

Readers will find themselves gripped by this gloriously gossipy account. Bradford is even-handed and unafraid. (Jeremy Lewis Sunday Times Books of the Year)

Diana is Sarah Bradford's excellent and authoritative new biography of the most extraordinary woman in recent history ... Sarah Bradford has set a high standard for the others to follow (Virginia Blackburn Daily Express)

You feel from this book that you know the woman as she probably was, and that is because, perhaps for the first time, a grown-up has written about her (Adam Nicolson Evening Standard)

Bradford has a real grasp of history and the ability to make it spark into new life (Sunday Telegraph)

A woman of intelligence and taste ... Bradford is an excellent writer who has produced a balanced and well-researched biography. (Philip Hensher Spectator)

A very sad story. Bradford tells it eloquently, but it's her admirable detachment that leaves one pitying all, not one, of the characters involved. (Antonia Fraser Guardian Books of the Year)

From the Back Cover:

Glamour. Duty. Tragedy: The Woman Behind the Princess.

Sarah Bradford delivers an authoritative and explosive study of the greatest icon of the twentieth century: Diana.

After more than a decade interviewing those closest to the Princess and her select circle, Sarah Bradford exposes the real Diana: the blighted childhood, the old-fashioned courtship which saw her capture the Prince of Wales, the damage caused by the spectre of Camilla Parker Bowles, through to the collapse of the royal marriage and Diana's final and complicated year as a single woman.

Diana paints an honest portrait of a woman riddled with contradictions and whose vulnerability and unique empathy with the suffering made her one of the most extraordinary figures of the modern age.

'A very sad story. Bradford tells it eloquently, but it's her admirable detachment that leaves one pitying all, not one, of the characters involved.' Antonia Fraser, Guardian Books of the Year

'You feel from this book that you know the woman as she probably was, and that is because, perhaps for the first time, a grown-up has written about her. A judicious evaluation of a tragic life.' Adam Nicolson, Evening Standard

'A woman of intelligence and taste ... Bradford is an excellent writer who has produced a balanced and well-researched biography.'Philip Hensher, Spectator

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