I find myself in the group of Americans fascinated by royal families around the world, especially the highly publicized British monarchy. Royal life, traditions, family dynamics, et cetera are all so interesting and so different from our American presidents and their four year terms. I stumbled across a biography of Princess Diana, and, since it had been awhile since I had read a good nonfiction book (much less an excellent biography), I decided to go for it.
Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words by Andrew Morton is, well, pretty much just that. We walk through her childhood, fairytale wedding to Prince Charles, subsequent disastrous marriage, the birth of her children, to her tragic sudden death. I knew a little bit about the princess, but this book was full of information I had never learned.
Frankly, it really wasn’t a happy story. Diana went through so much with no support from those around her, and it quite broke my heart. We share many of the same insecurities; in that way, I was reminded of myself as I read. But it was hard to see how those insecurities can manifest and worsen without love and help from those around you. Diana had such incredible courage and openness about her mental health and eating disorders at a time where those things weren’t discussed in society, much less in the buttoned-up royal British family. Her devotion to her children and to her role as the people’s princess despite her difficulties was admirable to say the least.
This biography changed the way I viewed some members of the royal family as it opened my eyes to just a bit of its inner workings and skeletons; every family has them. I thought Morton navigated through the large amount of material very well. It was orderly and concise. I never got overwhelmed or lost reading through this 300+ page biography. I really enjoyed the photographs included as well. For anyone who is interested in the royal family, monarchies, or biographies in general, I would definitely recommend this one!
Jessica
Copyright Andrew Morton and Simon & Schuster. Image from Amazon.
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