Princess of Wales Diana - The peoples princess: cherished memories of Diana, Princess of Wales, from those who knew her best

This book is dedicated in loving memory to
Diana, Princess of Wales,
on the tenth anniversary of her death.

These stories have been collected in tribute to her undying character as we continue to mourn and celebrate the life of such an inspiring person. Diana, thank you for the gift of these memories.

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the dedicated editorial work of William Schrom and the staff of Bill Adler Books in New York. My sincere thanks to Steve Ross, Luke Dempsey, and Lindsey Moore at Crown Publishers, and Jeanne Welsh and the staff of Adler Robin Books in Washington, D.C. I would also like to give special regards to Bill and Gloria Adler and Katrina Milligan.

Finally, I would like to gratefully acknowledge Ingrid Seward for her invaluable assistance from the United Kingdom. Her tremendous experience and insight made this book a reality.

FOREWORD
BY LARRY KING

A s an interviewer and a television personality, I have had the opportunity to talk with thousands of interesting and important people from all walks of life, including actors, politicians, royals, musicians, authors, and academicsall of whom have vastly different interpretations of countless issues. However, there have been only a few times in my career that I have experienced the level of community that occurred when Diana, Princess of Wales, died tragically ten years ago. All of these differing opinions and interpretations seemed to fade away, and the entire world grieved as one. At that point, I understood the wonder that was Dianas spirit, and I continue to see it and discuss it today. The many stories and comments within these pages powerfully show the timelessness of Dianas compassion, and we will always come back to her as an undying source of inspiration.

August 2007 will mark the tenth anniversary of Dianas untimely death, and I remember her in my own personal way, as does everybody whose story is included here. Each reader will add his or her own memory to this collection, and thus this book is, inevitably, an incomplete work; it is our collective remembrances of Diana that make up this tribute. Some of the stories here have been told before, yet most of them will be new to readers, and each moment we dwell in them revives our fundamental need for closure, to say goodbye to such a remarkable human being.

There have been many books published in the last ten years about Diana, Princess of Wales. Undoubtedly, there will be many more books published about her in the next ten, twenty, even thirty years. On one level, this is just a continuation of the media intensity she experienced throughout her life, sometimes a harsh reminder of the realities of celebrity life. More important, this attention reflects our general need to remember the lady who moved so many hearts all over the world, and how we continue to draw insight from an individual who made such a tremendous impact during her tragically short lifetime. The fact is that many of us still have strong feelings about Diana, and we need to have these feelings heard. For all of us, this need comes from a deep reservoir of love and friendship that is still as strong today as it was ten years ago.

Yes, there have been many books written about Diana. Most of these books tell specific stories from individual people, and provide many different (often conflicting) views of a remarkable woman with so many sides. However, while these books can help us understand her life, her troubles, her successes, and her interests, they oftentimes show us only one facet of a person who lived such a multifaceted life. Diana was a beautiful princess, a tireless charity worker, a good friend, a loving mother, a striking fashion icon, and, above all, an unbelievably warm spirit to all she encountered. She was, in the most concise terms, the peoples princess. She was a princess for everybody, and she affected all of us in unique and powerful ways.

This book is unique in that it reflects Dianas many sidesshe had many talents and passions, and all of these are touched upon in the interesting stories within these pages. Some of Dianas closest friends discuss her approachability and tremendous sense of humoreven in the face of criticism and hardship. Her colleagues in charitable causes such as land-mine awareness and AIDS relief remember her unprecedented courage and support. We all remember the images of her holding and talking with victims of AIDS and land mines, and the pictures still serve as encouragement for the entire world to take action. As an innovative and stimulating fashion icon, Diana worked with dozens of the worlds leading names in style, and many of them recount their encounters with the delightful and stunning Princess. Running throughout all of these different memories and observations is an overwhelming sense of the humanity she brought with her to every varied aspect of her life.

Although most of the people who contributed to this book were fortunate enough to meet and work with Diana at some point, many never had this opportunity and thus speak for all of us who mostly admired her from afar. This is testament to the effect she had on the world as a whole. By reaching out to us through her countless appearances on television and in magazines, she established a personal relationship with so many distant supporters. I feel that, if given the opportunity, Diana would have happily sat down with each of us and talked and listened, eager to sympathize with whatever our concerns might have been.

Diana was the peoples princess, and as such she traveled relentlessly. Although a princess and a member of British royalty, she saw herself more as an international charactera woman without borders. The impressive individuals who share the following stories reflect Dianas far reach. India, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, and Morocco are just a few of the many countries that are represented here. Diana broke the barriers of nationality and saw everyone for who they werefirst and foremost, human beings and extended members of her family.

LARRY KING
August 2007

INTRODUCTION
BY INGRID SEWARD

D iana, Princess of Wales, was many things to many people. Headstrong and impulsive. Compassionate and practical. Happy and sad. Beautiful and glamorous and funny. She was certainly not an intellectual, but she was quick-witted with a sense of fun and an infectious giggle.

She developed from a gauche kindergarten teacher to a stylish princess beloved for her fight against adversity. She took her work seriously because it was important to her, but she had the courage never to take herself seriously, despite her insecurity.

I first met Diana when as editor of Majesty magazine I was reporting on one of the Prince and Princess of Waless first foreign tours. It was ages ago, in the early eighties, and in those halcyon days of royal reporting, the press were invited to meet the people we were being paid to write aboutin this case Charles and Diana. I can remember Diana turning to us and in an arch kind of way saying, You might think you know everything about me. But I bet you dont know how many fillings I have.

Of course, none of us knew everything about Diana in those days, but it was a source of endless fascination finding out. One of the reasons we discovered so much about her was that she was far too openhearted to bottle up her feelings. If a project caught her interest or a suffering person her eye, she wanted to discuss it, right down to the frankest detail.