Books on Diana, Princess of Wales


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"Princess Diana's Revenge" - a new novel by Michael de Larrabeiti

Hi guys,

I hope this doesn't count as spam - apologies if it does. The reason I'm posting is that I'm promoting a new novel that I thought might be of interest to users of this forum. It is called Princess Diana's Revenge, and it is by Michael de Larrabeiti, who you might know as the author of The Borrible Trilogy.

Princess Diana's Revenge is a comical, satirical thriller which deals with conspiracy theories relating to the death of Princess Diana. The story revolves around Joe Rapps, a director/cameraman just out of prison who is whisked off to a village in Oxfordshire and becomes embroiled in a plot to avenge Diana's death. Along with The Queen, Princess Diana's Revenge is one of the first fictionalisations to deal with the death of Diana.

Despite the fact that Michael de Larrabeiti is an established author who has published 14 books in his career, being nominated for the Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger, the Travelex Travel Writer of the Year Award, and The Whitebread Award along the way (amongst others), and despite the fact that his last novel, Foxes' Oven, was long-listed for the Booker Prize, Michael was unable to find a publisher for Princess Diana's Revenge - despite approaching over 30 separate firms. Even his literary agent refused to touch it. Something about this book meant publishers were too scared to touch it.

20 years ago this would have meant that Princess Diana's Revenge would never have been read, like so many other novels which deal with controversial issues. With the advance of the internet, however, Michael has been able to self-publish his novel under his own imprint, Tallis House. It is available to buy through his website, michaeldelarrabeiti.com. More information is available there, and you can download the first chapter of Princess Diana's Revenge for free. There's more stuff on Wikipedia: I'll add a few links to the bottom of this post.

Thanks very much for taking the time to read this. I'll be monotoring this thread for a while, so if you have any questions about Princess Diana's Revenge then please either ask them here, or email me at info at michaeldelarrabeiti dot com.

Some links:

Michael de Larrabeiti's website: http://www.michaeldelarrabeiti.com
michaeldelarrabeiti.com online bookstore: http://www.michaeldelarrabeiti.com/bookshop/index.html
Page about Princess Diana's Revenge: http://www.michaeldelarrabeiti.com/books/pdr.html
Download first chapter of Princess Diana's Revenge (PDF): http://www.michaeldelarrabeiti.com/multimedia/files/PDR_Sample.pdf
Download press release of Princess Diana's Revenge (PDF): http://www.michaeldelarrabeiti.com/multimedia/files/PDR%20Press%20Release.pdf

Wikipedia article on Michael de Larrabeiti: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_de_Larrabeiti
Wikipedia article on Princess Diana's Revenge: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Diana%27s_Revenge
 
Jim0203 said:
Princess Diana's Revenge is a comical, satirical thriller which deals with conspiracy theories relating to the death of Princess Diana. (...)Despite the fact that Michael de Larrabeiti is an established author (...)Michael was unable to find a publisher for Princess Diana's Revenge - despite approaching over 30 separate firms. Even his literary agent refused to touch it. Something about this book meant publishers were too scared to touch it.
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I wonder if they were scared or if the book is simply over the top. I mean, so many people found publishers for their books about conspiracies when it comes to Diana, so I just can't believe that the publishers are "scared" of anything. But even applauded authors sometimes fail to find the right, appropriate words when it comes to an event that touched people. Public acclaim for former books does not necessary mean that the author has taste.
I personally think anyway that Diana's death simply is no material for a "comical" thriller - and maybe I'm not the only one. But then, it's interesting to hear about the book. Thanks for posting the info.
 
Jo of Palatine said:
I wonder if they were scared or if the book is simply over the top. I mean, so many people found publishers for their books about conspiracies when it comes to Diana, so I just can't believe that the publishers are "scared" of anything. But even applauded authors sometimes fail to find the right, appropriate words when it comes to an event that touched people. Public acclaim for former books does not necessary mean that the author has taste.
I personally think anyway that Diana's death simply is no material for a "comical" thriller - and maybe I'm not the only one. But then, it's interesting to hear about the book. Thanks for posting the info.
Click to expand...

Hi Jo,

Thanks for your reply, and sorry for taking so long to get back. It is a good point you raise, and one which I cannot really defend on this forum - I assume you haven't read the book, so whatever I say has to be taken on trust. Hopefully there will be some reviews of the book in UK papers in the next fortnight; when these are printed I will post them here. I will, however, say what I want to say; it is up to you and everyone else whether to believe it or not.

I agree that Diana's death is not material for a "comical" thriller. And it is not Diana's death that is dealt with in the book - it is the conspiracy theories that sprang up around Diana's death. Some of these are quite bizarre and do a complete disservice to Diana, simply because they are so plainly bizarre and untrue. What PDR does, and I think it is unique in this, is to satirise the conspiracy theories and theorists; it does not mock Diana, or her death.

I'm not quite sure what information you're basing your points about the publishing business on, but I have worked in an around the business for some time and I don't agree with what you said. Since the early nineties most publishers have become increasingly corporate-led, with an emphasis over profit rather than anything else. The books that have been published about the Diana conspiracies seem to be to all be the same old thing: i.e., they claim to present a version of the truth, often poorly argued. The publishers know books like this will sell, so they do snap them up. PDR is the first fictional account I have come across of Diana's death and the questions it raised. In part it mocks the books that are claiming to present "the truth about Diana's death"; and in this way it is directly opposed to the books the mainstream publishers are churning out to cash in on the interest in Diana. This is what the publishers are scared of: printing something different that might make them lose money. It costs quite a bit for a publisher to launch a book, whereas we are able to do it for very little because of much smaller overheads: as an example, I am writing this from the table in the main room of my tiny Edinburgh flat, rather than a huge office building that has to be paid for.

Again, it is difficult for me to sound convincing because you probably haven't read the book and my word counts for very little (especially because, even though I will not make any money out of PDR sales, I am trying to promote the book): but I should say that Mike deals with the issues he raises in a tasteful and sensitive manner. Hopefully I will be able to post a few reviews here soon which will corroborate this.
 
Here is an article about the new book about the late "Princess Diana". The article is in arabic but I will try to translate it.Excuse me for my bad english.

The title of the new book is: "The way we were". The writer is her butler Paul Burrell. He says that Diana needed to publish her photos with the late "Imad Al Fayed" to make Jalous "Hassanat Khan" from Pakistan. He says also that the princess was really in love with Khan and dreamd about marring him. She also choosed a name for a babygirl. Its "Algera"

http://pdf.lahamag.com/pages/10-2006/317People06.pdf
 
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"A Dress For Diana" by David & Elizabeth Emanuel

I just finished the book and found that if you are a fan or just interested about the dress then it is a must read. The pictures are mostly centered around the construction of the dress and they give very nice details about well.. the details. It was a quick read and probably something to just thumb through in the library or the bookstore. BUT if you are a collector etc it would be a nice addition to your personal library.

I was especially surprised with how much embellishment was on the dress. The hours of sewing pearls and sequins on one dress. It really brought home the idea that that dress was intended for a future princess and eventual Queen of England. WOW!
 
Jim0203 said:
...

Again, it is difficult for me to sound convincing because you probably haven't read the book and my word counts for very little
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Well, since you are trying to drum up interest here for your product (I take it you are the author, or his PR person) and this is a forum, not a store, why don't you print an excerpt here. Tons of authors do that, i.e. they are picked by a site such as msnbc.com to excerpt for example a couple of pages or perhaps a chapter. Why don't you do that here, so we can judge a bit for ourselves. :flowers:

edit: apologies, I only notice now that you offer a chapter on pdf.
 
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No probs. I am the PR guy for this project, and the first section is downloadable from our website as a PDF.

If you would like to read more then let me know; I can release a PDF of a further section of the book to this forum if you like.
 
Blood Royal and Diana - Harold Robbins

Has anyone read this novel, allegedly written by Harold Robbins?

I saw it for the first time in the drugstore today. The plot is pretty much the familiar Diana story, except that Charles torments Diana so much that she shoots him (and I think kills him), then Diana must be tried for the crime.
 
1954 : Diana's parents were married
1961 : Diana Frances Spencer was born
1967 : Her perants got separated
1969 : Her parents got divorced
1973 : Camilla got married to Andrew Parker Bowles
1975 : Diana became a Lady
1980 : Prince Charles bagan dating Lady Diana
1981 : ( Feb 24 ) Lady Diana was engaged to Prince Charles
( July 29 ) Prince Charles and Lady Diana were married
 
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Diana A Princess Remembered, by Glenn Harvey

Hello
Has anyone seen this new book Diana A Princess Remembered? I've been told to look out for it as it has some superb photographs in it. It's on Amazon but there is no search inside feature to view. There's also a free DVD included with it. Please let me know as it looks interesting. thank you.
Chrissy
 
Welcome

Thank you for your kind welcome. I've just discovered this forum and am looking forward to participating more so in the future. Especially in the Princess Diana section.
Chrissy
 
"A Dress For Diana" is being reissued in June in a "limited edition of 1,000 copies."

The extra is "repackaging", plus "a swatch of material that was used to make the dress."

There is no information about the price.
 
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I have just received Diana A Princess Remembered from Amazon and was pleasantly surprised by it. The photographs are simply beautiful and tastfully presented along with some very interesting stories about Harvey's observations on tours. This is a celebration of Diana's life and interestingly has no images of Prince Charles in it. The free dvd is a nice bonus showing an hour long slide show of the images along with many extra not seen in the book. I haven't seen a lot of these photos before so it was well worth the money.
 
:flowers:Oh I do HOPE that someone will share the pictures in this magazine when they get it - please. I've never seen that magazine for sale here in the U.S.
 
Cordonez said:
:flowers:Oh I do HOPE that someone will share the pictures in this magazine when they get it - please. I've never seen that magazine for sale here in the U.S.
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I'm in Canada for the holidays, I went to a Wal-Mart today and there was none. Perhaps in the week it will be available.:flowers:
 
Oh Wow. I hope you can post pictures The Truth and sirhon11234.:wub:
 
LOSSEAN said:
Oh Wow. I hope you can post pictures The Truth and sirhon11234.:wub:
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I'll try my best to get it. There's always a shop in the airport ;).
 
LOSSEAN said:
Oh Wow. I hope you can post pictures The Truth and sirhon11234.:wub:
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Well I'll be going to Manhattan next week they might sell it there but I can't promise anything.
 
I read that Diana was the most picture person in her time.
 
My fav is probably Diana,The Portrait by Rosalind Coward.

Is Ken Warfe's book worths the reading ? I don't really know what to think about it. How is it compared to Paul Burrell's ones ?
I have a best feeling on Ken Wharfe's than Paul Burrell's but I would like to have your opinion please.

Thanks :flowers:
 
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Amongst others, one of my favourites is a book entitled "Dressing Diana" by Tamsin Blanchard and Tim Graham. It details her wonderful style, from emerging new princess to confident, gorgeous princess!

I have always loved her dress sense and her amazing sense of colour.
 
Ever After by Anne Edwards its a great book.
 
TheTruth said:
My fav is probably Diana,The Portrait by Rosalind Coward.

Is Ken Warfe's book worths the reading ? I don't really know what to think about it. How is it compared to Paul Burrell's ones ?
I have a best feeling on Ken Wharfe's than Paul Burrell's but I would like to have your opinion please.

Thanks :flowers:
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Probably both are worth reading, but Burrell is worth taking with a pinch of salt. Mind you, I bought both of them second-hand - I'm not sure that either is worth the full price.
 
Elspeth said:
Probably both are worth reading, but Burrell is worth taking with a pinch of salt. Mind you, I bought both of them second-hand - I'm not sure that either is worth the full price.
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Okay, thank you Elspeth. My intution tells me Wharfe has more honesty than Burrell but I'll give try to both.:flowers:
 
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