A GOOD BIOGRAPHY requires fresh archival material, witnesses with intelligence and sensitivity, and gossip. In approaching the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, I found there was a plethora of all of these. My aim from the beginning of my work on this book has been to place Diana in historical context. I came to my subject without prejudice and/or hagiography. She was a young woman who could inspire great impatience. She squandered much and turned manipulation into an art form. Yet I firmly believe, having spent several years digging in dusty archives and talking to a hundred or more people who figured in her life, that Diana is one of a small group of women in this century to have effected change, both in the British monarchy and its subjects. She was the reality of a Grimms’ fairytale—for a young woman to marry a prince does not mean that either of them will live happily ever after. But that does not stop them from contributing a great deal to our society.
I could not see how Diana’s life could be presented without digging deeply into her ancestral background. The Spencers are an important family in the history of Great Britain, but Diana also had American roots. One great-grandmother was Frances Work, an American heiress, and a multi-millionaire great-great-grandfather was a friend of such American dynamos as Vanderbilt and Rockefeller. I am told I am the first person to have delved into the archives of the Work family from Chilicothe, Ohio, later of New York City. I am tremendously grateful for the help given me by the various libraries and archives in those two cities.
I was fortunate in writing this book, which had its origins before her tragic death, in having the insight and recall of many of Diana’s close friends, staff and others who knew her at different stages in her life. As happens often in biographies of this nature, where power and conflicting loyalties exist, there were many true witnesses to Diana’s life who would not allow me to interview them unless I agreed not to disclose their names. I respect their requests and want them to know how grateful I am for the assistance they did extend to me. Those personal reflections, retelling of known incidents, and the filling in of so many details, have contributed greatly in my being able to present a full and more accurate portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales. Those who were gracious enough to lend their names I have mentioned in the text and in my chapter notes, but I thank them here once again.
Also, I want to extend my gratitude to two of my peers, Andrew Morton and Anthony Holden, who generously gave me the benefit of their many years on the “Royal Run.”
I have been fortunate in having Roland Philipps at Hodder & Stoughton as my English editor, and Cal Morgan at St. Martin’s Press as his American counterpart My life has been a divided one: I have spent half my time in England, where I came as a young woman and remained for twenty-one years, and half in the States. This has afforded me the benefit of good friends on both sides of the Atlantic. Among them I would like to mention a few who have helped in some way to the realization of this book: Sally Carr, Terence McCarthy, Ion Trewin, Sally Ann Howes, Mitchell Douglas, Gill Coleridge, Eric S. Askanase, Roseanne Boyle, and Hazel Orme.
My deepest gratitude goes to my husband, Stephen Citron, who has been by my side during every phase of this book as he has in all others written during our twenty-five years of exceptional togetherness. A master biographer on his own, he always takes time away from his work to discuss the multitude of problems that come up during my endeavours, reads and rereads my many, many revisions, and always can be counted on for a lively and accurate assessment.