The Real Diana [Illustriert] (Taschenbuch)

Seems to me, an American with a sense of humor, that the reader from Washington DC had all her points neatly proven by the pretentious lady from "New York, at the moment".

This person "from Washington, D.C.", who gives the book a rating 5 stars, says: "... it is also true that the book will not be well received in the United States where Diana still enjoys a kind of sacred status. The shrill, near hysterical and actually, quite nasty (given some of the writers' decision to condemn Lady Colin-Campbell as evil for having had the misfortune of being born with a birth defect. ... [The] tones of the reviews here on Amazon attests to fact that the great unwashed of middle America will never really understand the British at all. But -- for those with a bit more in the brain cell department interested in a great gossipy read written by someone who actually knows how the system works -- I suggest you send Amazon some dosh and get the book."

No doubt this lady will be surprised to learn, if she bothers to learn, that Americans can read and are allowed to express their own opinions. We also take baths AND showers, and spend more time getting a better education than the Brits do, too. And here's a surprise: anyone calling the author Lady Colin-Campbell definitely has it wrong!

For the most part, we do not worship living human beings (possibly excepting movie stars.) We do expect to see justice done, and often react badly when this doesn't happen, which may explain the reaction to this book in this country. I think, though, the unhappy reactions to the book are due to how bad the book is.

Diana was not worshipped here, though many admired her. Many other Americans didn't pay any attention to her at all. She did more good in her life than most of us will ever do. That her high profile and kindness made her imperfections so public is far more than most of us will ever have to endure. We, including Lady Campbell, for the most part keep our mistakes as well as our "birth defects" hidden. Diana should not have been made a target for such sludge. It is a truly dismal aspect of the general culture these days that books like this are written, and that the media perpetuates it mercilessly.

Lady Campbell has already published two books which contained enough unsubstantiated nasty rumors to attract income enough for Lady Campbell to live on for the rest of his or her life. There was no reason, other than greed, to start making up more.

The book is lousy. Lady Campbell (not Lady Colin-Campbell or Lady Colin -- her title came to her only because her husband was Lord Colin Campbell) seems once again to have published every nasty rumor ever whispered about the late Princess, which means that if you like gossip, you might enjoy it. Just remember please to think of it as fiction. If you've read the author's other two books, you've read this one already, I think.

One more point. Lady Campbell may travel among some of the social set. She does not travel in the royal one, despite he claims, and she does not understand "how the system works." Neither does the person in Washington, D.C.