Most shocking claims in bombshell Diana book 32 years on
Diana: Her True Story sold more than 7million copies in 80 countries - and more than 30 years later her son Harry's autobiography, Spare, was also a bestseller.
Prince Harry’s autobiography sent shockwaves across the world as Spare lifted the lid on his experiences within the Royal Family.
But like mother, like son as Princess Diana was heavily involved in her own book which caused massive controversy.
Diana: Her True Story was released 32 years ago today on June 16, 1992. Written by Andrew Morton, the book claims Diana had attempted suicide several times and discusses her eating disorder and the relationship breakdown between herself and then-Prince Charles.
At the time it was released Mr Morton claimed he used reliable sources to write the book, including Diana’s friends and family, and Buckingham Palace said Diana had not been involved in any way.
But after Princess Diana’s tragic death in 1997, Mr Morton admitted that he had in fact worked closely with her to write the book.
They never met in person to maintain plausible deniability on Diana’s part: Mr Morton would send her a list of written questions via a go-between, Diana’s friend James Colthurst, and she would record her answers on tapes and send them back to him.
His reveal was unsurprisingly met with disbelief, so in response he published parts of the tapes and their transcripts to prove Diana’s involvement.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams described the publication of Diana: Her True Story as ‘extraordinary for its time’, adding that Buckingham Palace were never sure just how closely Diana cooperated with it until after her untimely death.
He told Metro.co.uk: ‘Her support for its contents had been demonstrated almost immediately when she had arranged to be photographed outside the home of a former flat mate quoted in the book.
‘Press reaction was partly on class lines with royal apologists, especially in the Tory press, lining up to attack Morton.
Some of the most shocking revelations in Diana: Her True Story and from the secret tapes released after her death
- The book alleges that Princess Diana tried to kill herself up to five times during the 1980s, with the first in 1982 and the last attempt in 1986.
- Diana admitted that she was suffering with bulimia while on honeymoon with Charles, and claimed it began when he told her she was ‘a bit chubby’.
- She also admitted her deep jealousy of Camilla – at the time she and Charles were thought of as close friends, but it later came out that they had carried our three affairs while Charles and Diana were still married. She says she tried to discuss the affair with both Charles and Queen Elizabeth, but was met with a ‘wall’ of silence.
In the tapes she said: ‘We were opening our diaries to discuss various things; out comes two pictures of Camilla. And on our honeymoon we have our white-tie dinner for President Sadat, cuff links arrive on his wrist, two ‘C‘s entwined like the Chanel ‘C’. So I said, ‘Camilla gave you those, didn‘t she?’ He said, ‘Yes, so what‘s wrong with that? They‘re a present from a friend.’ And boy did we have a row. Jealously. Total jealousy. - In the transcripts, Diana said that in the six weeks before Harry’s birth, she and Charles were ‘the closest we’ve ever, ever been and ever will be,’ but Charles’ cruel remarks about the baby – didn’t want another boy, didn’t like redheads – plus the Camilla affair, killed it.
- Diana spoke frankly about her struggles dealing with press intrusion, saying in the tapes: ‘The whole world were focusing on me. Every day I was in the front page of the papers. And I thought this was just so appalling. I hadn‘t actually done anything specific like climb Mt. Everest or done something wonderful like that.’
‘However, Diana’s choice of Morton infuriated his rivals in the press and this opened the floodgates for the War of the Wales. Since the royals were so publicly divided, this became a media feeding frenzy which has continued ever since.’
In the years since its publication the book has been described as Diana’s ‘choreographed rage’ against the ‘structural injustice’ she faced from the press and the Royal Family.
Then and now, the public sympathised with Diana and saw her as the victim – and inevitably the book’s release and increased scrutiny towards Charles led to their divorce at the end of 1992.
Diana: Her True Story sold more than 7million copies in 80 countries – and more than 30 years later her son Harry’s autobiography, Spare, was also a bestseller.
Richard added: ‘Unlike Diana, who was still seen as the future queen when it was published, Harry and Meghan had stepped down from royal duties, but had ruthlessly monetised their royal connections on Oprah and in the Harry and Meghan documentary for Netflix as well as in the interviews Harry gave to promote Spare.
‘Both books fuelled the never ending desire for royal news. Spare included an physical attack William is alleged to have made on Harry and Queen Camilla was attacked personally.
‘This led to the Sussexes being evicted from Frogmore Cottage, their base in Britain.
‘As the title indicated, Harry saw his royal role as superfluous and exploded the myth of the inseparable brothers.
‘It also contained unwise material, such as his loss of virginity, penile frostbite, experiments with drugs and listing the number of Taliban he had personally killed during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.’
The publication of Diana: Her True Story coincided with Queen Elizabeth II’s ‘annus horribilis’ and marked a real turning point where public approval of the royal family started to slip.
It’s not clear whether a similar book written or contributed to by an active, major member of the royal family could – or would – be published today.
But what is clear is that Spare, 31 years on, caused a major rift both within the British monarchy, and within the general public they serve.
‘Spare confirmed the royal family’s belief that the Sussexes are not to be trusted, with the royal rift so wide it is unclear where this will lead and whether they will publish another book,’ Richard added.
‘As Harry has said he cut 400 pages from Spare and has not written about his childhood, and Meghan has not written her memoir, they certainly could, obviously without resorting to the subterfuges Diana used to tell her side of a very unhappy royal nightmare.’
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