The Way We Were: Remembering Diana

by Paul Burrell

Paul Burrell served Diana, Princess of Wales, as her faithful butler from 1987 until her death in 1997. He was much more than an he was her right-hand man, confidant and friend. She described him as 'the only man she ever trusted.' As the world prepares for the official inquest into her death, The Way We Were marks an intense period of reflection by ensuring the spirit, warmth and character of the person at the centre of proceedings is not lost or obscured. In this remarkable and intimate book, Paul Burrell opens the door to Kensington Palace to provide a unique, visual tour. With previously unseen interior photographs, the reader is led inside the world of Princess Diana—room-by-room, memory-by-memory. He paints a faithful and poignant tribute in remembrance of 'the boss' as the person who shared her private world and knew her best. In this fascinating new account, he allows the reader to feel 'at home with Diana', sharing her inner-most feelings, hopes and philosophies that teach us more about her mind and the way she thought. We learn of her amusing Hollywood relationships, the true depth of her happiness with 'The One'; the amazing story that illustrates her compassion; her sisterhood with Sarah Ferguson—and the desperate attempts to heal their rift; and a never-before-told account that provides new evidence about the real nature of her relationship with Dodi Al Fayed. There are also rare photographs of the jewels Diana wore and treasured as Paul Burrell celebrates her style and fashion. The Way We Were reflects, remembers and celebrates the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and captures her vivacity and love of life as we move towards the tenth anniversary of her death in 2007. In his twenty-one years of royal duty, Paul Burrell first served Her Majesty the Queen as personal footman from 1976 to 1987 when he moved to Highgrove to become butler to the Prince and Princess of Wales. It was in 1992, following the couple's separation, that he moved to Kensington palace at the personal request of Princess Diana. Following her death, he was honoured by the Queen with the Royal Victorian Medal for his loyalty and service to Diana, Princess of Wales. He then spearheaded a fundraising campaign for her official memorial fund that raised £100 million. Since then, Paul has become a bestselling author and television personality. His earlier book, A Royal Duty, sold two million copies worldwide and was a number one New York Times bestseller.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Royalty, British Literature, Biography Memoir, History, Autobiography

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Over the course of 21 years, Paul Burrell rose from member of the Royal household staff to personal attendant to the Queen of England and then butler to the Prince and Princess of Wales. Ultimately, he became the trusted personal assistant and confidante to the late Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2003, he published his autobiography, A Royal Duty, which included his personal account of his Royal service and his close friendship with the late princess, who was arguably one of the world’s most popular and beloved public figures. This book was a London and New York Times number 1 best seller and sold in excess of 3 million copies worldwide. His next book, The Way We Were – Remembering Diana, was also a best seller throughout the world.

In 21 years of service to the British Royal family, Paul Burrell worked closely in and around some of the most beautiful homes and palaces in England. In actuality, his travels included far more than Great Britain and Europe, as his years of service gave him first‐hand experience of the most interesting houses in virtually every corner of the world. His exposure to fine homes, priceless art collections and furnishings has provided Burrell with all manner of expertise and he has become a taste arbiter and expert in food, wines, furnishings, flower arranging, etiquette and entertaining, especially in the English style.

Today, Paul Burrell resides in Farndon, Cheshire where he runs his flower shop and in his leisure time, paints watercolours. As a unique witness to Royal history, he is regularly asked to participate in TV and film documentaries. Having known personally almost every member of the current British Royal family, his credible insight is much sought after. As a TV correspondent, Burrell has provided commentary for the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen and for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Creepy butler speaks about his former boss as if he is, hands down, the most credible resource to how she lived her life. He makes broad assumptions about others (people and family) and her opinion of them, and literally, quite literally, quotes Diana 10 years after her death. I bet he wrote her quotes as only how he remembered it happening, not the way she would remember it if she were alive. By the way, he's quoting someone who has been deceased for 10 years- super incredible memory he has there. If someone was putting words in my mouth in a public way without my consent- I'd be LIVID.

[Krista Ashe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so I'm a huge, huge, Princess Diana fan, and if there's a book about her, I'll read it, lol. I'd already read Personal Duty, Paul Burrell's other book a couple of years ago, and until I was in the library checking out other royalty books, I didn't know this book existed.

In it, Paul gives a truly behind the scene view of what Kensington Palace looked like on the inside both in decor as well as running the day to day life of Princess Diana. Their bond was truly amazing. Well, really it's just a friendship that transcends class structure to how real friends behave. He also spends time debunking the Dodi myth. In truth, Diana was in love with Hasnat Khan, a Pakastani heart surgeon. She was on the rebound from their May breakup when Dodi was thrust into her life. There's a heartbreaking story(no pun intended) of how after Diana's death, Hasnat met with Paul and was devastated at the thoughts he as a master surgeon could have saved Diana's life.

I also like the honesty with which Paul paints Diana. So many times we put people on pedastals and don't realize they were real people with issues, neuroses, etc. Diana was very much human and very much suffered from issues of low self-esteem and depression.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul Burrell, former butler gives insites to Princess Diana's life. There were a few suprises, but nothing shocking. Burrell holds back a bit with telling a story, but not mentioning who was involved. That is one thing that really bothered me. Burrell does a good job of showing that Diana was a normal woman, and Dodi was not the love of her life. I've looked at other reviews where this caused people to love her or hate her. Overall, my opinion is unchanged. Diana was a beloved figure in so many lives, and had her life not been cut short there is much more good she could have accomplished.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an "all things Diana" gal and always have been. I adore her and, like everyone else on the planet, I am sure, I remember exactly what I was doing when I heard the news of her death. I despise Charles, loathe Camilla the Rottweiler and have little respect for the Queen due to how she handled it all.
Needless to say, I have lots of books about Diana so I was eager to read this one as well. I think Mr. Burrell did an excellent job. It was insightful, touching, funny and heartbreaking. I would highly recommend this book to any one who is a fan or admirer of Diana's, or to anyone who would like to get to know her.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book very much, having it read for several times already. It delicately tackles personal memories of princess Diana, giving the picture of not just a popular media person and fabulous lady, but the one of a vulnerable woman, the usual woman made of bones and blood, living her days as anyone of us does, dealing with custom fears, daily chores, career and family issues. The reviews on Goodreads are not genuinely welcoming for this book, but the general negative/positive opinion on smth is not really a quality indicator.
Highly recommended for those who are interested in the story of the princess and who want to see a little bit more humanness behind the beautiful facade of, perhaps, the most admired woman of the last decades of the XX century.

[Caity · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just not convincing. It felt a little creepy actually.

[Nancy Bandusky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book about Diana written by her butler; this one is after he was cleared of the charges mentioned in the first.

While some of the information he reveals probably has more weight coming from him since he just about lived with the princess and was privy to many of her secrets, the way he portrays the princess borders on him being obsessive with making her image one of perfection. As time has moved past her death, he still sees her through rose-colored glasses and thus his view of things is tainted, slightly. His one goal seems to be to make sure the world knows that Dodi was NOT "the one."

I did find the author's "name dropping" and "secret dropping" tiresome - especially when he would just hint at the name and/or the secret. Either tell all or don't bring it up.

With so many books out there about the princess, the thing I found most appealing were the photographs of Apartments 8 and 9 at Kensington Palace - it wasn't what I had expected.

[Lam Opal Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say, this guy is a pretty good writer and honest too in capturing a real Diana. She is not only a fashion icon, royal celebrity, but also someone with unhappy childhood which leads to some of her character flaws and her misfortune. I had a pretty radical perception against Diana before reading this book, but it really changed my mind. Paul Burrel is obviously biased, buit even so, considering which, Princess Diana did make tremendous effort in reaching out to people in need for she understood her own misfortune and the need to be comforted. What she did outwardly has earned public recognition, and to be fair, it is sometimes necessary to raise awareness of certain issues, but most importantly, what she did in secret even shown more how a warm-hearted person she is. I think this is a good book.

[aCupcakeBlonde · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this might be a nice insight to someone in the inner circle of Diana's life. But Paul writes his experience as more of a stalker than a trusted companion. Plus some of his revelations seemed for shock value rather than necessary to reveal. Overall the book left me with a bad taste and it jumped around so much in time and between people it was at times difficult to keep up. But I did like some descriptions of events and some glimpses into Diana's private life, if they were true.

[AnnOlene Bourgeois · Rating 5 out of 5]

So endearing and informative of Princess Diana

[Mary Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

I SWEAR -- this will be the last book on the House of Windsor that I read for a good, long time. Fascination with the royal family and the institution behind it is like a bad addiction, and it's time to go cold turkey.

In Burrell's first book on his time working for the Queen, Prince Charles, and the Princess of Wales, he put a toe or two over the line of decency but, I thought, tried to walk the line between setting some of the record straight, and still attempting to be respectful of the family he served. There's no question that he breached professional ethics, but I gave him a pass, as it seemed as though the Spencers had wrongly accused him of theft, and, despite the eventual acquittal, the book may have been the only way he could defend his reputation and support his family.

THIS book, though, was a different story.
The new information contained within read more like a People magazine tell-all. I notice he did not mention any of the people he talked about in the acknowledgements, nor did he say in the text that he'd gotten their blessing to include them in this book. I can't help but think many of them felt exposed and betrayed.

There must have been some, though, with great egos and a thirst for the spotlight who, undoubtedly, were delighted to be publicly linked with the princess, and Burrell dropped names shamelessly.

This book, published in 2006, is most interesting to me, perhaps, because of Burrell's memories of William and Harry as boys, and his admiration of them as young men... before Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle entered the picture. I don't want him to wrote yet another book, God forbid! But if I ever ran into him on the street, it would be hard to resist asking him his thoughts on Harry's outspoken accusations, and his estrangement from the family. (And, no - I still haven't read "Spare", nor do I plan to - the Netflix special was painful enough).

[Lara Vehar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love princess Diana even though I was only 3 when she died- but I love her personality and she seemed like such a soft spoken, beautiful woman we lost way too soon.

So when someone was selling this book I just had to pick it up and read it because I want to read more biographies and this woman just happens to be one of the top 10 people I want to read about the most.

I like this book, it was easy to read, flowed nicely - but

I didn't like the way Paul portrayed some parts. It almost read as if he was either stalking her either wanted their relationship to be more than it was and I hated how he chose to reveal some parts of her life even though I feel like she would've preferred for them to stay a secret, and they didn't even add anything to the story so they felt kind of pointless.

Other than that, loved this book and it made me love Diana even more.

[Celeste Sherrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love the Royal family this is a fascinating look at not only the personality but the duties and expectations for those employed by the Royals. I came away from this book with a little more sympathy for Charles. Diana was not an easy person to live with- quite childish and spoiled. That she expected her Butler to be available 24 hrs everyday and in the middle of her many dramas was disappointing. Paul B was a most loyal and loving Butler and friend to Diana... but it seemed to me he allowed her to not only use him but to walk all over him many times. I can’t imagine how his own wife and children felt being 2nd to “the boss”.

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burrell is such a vivid storyteller. He did a great job writing this book in a respectful way. Never did I feel he crossed the line by sharing private or intimate knowledge about the Princess. Instead, the things he shared about her allowed the reader to view her in a new perspective. He shared endearing tid bits about what made her…her. We discover her favourite things & people, as well as Leean some of her personality quirks…all things to allow the reader to feel like we know her just a little bit better. Burrell fulfilled his goal of creating a tribute to Diana that highlights the beautiful & best qualities of this well admired figure. I joy to read.

[Bonnie J. Yoman · Rating 5 out of 5]

He loved her and it shows. This is an intimate fly on the wall view of Diana's life in her private apartments in Kensington Palace, and yet it is not. Mr. Burrell remained fiercely loyal and reveals only so much. I respect that he still wished to protect her privacy after 10 years. Most poignant as we near the 20 year mark of her tragic passing is his personal story of his last few hours with her. He tells of his memories of the Paris hospital, putting items in her casket and keeping a vigil beside her on the night before her funeral. Respect, loyalty and love are the hallmarks of this book.

[Lauren Smagacz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read and I enjoyed the personal, intimate story telling. I have to say there were times that the story would be moving along naturally just to be interrupted by the author's assurance that Di was not in love with Dodi. So much so that it was jarring. Like, okay I get it but is that the only purpose of the biography?
Anyways other than that I was moved, engaged, and encouraged that the book did not gloss over the less than perfect bits of the Princess. It helped make her a real person, which was a cool way to read her.

[Luna Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, so this is on Kindle Unlimited. Firstly, the summary on here is trash; why is everything piled together in one paragraph? That’s hella sloppy.

Right, so, I read a few chapters before deciding to call it quits. This is very “he said, she said”; this is his interpretation of events, quite a few years following Diana’s tragic death. I can’t say I believe him but I can’t say he’s lying entirely; like I said, this is his interpretation of events. If she were alive, Diana would probably tell it differently.

[Chubsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the books I quickly finished and enjoyed. I learned a lot about Diana though I have little doubts about the accuracy of Burrell's accounts. She is too complicated, and I sympathize with her for being not so happy as much as she hoped to be. It was also heartbreaking for Hasnat who I feel genuinely loved her from what I can infer from Burrell's writing. I can re-read this book over and over. My money wasn't wasted on this.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good. It was like being a fly on the walls of At Apartments 8 & 9 at KP. This book gives an insiders look at the real Diana at least as she was through the eyes of Paul Burrell her faithful butler of some 17+ years. Learn the story of her love affair with the cardiologist Dr Hasnat. Find out was she really in love with Dodi? Were they engaged? Read this book to see an intimate portrait of Diana princess of Wales.

[Lina Barkovska · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a good and easy read but I got so annoyed with the author... So obsessed with convincing readers that he was special to Princess, not just a server that she was nice and friendly to. Especially annoying was him saying for 245 times that Princess and Dodi's relationship was not serious and he wasn't "the one". I would have given this book solid 3 stars but minus one star for the author's sketchy personality...

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Paul Burrell's other book about being butler and confidant to Princess Diana, I wondered what additional information could be included in this book. It was interesting to read his first-hand descriptions of her character and challenges in the royal household, particularly her relationships with men and the Duchess of York.

[Marcella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah at one point the author said something like "Ordinary people can never understand what it means to be a servant to the royal family" and that is clearly true 'cause he definitely defined his life by the variable wants of this woman and I am not crazy about it. I was glad Diana showed hints of emotional maturity by the end, but this was a ride.

[Dee Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princess Diana's former butler details the woman he knew in private. It appears they were great friends and he was one of the last people she spoke to prior to the accident. He always referred to her as "Boss". Paul Burrel even shared notes that she would write to him. It's great to read what other people have to say regarding someone who lived such a public life.

[Rudi Lejaeghere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book. Just like his book 'A Royal Duty', Paul Burrell let us look behind the screens of the life of Diana, Princess of Wales with a series of memories. Some of the things he tells are duplicate at those that you can read in 'A Royal Duty'.

[Lesli Harmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an enjoyable read! I highly recommend. The way Paul writes made me feel as though he was sitting on my couch telling me about Diana. Such a nice, light read learning about a different, lovable side of Diana.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very intimate without being over the line. I appreciated how Paul handled everything. I am sure I do not know the whole story of why Paul has been shunned by the royal family but I found this book to be very respectful.

[Engi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Tina Pimentel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad read

He rambles too much and narrates in a disjointed fashion. Very poorly written, more like a gossip column masked as a tribute.

[Natalie548 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read his first book on Princess Diana, but this one was informative.

[Volare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting insight from Diana's private butler.