My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
The Diana Chronicles
by
Tina Brown
Ten years after her death, Princess Diana remains a mystery. Was she “the people’s princess,” who electrified the world with her beauty and humanitarian missions? Or was she a manipulative, media-savvy neurotic who nearly brought down the monarchy? Only Tina Brown, former editor-in-chief of Tatler, England’s glossiest gossip magazine; Vanity Fair; and The New Yorker could...more
Paperback, 576 pages
Published
May 20th 2008
by Broadway
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,470)
Shut up.
Brown's work starts out with such promise. She offers an insightful look at not only the development of Diana from small, shy child to media mogul, but also the changing face of the British press and media from the late 60s onwards. This well-written discussion lasts for the first 200 pages or so. Once Diana and Charles say "I Do", it's back to business as usual as Brown rehashes the same old cover stories, photo ops, and leaked phone recordings. She almost pull...more
Brown's work starts out with such promise. She offers an insightful look at not only the development of Diana from small, shy child to media mogul, but also the changing face of the British press and media from the late 60s onwards. This well-written discussion lasts for the first 200 pages or so. Once Diana and Charles say "I Do", it's back to business as usual as Brown rehashes the same old cover stories, photo ops, and leaked phone recordings. She almost pull...more
view 2 comments
Why? Because someone left it at my house and because I just watched that movie "The Queen". The collective force of these two circumstances forced me to pick up the book and read it.
The book was okay. It's a pretty thorough examination of the Diana phenomenon, and it's well enough written for something of this sort, but in the end, it's just glorified celebrity gossip. The book tries hard to make us see that how the British feel about the monarchy is an important. I ...more
The book was okay. It's a pretty thorough examination of the Diana phenomenon, and it's well enough written for something of this sort, but in the end, it's just glorified celebrity gossip. The book tries hard to make us see that how the British feel about the monarchy is an important. I ...more
The Dianna Chronicles, by Tina Brown. A. Narrated by Rosalyn Landor, provided by Books on Tape, and downloaded from Audible.
This is a book memoralizing dianna ten years after her death. Tina tells the story of Dianna and Charles meeting, of the things that led up to the decision that she was “right” for the Prince of Wales, her very hard road living in the palace both before and after her marriage, the constant interference of Camilla Parker Bowles keeping an affair alive with the Prince...more
This is a book memoralizing dianna ten years after her death. Tina tells the story of Dianna and Charles meeting, of the things that led up to the decision that she was “right” for the Prince of Wales, her very hard road living in the palace both before and after her marriage, the constant interference of Camilla Parker Bowles keeping an affair alive with the Prince...more
I had a hard time putting this book down. Even though I knew how it was going to end and dreaded reliving that horrible event, reading The Diana Chronicles was akin to watching a train wreck and being unable to turn away.
Tina Brown is quite a gifted writer and, in that wonderful British way that I envy greatly, employs the perfect adjectives to express her thoughts. Ms. Brown interviewed more than 250 friends, family members, employees, etc. of Diana's, and perhaps since almost ten...more
Tina Brown is quite a gifted writer and, in that wonderful British way that I envy greatly, employs the perfect adjectives to express her thoughts. Ms. Brown interviewed more than 250 friends, family members, employees, etc. of Diana's, and perhaps since almost ten...more
How could another book, and a 482 page book at that, on Diana possibly be entertaining or shed more light on the subject? Well, Tina Brown manages to do just that. Not only are the Diana Chronicles entertaining and very readable it begins by shedding a new light on Diana and the entire social climate of Britian during the eighties and nineties. Brown begins with a drama, the accident in Paris. Her writing is dynamic and flowing. It draws the reader in right away. No one can forget the images on ...more
people's princess," who electrified the world with her beauty and humanitarian missions? Or was she a manipulative, media-savvy neurotic who nearly brought down the monarchy?Only Tina Brown, former editor-in-chief of Tatler, England's glossiest gossip magazine, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker could possibly give us the truth. Tina knew Diana personally and has far-reaching insight into the royals and the queen herself.In The Diana Chronicles, you will meet a formidable female cast and under...more
There are few who could delve as successfully into Princess Di's life as the celebrated Tina Brown, who combines her journalistic savvy with the gossip only an insider could know. While she stresses Diana's role in changing the relationship between the press and the House of Windsor, Brown offers plenty of juicy details, "varying from credible to melodramatic to weirdly sitcomlike" (New York Times)from Diana's sexual relationship (remember Squidgy?) with Charles to her insecurities,
...more
ok, so i picked this one up not because of a previously undisclosed interest in princess di but because of my interest in tina brown. yes, really. at first i was really into it, but then it became deeply repetitive, down to iterations of cliches such as "such and such was catnip for so and so." not surprising from tina brown, it felt like a magazine piece that went on way too long. the beginning (flash-forward to her death) and the end (death, redux) were great. the middle not so ...more
My level of interest in this book fluctuated depending on the topic being addressed. The truth is, Diana Spencer was not an interesting person before she became involved with the royal family, and the sections about her early life could put you to sleep. The sections about Charles's early life, on the other hand, are pretty interesting. Reading certain sections was like watching a train wreck in slow motion; in many ways Diana was her own worst enemy, with an inability to learn from experience. ...more
Katy Major
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those interested in the royals
Recommended to Katy by:
Alisa Webel
I debated between rating this a four-star or a five-star book. I REALLY enjoyed it. So much, in fact, that every day revolved on me squeezing in a page or two of Diana-related history. I gobbled up the strange little British factoids in this book ravenously and repeated them to my indifferent friends and family. "Did you know that the princess is expected to walk two steps behind the prince?" "Did you know that Fergie and Diana were the first to be publicly feuding celebrities?"...more
This is a pretty good biography of the late princess in that Tina Brown stays somewhat neutral. She paints a mixed portrait of Diana; the reader sees the good side of Diana that we the public knew about and loved, but also Brown reveals that Diana wasn't a complete saint in many ways. While it's sometimes difficult to speak ill of those who have gone before us, Ms. Brown does so in a way that is not insulting nor catty. She is able to back up her statements, as well as add a few comments that sh...more
This was the first book I've read about the royal family in general and Diana specifically. I found this one to be very even-handed. I had many preconceived notions about both the Windsors and Diana, some of which were borne out by the book, but others that were dashed.
Diana did great things, to be certain, but was neither a saint nor without her lapses in judgment and morality. She was so alone, though, and one could see the desperation in her every move when taken in aggregate. I...more
Diana did great things, to be certain, but was neither a saint nor without her lapses in judgment and morality. She was so alone, though, and one could see the desperation in her every move when taken in aggregate. I...more
It was OK - I didn't particularly enjoy Tina Brown's reading style. Specifically, there were, at multiple points during the book, clear changes in tone and tempo indicating that she had stopped reading and then picked up again at a later date. This was a bit jarring when it happened mid-chapter - it would have been much less noticeable if these changeovers had happened at chapter breaks.
The book seemed like it was trying to be a balanced, if not particularly flattering, portrayal o...more
The book seemed like it was trying to be a balanced, if not particularly flattering, portrayal o...more
I thought this was an interesting book considering the new Royal Wedding that just happened. I think the author took a look at both sides and that Prince Charles came off better than public opinion has seemed to dictate. Diana came off much worse than public opinion would dictate of her. Sometimes the writing seemed pretty harsh , especially towards Diana. Who knows what the truth really is, but it was interesting to read more about the inner workings of the monarchy. It has always been an inter...more
It is most difficult to review this book. I found it fascinating because I have always been interested in the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, but the way it is presented here seems to me cheap and some of it almost tawdry. I think some of the princess's life events could have been treated with more discretion and care. One can't deny that this life is indeed interesting, but one could hope that its presentation in a book could have been more gracious. I found this to be more sensationalist...more
I liked this book and felt anew that Diana was not given a fair chance in tjhe royal family. She was indeed very immature and found life in the royal family very difficult. Much of the problem was that she was so likeable and so normal...not qualities the royal family sees as valuable. It is too bad that she abused herself as a way to cope and that she died just as she was coming into her own. Tina Brown, as a reporter for one of the tabloid newspapers covered Diana's activities and presents ...more
Tina Brown is a talented writer, so makes a story we think we all know, actually a compelling portrait of complexity, rather than the rehashed pablum of cliches and armchair psychology that the tabloids and other biographies have offered. I actually learned something about the human beings involved, the constraints both of "the Firm" i.e.the palace, the Windsors and on Diana. All the families are dysfunctional, but Brown portrays them all as fully human such that we can feel for them a...more
If you are at all interested in what really goes on behind the gates of the palace, and what really happened between Diana and Prince Charles, this is the book for you. Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of Vogue, was a young magazine editor of Tatler, at the height of Diana's reign as the People's Princess. She goes deep with her sources, until we feel we have a relationship with Diana. She not only goes into detail about her life, but also the hours that lead up to her tragic death and what really h...more
Intense, possibly TOO detailed, gossipy, schadenfreuderiffic fun.
Almost everything here is old news, conglomerated and rehashed. The story of two self-centered, class-conscious families. That princess Anne, from one anecdote, sounds like one snotty lady. According to this book, the day William and Harry were awakened and told of their mother's death, they were made to dress for church and attend the normal service as if nothing had happened (and once there, her death was not even mentioned). What clueless, cold people. The monarchy should be abolished a...more
I was surprised by how critical of Diana Brown was, especially when compared to her other biographers. She seemed to blame the car crash on Diana saying that her and Dodi foolishly went out for dinner that night when they could have just as easily eaten at home. I get that she was saying Diana could have stayed out of the paparazzi’s way if she just stayed home, but no one can ever know when an accident is going to happen! And if she spent her entire life hiding from the paparazzi she would beco...more
This book digs down deep into who Diana, Princess of Wales, really was below the surface. I liked that Tina Brown started the book with background on her family and early childhood and ended with her death and it's aftermath. Everyone knows what came of Princess Diana, but not many know where she came from and what made her who she was, which is what makes this book extremely interesting. The book, however, does get very wordy and slow in certain points, but, if you are at all interested in the ...more
Part well-researched biog, part examination of the history of print journalism - and the British emotional psyche as examined through said medium - and part enjoyable gossip column written wittily and with insight.
Brown approaches Diana - and all the major players in her life and death - with both compassion and a critical eye. The picture of the woman who emerges is well-rounded and all the more likable for the harsh evaluation: neurotic, naive, manipulative, fantastically media sa...more
Brown approaches Diana - and all the major players in her life and death - with both compassion and a critical eye. The picture of the woman who emerges is well-rounded and all the more likable for the harsh evaluation: neurotic, naive, manipulative, fantastically media sa...more
As readable and enjoyable as the occasional bit of literary trash may be, I make no mistake regarding the fact that that's what I was reading when I read The Diana Chronicles. Sarah Bradford is a biographer and, to date, she owns the bragging rights to the definitive book on Diana, Princess of Wales. Tina Brown has gone to previously-published books, magazine articles, and interviews with more than 200 people for her own take on the complicated Princess, her reluctant husband, and the woman wh...more
When my friends Carol and Connie came to visit in November, they brought a stack of books. I selected The Diana Chronicles after I returned from my California trip.
I knew little about the particulars of Princess Di’s life: she loved her children very much, went through a painful divorce, was hounded by the media, had been involved with many charitable causes, and died in a horrible car crash.
Tina Brown gives us a detailed portrait of Diana’s difficult life. She did a prod...more
I knew little about the particulars of Princess Di’s life: she loved her children very much, went through a painful divorce, was hounded by the media, had been involved with many charitable causes, and died in a horrible car crash.
Tina Brown gives us a detailed portrait of Diana’s difficult life. She did a prod...more
There's a LOT of information here, but I almost feel like that since this was written so long after the fact, that Brown let other researchers do the work for her, then compiled everything into one book (with some great "fact-finding" trips to London and Paris, of course). A good summation of Diana's life and death, but I was put off by Brown's incessant, irritating use of certain words, which seemed to be placed in the text just to show she knows them (if I read one more sentence wit...more
Why lie? I love tabloids. And lately I don't have time to sit around grocery check-out lines reading them, I just decided to pick up this book. I was interested in the social, and historical, and media commentaries of this book. Blah Blah Blah. But what I was REALLY interested in was facts like:
1) Camilla and Charles' friends were complicit in letting them plan their affair hookups at their country homes;
2) Diana's siblings kicked their step-mom out of their family home just...more
1) Camilla and Charles' friends were complicit in letting them plan their affair hookups at their country homes;
2) Diana's siblings kicked their step-mom out of their family home just...more
It took a while, but I finally finished this long book this morning. I did thoroughly enjoy this well-written, well-researched book. I think you do need to be a Princess Diana fan to read Ms. Brown's book. The author shows a lot of sympathy for Diana. A lot of the information I already knew from reading other books about Diana, but this was a good review and also gave a good perceptive on how the media got so interested in Diana as well as the public. As a young girl, Diana read romance nov...more
This is one of those books that makes me wish GoodReads did half-stars. Reading it was in many way akin to chewing Bubbalicious: You know Trident is better for you, but this is so sweet and easy. Or, at least it is until the author reinserts herself into the story again. After a while, though, I was willing to give her props for her timing and sarcasm, and the book had anecdotes and other information I hadn't encountered before -- though I doubt very much that Trevor Rees-Jones was, as the story...more
Of all the books that have been written about the late Princess of Wales, this is probably one of the fairest, most balanced, least sentimental, and least hysterical. Which is kind of surprising since you might imagine, at first glance, that the book would be primarily dishy trash. There's enough of that to keep you turning the pages, of course. But Brown manages to be fair to all the major figures in her story--no one is a clear villain, but neither is the book--thank God!--a Diana hagiograp...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Tina Brown, Lady Evans (born Christina Hambley Brown) is a journalist, magazine editor, columnist, talk-show host and author of The Diana Chronicles, a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, a personal friend. Born a British citizen, she took United States citizenship in 2005. She became the editor-in-chief of Tatler magazine at the age of 25, and rose to prominence in the American media industry ...more
More about Tina Brown...
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
