|
 |
Shadows
Of A Princess: An Intimate Account by Her Private
Secretary by Patrick Jephson, John
Smith
In 1981, Lady Diana Spencer was destined to ascend the
British Throne, innocent young wife to the future King Charles
III. With her beauty, modesty and charitable good works, she
seemed the perfect addition to bring the Royal Family into the
21st century.
Instead, she brought a revolution.
Twenty years later, the comforting illusion of royalty as
we knew it is gone forever. Diana is dead, the Windsors
marginalised and a chastened Prince faces the dilemma of being
a very different sort of King than his people expected. But
what does it mean to be royal? Thrown into her role with
little background for it, Diana learned the hard way. This
book goes further than any other in exploring Diana's growth,
from innocent schoolgirl to sometimes-cynical member of the
world's most royal family.
No one knows more about Princess Diana's struggles than the
author, Diana's closest aide and advisor during her years of
greatest public fame and deepest personal crisis. Rooted in
first-hand experience, SHADOWS OF A PRINCESS is the most
authoritative, balanced account we will ever have of the woman
who became an icon, yet remains a contradictory enigma. Viewed
from behind the scenes during eight relentless years, this is
the Princess in all her disguises, as we have never seen her
before. It is the story of shifting loyalties, self-delusion
and shattered hope-of defiance and wasted opportunities. But
it is also a story of the laughter and optimism that were the
hallmark of Diana's alternate court and a tantalizing glimpse
of what might have been. |
 |
In Her Own Words: The After-death Journal of
Princess Diana by Christine
Toomey
According to a recent Gallup Poll, more than
70% of Americans believe in life-after-death. So what form
does life-after-death take? Here, we have one of the most
definitive accounts of the afterlife. Even two years after her
death, Princess Diana is still probably the single most read
about, talked about celebrity on the planet, eclipsing even
Jacqueline Onassis. Diana's funeral was the single most
watched television event on the planet with over 2.5 billion
viewers, overtaking even the wedding between her and Prince
Charles, the next most watched event at 750 million viewers.
"In Her Own Words" continues the important work that Diana
began while she walked among us, such as landmine clearance,
and respectful treatment for AIDS sufferers and this planet's
most important resource-our children. And as Diana's energy
comes through the pages, it will dispel any fear of death that
a reader may have-another "Diana legacy."
Rarely does someone capture the hearts
and minds of billions of people worldwide the way Diana did.
And even more rarely is that life snuffed out by a tragic
death shrouded in mystery. The world grieved its collective
loss, but was she truly lost? Here In Her Own Words, Diana
returns through noted psychic medium Christine Toomey to tell
us of her hopes and fears for that life, why her soul had to
cut it short, and what she went through on her death. Unlike
any other "Diana" book, these are her own words--no
interpretations or opinions--just Diana. This book will shock
you, surprise you, delight you, but most of all, it will
dispel any fear you may have of the momentary transition we
call death. Thanks to Christine Toomey, Diana's real
contribution to humanity has just begun.
|
 |
Diana in Search of Herself : Portrait of a
Troubled Princess by Sally Bedell
Smith
Amazon's Moskowitz reviews
this book:The Diana who was in search of herself was,
according to this relatively beefy addition to the writings on
the late princess, engaged in a futile exercise. Born after
her parents tried three unsuccessful times to produce a male
heir--two older sisters and a brother who died within hours of
birth preceded Diana Spencer's arrival--she felt unwanted from
the start. Her mother's abandonment of the family six years
later compounded Diana's feelings of self-worthlessness. At a
tender age, the girl who would grow up to be the beloved
Princess of Wales had already irrevocably lost her sense of
self. The book, which relies heavily on the accounts of
anonymous intimates of the late princess, describes her as a
deeply conflicted character. A friend is quoted as saying,
"Her dark side was that of a wounded trapped animal ... and
her bright side was that of a luminous being." The strikingly
tall, blond princess who cradled young cancer victims and
graciously accepted flowers from admirers, who frolicked on
camera with her young sons and flashed her sparkling smile as
she exited limousines, was often sulky, depressed, and
vengeful in private. "Why?" one might wonder--if volumes
hadn't already been written about the awful truth of her life.
Author Sally Bedell Smith revisits the well-trod ground of
Charles's continuing love affair with Camilla Parker Bowles,
Diana's intimidation by her royal in-laws, and her push-me,
pull-me relationship with the voracious paparazzi. In
addition, she details Diana's numerous love affairs and her
acts of self-mutilation and bizarre behavior, such as the
incident in which she tap-danced alone in her room until she
wore down the wood parquet. Prince Charles comes off as a
sympathetic if somewhat wimpy character, while, as the book
progresses, Diana grows into a woman navigating the fine line
between neurosis and full-blown psychosis. At the time of her
marriage, the princess is quoted as saying she was "so in love
with my husband that I couldn't take my eyes off him. I just
absolutely thought I was the luckiest girl in the world."
Years later, she would recall this same day thus: "The day I
walked down the aisle at St. Paul's Cathedral, I felt that my
personality was taken away from me, and I was taken over by
the royal machine." Her bulimia (even while pregnant with
Prince William), paranoia, lying, and flightiness are all
confirmed in Smith's tome but they are commingled with
testimonials to the late princess's generosity, intuition,
genuine warmth, and ability to put anyone at ease. Diana was
fine--to wit sane--as long as she was in a safe environment.
The bosom of the royal family was not one of those havens. But
she wasn't a passive victim--her famous comment about her
marriage being overcrowded, involving three people, presumably
herself, the prince, and Parker Bowles--wasn't quite true, as
she was also having an affair at the time, bringing the number
up to four.
All of these excruciating details--including Smith's
analysis of how long the Dodi and Diana match would have
lasted, had they not been killed that night in Paris--seem to
be carefully researched and attributed when the source allows
it, and build to the grand crescendo of the book, in which
Smith proffers her diagnosis of the princess's mental health.
The punchline here is that the tabloid assertions that hounded
Diana throughout her lifetime, asserting that she was "loony,"
"potty," a "basket case," or "barking mad," may have held more
than a kernel of truth. But if the princess was as expert a
manipulator as the book suggests, no one, it seems, could ever
hope to know the whole truth.
|
 |
Diana : Her Life in Fashion by Georgina Howell
With the exclusive support of many who knew
and loved Diana, Princess of Wales, this book celebrates and
examines the way she presented herself to the world-in her
look, her smile, her choice of dress, even her hairstyle.
From the moment the innocent young
nanny stepped into the very public role of Princess, her
innermost thoughts and emotions had to remain concealed. Yet
her sense of herself was inexorably conveyed through her
manner of dress and her public demeanor as she passed through
the many phases of her public life. Through her insight as an
insider and internationally admired fashion editor, Georgina
Howell tells of the fairy-tale transformation of Diana. Photo-
reportage and lavish official portraits by royal photographer
Anwar Hussein and the world's greatest fashion photographers
explore every carefully planned public face and mood of the
Princess-ingenue, bride, madonna, supermodel, nemesis, icon.
|
More about Princess Di ...
Dressing
Diana by Tim Graham, Tamsin Blanchard(Photographer)
Catherine
Walker : An Autobiography by the Private Couteur Diana Princess of
Wales by Catherine Walker, Liz Tilberis
Princess
Diana : The Hidden Evidence by John King, John Beverige
Diana
Remembered 1961-1997 by Daily Telegraph(Editor), MacMillan
Uk Publishers(Editor)
Ever
After : Diana and the Life She Led by Anne Edwards
The
Bodyguard's Story: Diana, the Crash, and the Sole Survivor
by Trevor Rees-Jones, Moira Johnston(Contributor)
on
a less tragic vein,
If you want to go to supermodel heaven ... get
ALL these books ...
Mario Testino : Party by Mario Testino
Who is Testino? - Mario Testino was born in Lima,
Peru. During the seventies he started his career as a largely
self-taught photographer in London. Today with a client list that
includes Calvin Klein, Versace, Gucci, Vogue, and W, he is one of
the fashion industry's most successful and highly esteemed
photographers, travelling throughout the world on
assignment
One of fashion's most sought-after photographers, Mario Testino
has launched the careers of several of the current crop of
supermodels, including Kate Moss and Stella Tallent. This vivid
collection from the Stern archives includes Testino's portraits of
celebrities, parties, fashion spreads and shots of the eccentric
world behind the catwalk. Eternally youthful in both outlook and his
style, Testino is a member of a new generation of fashion
photographers who are attracted to
experimentation, to provocative subject matter and eroticism. Yet
for all the vibrant coloring of his set-ups, and his tendency toward
the rough-and-tumble, his photographs possess the cool and highly
polished style of an expert cameraman. His passion for fine art and
portraiture shines through every photograph-from his subtle and
elegant black-and white images of Diana, Princess of Wales (the last
formal shots published before her death) to his highly touted shots
of Madonna. An unwavering individual in a world that all too often
celebrates the tried and true, Mario Testino finds inspiration in
the new, the young, and the different. It is this sensibility that
keeps his pictures fresh, and his career going at a rapid pace.
|
 |
Front Row Back Stage by
Mario Testino
-- THE GOLD
STANDARD - THE MUST GET BOOK
Amra Brooks writes; "In Front
Row/Backstage, Mario Testino's relaxed photos capture the
fantasy of the high-fashion world. They take readers to recent
fashion shows and are organized in an almost play-by-play manner. In
the book's introduction, Vogue editor Anna Wintour reminds
readers how Testino's signature style is clearly visible in his
portraits of the late Princess Diana: "Although we had seen a
million pictures of Diana, we had never seen her looking so relaxed,
accessible and modern as when Mario photographed her." This
accessible feeling is one that Testino projects onto all of his
subjects. Here Testino shows the backstage preparation for the top
designers' runway shows, the photographers preparing, the audience
being seated, the models dressing, and the show itself. He has
captured some of the most groundbreaking collections and innovative
presentations, such as Alexander McQueen's flooded runway and his
winter collection, during which snow poured down onto all of the
models. Other noted shows include Yohji Yamamoto, Givenchy, Chloe,
Christian Dior, and John Galliano. The moments Testino captures are
timeless: they seem to hold so much beauty and effortless style that
they feel current. Only a peek at the date of a show reveals that
some images are from many collections ago. The action and movement
of the shots give a whole new life to past and present visions of
our fashion gurus and icons."
"Fashion shows have
become a kind of performance art. It is a case of be there or be
square as models, clothes, music, and light make new ideas come to
life in front of one of the most discerning and critical audiences
for any art form. In his new book Front Row/Backstage acclaimed
Vogue photographer Mario Testino has captured the excitement and
drama of the international shows in Paris, London, and Milan.
Testino has conjured a collage of images from these intense, hectic,
beautiful events, contrasting the chaos and reality behind the
scenes with the moment on the catwalk when a woman is transformed
into an icon of chic. Testino invites you to share his coveted seat
in the front row to witness the fleeting moments of fashion as it
happens. Then he celebrates the hidden world behind the scenes as
the world's most beautiful women are unceremoniously hurled into
their next outfit from Lacroix, St. Laurent, Gucci, Chanel, Dior,
and Givenchy. Front Row/Backstage is a chance for us to witness
firsthand the most exclusive fashion moments through the eyes of the
world's hottest fashion photographer." |
