Diana

by Julie Burchill

In the early hours of 31 August 1997, a spirited, compassionate and beautiful woman - who just happened to be the most famous woman in the world - died as a result of a high-speed car chase through the streets of Paris, pursued by the paparazzi who so dominated her life.

How did this happen? How did a shy Sloane kindergarten teacher from the heart of England with no visible talents come to conquer the world in a manner which would make John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe look like little more than hometown heroes? The answers are sought in this book, part love story, part document of our times.

Julie Burchill has written about and observed Diana with fascination for many years and first coined the phrase ‘the People’s Princess’, which has become such a powerful shorthand slogan for all Diana stood for.

Julie Burchill has been a journalist from the age of seventeen. Since then she has worked for or contributed to most of the major newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic and in continental Europe. She has written novels and non-fiction which have been translated into a dozen languages; she has also written stage and television screen plays. In 1998 she published her autobiography I Knew I was Right, as well as her latest novel. She was Editor-in-Chief of the magazine The Modern Review and is a columnist for The Guardian’s weekend section.

Genres: Biography, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

Julie Burchill is an English writer and columnist known for her provocative comments. Beginning as a writer for the New Musical Express at the age of 17, she has written for newspapers such as The Sunday Times and The Guardian. She is a self-declared "militant feminist". She has several times been involved in legal action resulting from her work. She is also an author and novelist, her 1989 novel Ambition being a bestseller, and her 2004 novel Sugar Rush being adapted for television.

Reviews

[PrettyFlamingo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a book group read when it was first released about 20 years ago and I recall it was slaughtered. Finding it again on one of my regular attic sortouts, I decided to give it another go.

Burchill's style of writing is intriguing, unusual, and as anti-Charles as it is possible to get - verging on the unprofessional and very immature in her comments - suggesting that Charles would offer Diana a pair of riding boots, a hard hat and a Halloween mask to fulfil his fantasy about Camilla Parker Bowles. Childish, and unnecessarily mean. Some of her metaphors are funny and acerbic, some are spiteful.

Julie Burchill's view on the wedding kiss on the balcony photograph: "Even Prince Charles looked alright. You couldn't see his face, for a start." And his pointlessness is emphasised as "her tights gave her more support than her husband".

The history aspect is interesting, and Diana's comments such as "I've got a mouse in my muff" are amusing. But the deification of Diana is ridiculous. An interesting read, I guess, but it took me longer to finish than I'd have liked.

[SmallRain · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is unabashed in its praise and fondness for Princess Diana. Burchill sprinkles it liberally with wry, cynical metaphors that amused me because I think Diana was very badly treated by the House of Windsor. If you have read one or two books about Diana you won’t really find anything new in this book because it is not a biography but a long essay of praise. If you are a Prince Charles supporter you will find this book infuriating because Burchill has nothing good to say about him or his family. I am one of those who is dreading the day that Charles becomes King and crowns Camilla his Queen. I don’t believe she deserves that title. I think the entire monarchy is a waste of taxpayers money and that Britain could get along fine without a monarchy. None of this does away with my fascination with the royal family rather in the same way a doctor may come across a rare disease and takes a great interest in its unusualness.

[Hannah G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was curious about what I understood would be a feminist's viewpoint. Author is unapologetically sympathetic of Diana and scathing of Charles, the Royal Family, Camilla, Diana's family especially her grandmother, and the English upper class (particularly its males). It seems no one thought much about whether a relationship with and marriage to Charles was in the best interests of the young, naive and very vulnerable Diana. Instead everyone around her pretty much seemed to have gaslighted her into thinking her arranged marriage of convenience was a love marriage.

[ZzZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julie forgot to mention her “friends” Lawson and Monckton’s “connections” with MI6 — and although she mentions Israel once she skips the part where Diana was going to advocate for FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸 as her next issue after the worldwide success of the landline campaign — but other than that sneakily convenient omission it’s a thoroughly entertaining dragging of Sir Lord Tampon

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A balanced, fair, objective and thoughtful analysis as you would expect from Julie Burchill..

[janette hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRILLIANT

Nothing to dislike you told her story so well. I hear your voice (which I think is strange) and your honesty which I applaud and at the end I cried again.

[Lily Deering · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. Focusing on her life rather than her death. Easy to follow but with some big words