Diana: Remembering the Princess

by Ken Wharfe

Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity. All over the world, a standard bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a very British girl who transcended nationality. Someone with a natural nobility who was classless and who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic... From Charles Spencer's address at his sister Diana's funeral, Westminster Abbey, 6 September 1997

Today, twenty-five years since Diana's death, seems the right moment for a reassessment of this remarkable woman. Did the Royal Family learn lessons from her life, about protection and privacy, about how to incorporate 'outsiders' into their ranks, about how to manage scandal? Did it take any lessons from her death, and the public's reaction not only to that, but to the behavior of, in particular, the Queen and Prince Charles, in the aftermath? Or have the family and the Palace - 'the men in grey suits', as Diana called them - continued on the same track, unchanged, repeating many of the mistakes made with her, from her first nervous ventures in royal circles to her later defiance of traditional protocols?

These and many other questions are explored in this authoritative book, written by two people closely associated with Inspector Ken Wharfe was the Princess's police protection officer for six years during the most turbulent period of her marriage to Prince Charles. Ros Coward was chosen as author of the official book by the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Trust.

Their book is both an examination of the people and events of the time, and an elegiac tribute to one of the most iconic figures of the late twentieth century.

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2024

About the author

Inspector Ken Wharfe, the first royalty protection officer to publish a memoir, was a crucial figure in the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, for nearly seven years from 1987. In that time, he became a close friend and trusted confidant who shared her most private moments.

Reviews

[Leigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is stupid and biased. Diana was not as perfect as portrayed. She brutally bullied her staff, shut out friends and family for no real reason and emotionally abused William by making him her confidant. William his portrayed as his father and Harry as his mother which given current press releases is true but not in the way they think. Meghan is NOT Diana and neither is Catherine. I would argue Catherine has some of the good qualities of Diana, her love of children and her hard work with the early years while Meghan is the bad of Diana bullying and ghosting people left and right. But the authors bludgeon you with the Diana, Harry Meghan good sweet people battered by the evil royals, Charles, William Catherine bad. Catherine is portrayed as some kind of dutiful robot which pissed me off. So I guess being polite, respectful and keeping your thoughts and feelings private is bad then? I mistakenly believed since Ken Wharfe was involved this would be a fair and balanced look at Diana but apparently she's absolutely wonderful and any criticism of her is misogynistic. Add racist in and you've got the mainstream media talking about Meghan although that ship is turning around rapidly lately. They also go over the bad Camilla thing while ignoring the marriages Diana destroyed, not including her own, the men she stalked, the families she broke up. The book lost total credibility when Wharfe states William and Harry were blissfully unaware of the state of their parents marriage which is laughable. He should've known better having been there. The other author who I won't even mention is so ignorant and probably on the Sussex payroll given how her lips seemed attached to their asses throughout this book. Diana never manipulated the press? Revenge dress anyone? Her running on the deck of the ship arms open to embrace her boys knowing the press wouldn't bother to capture Charles doing the same soon after so the front page would be all her? William and Catherine are portrayed as raising their kids poorly because they have a Norland nanny one of the best trained professionals in child rearing and I guess Harry and Meghan dont have any nannies at all cause they're the perfect parents who don't need any help and I could go on. This book was absolute garbage. Does the monarchy have issues? Yes. Have they made improvements since 1997? I think so but the authors certainly don't. I think I lost brain cells wading through this nonsense. I should've read Closely Guarded Secret. He was a lot more honest in that book. Here he just seems to be following a narrative that Prince Harry is trying to push and frankly no one is that wonderful or perfect.

[Kerri Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do enjoy the story of the mystery of Diana and what made her so appealing. This book delivers from people that actually knew and worked with her. It makes for interesting reading although probably nothing I didn’t know before.

[Elisa Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro. Cuanta muchos detalles sobre Diana en los años previos a su muerte. No es un libro base si no sabes nada acerca de ella. Pero si sabes algo acerca de su vida, realmente lo recomiendo.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

some fantastic anecdotes but repetitive and jumps around quite a bit

[AubreyV · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good and insightful. I learned a lot about Princess Diana. I listened to the audiobook, and Ken Wharfe does a mean King Charles impersonation! You can tell he cared about the Princess and her children.
I would recommend.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to audiobook.