The Real Diana MP3 CD – Unabridged, August 20, 2010

I spent a great deal of the last twenty-five years believing that Diana could do no wrong. I read the original version of this book back in 1992, and Lady Colin Campbell totally put me off. I was convinced she was hired to sully Diana’s image, but as time has passed, I now realize that the drama created in the royal family during the years that she was a member was a two-sided phenomenon.Both Charles and Diana are/were fallible, and both contributed to the failure of the marriage. Lady Colin Campbell is more than fair here, giving Diana credit for her virtues while pointing out her faults. She was human, after all. Many of us are guilty of putting her on a pedestal because of her innocence going into the marriage, and her despair at the end of the relationship. With time passing, I have become more objective and was ready to hear about Diana’s failings, and let’s face it, regardless of our station in life, we all have them. The prose is eloquent and intriguing. I’m glad I gave this subject a second look.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it! For the many years I have been following the British royal family, I was completely ignorant of so many things, more often than not believing what was printed in the newspapers and in magazines. I began my fascination with British royalty at age 10, in the early 1970's, when I saw "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" on Masterpiece Theatre, and have never looked back. As a young and impressionable college student, I lapped up everything in the papers in 1980-81 when Lady Diana Spencer arrived on the world landscape as a possible match for Prince Charles, and rose very early on July 29th (my own birthday), 1981, to see live the "wedding of the century." My feelings that day would have been completely different had I known what was going on with these people as individuals and in their families. As a young person, I was completely caught up in the "fairy tale" of it all, not even thinking clearly about these folks as human beings with problems, failings, sorrow and angst, just like the rest of us. When things LOOK good, we want to believe they ARE good. Charles and Diana looked to the world like a handsome, dashing, contented groom and a young, beautiful, slightly nervous bride, when what they actually were were a man not really wanting to get married but sincerely trying to make the best of it, and a terrified 19-year-old girl with grave doubts about whether she should go on or call the whole thing off. After reading this book, I have concluded that they were two people believing they were "doing the right thing" for their own separate reasons and not considering the huge ramifications of this course of action, for themselves and for their families. Indeed, there were so many different motivations at play here that it proved impossible to sort them, and live them, out.My impression as I read through the first 2/3 of this book was that there was TMI (too much information) and that it was unrelentingly unflattering to the Princess of Wales. Sides of her personality are revealed here that a reader may find hard to believe or even shocking. Luckily we find that these traits were not organic but almost surely caused by being raised in a grievously dysfunctional family, in spite of the great wealth and privilege the Spencers enjoyed. The latter part of the book describes for us the great efforts Diana made in trying to heal from the resulting emotional illness and to restore her broken relations with Prince Charles and the rest of the royal family and those who served them. She did much wonderful humanitarian work and was a loving mother to her sons. There are many contradictions here, but I think we learn that this is a natural part of the human condition, certainly for those who have grown up without the love, safety, and acceptance they need.The descriptions of the background of wealth and privilege here are staggering. At first, it's almost difficult to believe anyone could be unhappy in such circumstances, as they are so far beyond what most of us know, but quickly we understand what it's like to be a bird in a guilded cage. One can only guess what would have happened if Diana and Dodi had lived; I would hope they could find happiness with each other and appreciation of their unbelievable material gifts. It looks like they were looking forward to working together on some fantastic projects to benefit some of those truly in need.Lastly, I would like to say "Yay!!!" for Prince Charles. For many years he was falsely painted as a cold, callous, indifferent husband and father, but according to this author, that couldn't be further from the truth. I pray he has found happiness in his marriage with the Duchess of Cornwall and that he will ascend to the throne prepared and contented when the time comes. I believe he'll be a great king, both modern and classic. I am sure Diana must be watching from heaven with pride in her sons and in the man she married.

I enjoyed reading this because it gave lots of background information on Diana, her family, Charles etc.It presented Diana as a very troubled person and certainly not the poor little innocent many want to believe. Also showed Charles as less than perfect.Very interesting and truthful.

I found myself wondering how much of this book is true. It definitely has a salacious twist to it. Of course this makes it easier to sell.

I enjoyed this book; I think it was a fair and accurate depiction of the complicated person Diana was, she was entirely human and had tremendous gifts as well as serious issues. Her charitable works denoted a person of innate compassion and kindness and she will be remembered for many decades for just such noble acts. However, she was no saint and I write this as someone who believed the fairytale until it fell apart. I blamed it all on Charles, but that was not fair - a fact I realized as I grew older. Two people go into a marriage and both individuals share the blame, t some extent, when it goes wrong. If history could be re-written, Charles would have married Amanda Knatchbull, who would have either made him content or looked the other way if he rekindled his affair with Camilla. Diana would have been better suited for Andrew, she might have been able to keep him from becoming the reprobate he is now. They would have been intellectually suited, physically suited, and emotionally compatible. But that is not how life goes. Instead, Diana and Charles realized they were tremendously unsuitable for one another and entered into affairs. In any other time, this would have been a good working marriage of convenience. But Diana was not a woman of any other age. Lady Campbell indicates she was ambitious and calculating, beautiful and generous, but prone to sudden mood swings. She attributes these moods to the eating disorder and she may have a point, it does change the body in so many ways (and never positively). It is sad that Diana died tragically, unnecessarily young, for lack of a seatbelt and a boyfriend who wanted to impress her with his command of a situation. I think she had great things still ahead and would have enjoyed seeing her boys grow and mature into men, and she would have loved her grandchildren. I recommend this book for an unvarnished, believable look into the life of a dynamic and troubled beauty.

Well, I imagine I have read almost all of the 'Diana books' over the past 20 years or so, but this one had me gripped. Astonishing revelations, and amazing in depth information about the Paget Inquiry.I've followed Lady Colin Campbell's life over the years but only from newspaper articles, but she obviously came to a wider audience after her appearance on I'm a Celebrity ....: - but I have to admit I had no idea what a wonderful writer she is until I recently read her autobiography, hence then buying this book. From childhood she had a life of a family with position in life, and her life meant acquiring friends from all walks of life and celebrity, thereby enabling her to write about Diana with such authority, and because she is in this position I am of the opinion that she is a truthful author, not fanciful and posturing along the lines of Buffoon Burrel.I truly hope Diana did, in fact, find love and fulfilment with Dodi. She certainly deserved some loving happiness , didn't she. This book is the only one of all the many other Diana books which has persuaded me this is true. The fact that any happiness was so short lived is such a tragedy. I don't think we'll ever stop missing Diana. Knowing she should now be enjoying being with her wonderful sons and grandchildren must tear those two incredible young men's hearts open still is a very bitter pill.I wish we had known at the time just how much anguish Charles went through, having to virtually fight against his mother to get Diana the funeral she deserved as the mother of the heir apparent when the queen dug her heels in, saying Diana was no longer a member of the Royal family and as such she should have a quiet Spencer family funeral! Charles and Tony Blair had to join forces because none of the usual royal people behind the scenes were swung into action as for a Royal Funeral, she only relented and let Charles take a jet of the royal fleet when Charles sarcastically asked his mother if she'd rather Diana returned to England in the back of a Harrods van!!But receive a Royal Funeral she did, thank goodness. Lady C C is an author whom, once you start to read one of her books it's impossible to put it down. I' m now downloading Diana in Private and hope it,'s as good as this.If you haven't read this book, buy it, you won't be disappointed !!

This has to be the most in-depth book about Diana I have ever read. The author tells it as it is & doesn’t leave any stone unturned, she has clearly done her homework ! I’m fairly picky with what I read & im glad I read this book. Don’t like to talk Ill of the dead, but blimey, she really had another side to her that I found quite eye opening. If you want to read a book that you can’t put down, read this .......

I was never a Diana fan. I noticed her upstaging Charles ‘ causes continually as they separated and it seemed to be rather sour grapes. As I always read Kindle samples before I part with money, this book had a generous set of free to read ages and it got me completely gripped. Diana was a complicated woman who seems to have married way too young. Whether her psychoses would have manifested themselves quite as strongly if she hadn’t have rushed into becoming a princess is unknown. The author can be fair minded while dealing with her rather self indulgent subject. I felt sympathy, then irritation with Diana. Definitely worth a read if you have an open mind.

I found this book quite boring. Most of the knowledge can be found in Documentaries on the late Princess. I have previously read The Chronicles of Princess Diana, and found this book to be unbiased and interesting. I am presently half way through this book, and I'm struggling to finish it. It's becoming one paragraph at a time. Lady C has a very obvious dislike for our late Princess. One topic which I found particularly unsavoury was the naming of Lady Diana's previous lovers? Princess D's Uncle Lord Fermoy, said there were none, Lady Cgoes on to discredit this despite there being no evidence. Did we really need to read this? Especially now that P D is deceased!!! Have some respect. If you want a truly awful book, most of it I would say fabrication, then this book is for you.

As a fan of Diana I found this book an insult to her memory! The book is based on comments by the authors friends who many don’t even give their names with their quotes made against Diana . The author’s writing is boring and too long and she repeats herself several times , rambling on. I will not bother reading any of her books in future .