Diana, William and Harry

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Because of that, I am going to qualify my review with the following comments. I am not an expert on history. Then again, let’s be honest. Neither do I expect everything to be one-hundred-percent accurate in a James Patterson book, regardless of whether it is a fiction or non-fiction. I cannot suspend my disbelief and trust any author that much, whether it be Patterson or anybody else in the general bestselling marketplace. And I am okay with that. Other readers may consider the need for strong accuracy to be a showstopper, and I completely respect that. To each their own. However, for me, I am going to be a bit lenient in this area of concern. She was the best mother in the world,” said Princes William and Harry at Diana’s 10-year memorial. “Entertaining and persuasive,” ( Publishers Weekly ) this is the first big book about the private Diana, the mother of two princes. Following on from Diana’s commitment to helping those suffering from HIV/AIDS and the homeless, Harry set up Sentebale, which supports children in Botswana and Lesotho suffering from HIV. William is also the patron of the U.K. homelessness charity Centrepoint, as Diana had been. Princess Diana with her sons Prince William and Prince Harry at Wetherby School. Tim Graham / Getty Images file

A year later, Diana responded with a devastating interview on the TV program Panorama. It was here she talked about her bulimia and self-harm, suggested Charles was a dubious prospect as king, admitted to an infidelity or two, and fired that memorable broadside across Camilla’s bow: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.” Diana had to be prodded to travel to Eton, where 13-year-old William had recently enrolled, to tell him in advance that the program was running. “She told William that [it] would contain nothing controversial and that he would be proud of her,” Junor writes. William watched the program in the study of his Eton housemaster, angry, aghast and no doubt humiliated at the family secrets she laid bare before some 20 million viewers. Shortly afterwards the Queen told the warring couple to get on with a divorce. Sensing a deep need, the Queen encouraged William to make regular visits to Windsor Castle, just across the bridge from Eton, for tea and sympathy. The bond they already shared has only grown stronger in the years since.If you don't know anything about Princess Diana, or her boys then the book may interest you. But, someone like me an American, middle age. Would most likely not like reading it. The book gave me a bad taste in my mouth. This book is not authorized by William or Harry, or Princess Diana's estate. There aren't any interviews. Everything I read I already knew or could have done a Google search. Everyone has a right to free speech and can write about anything, and anyone they want. But, writing a biography. The book you expect should have interviews, resources, not just newspaper articles. Junor made similar claims about Diana’s mental health in a book, Charles: Victim or Villain, published a year after Diana’s death. “I had death threats. I was nearly run out of the country. People spat at me in the streets.” Briefly, she hired a bodyguard. Even today, “there are people who can’t accept who she was,” Junor said. “She was wonderful in many ways. I’m absolutely not wanting to desecrate her memory, but the facts are William had a very difficult time growing up.” Her latest book casts Charles in a more sympathetic light, as a sensitive, caring parent and as a worthy future monarch. But both parents, in her view, have much to answer for in the rearing of their sons.

The highly anticipated engagement was the first time the brothers have been seen together publicly since the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in April. William and Harry lived at Kensington Palace with their mother before she died in a car crash in 1997.

The writing is crisp and clear. The characters are inspiring, hardworking, and driven. And the novel is a compelling tale of the highs and lows involved in being a member of the most popular monarchy in the world. Diana’s faced with a seemingly impossible challenge: one son destined to be King of England and another determined to find his own way. She teaches them to honor royal tradition, even while daring to break it.

It's an established fact that James Patterson is a very talented writer, so when he lends his skills to a Windsor biography I'm already expecting a good read. He didn't disappoint. The book begins as Princess Diana first gets romantically involved with Prince Charles, and ends after the death of Prince Philip and The Queen moving permanently to Windsor Castle in 2022. It doesn't cover anything about The Queen's Platinum Jubilee or her death in September because the book was just released in mid August. Sometimes I’d like a time machine…” Diana says as William and Harry grow up, never imagining they’d have less than a lifetime together. Even after she’s gone, her sons follow their mother’s lead—and her heart. As the years pass and William and Harry grow into adulthood and form families of their own, they carry on Diana’s name, her likeness, and her incomparable spirit. Even after her tragic death, the strength of her love for her sons remains an enduring inspiration, not only for the two princes, but for the entire world. Harry and Meghan gave up their royal roles and titles and moved across the Atlantic, initially to Canada and then later moving to Los Angeles, after falling out with, chiefly, William and Charles over what Harry said was secret stoking by their press teams of media hostility to Meghan. As much as William found a home with the Middletons, it would take eight years, and one brief breakup with Kate in 2007, before he asked her to marry him. William did not agree to be interviewed for Junor’s book (although he gave permission for friends, staff and many of the charities he is patron of to share their views), so she can only speculate about his commitment issues. Part of it, she believes, was a question he had to resolve for himself: could he remain faithful to one woman after the betrayals that scarred his upbringing? She also admitted to “playing amateur psychologist.” He lost his nanny, he lost the trustworthy Sandy Henney when she was forced to resign as press secretary for a mistake not of her making. His mother’s death was the “ultimate abandonment,” said Junor. “I think he was possibly testing Kate to see if she would also abandon him. I think that’s why he waited eight years before finally asking her to marry him.” She did not. During their breakup, she maintained her dignity and discretion, while looking stunning as she stepped out on the town with friends. William soon realized what he had lost.If you are like me, having an overwhelming love and respect for Diana and a feeling of contempt and disgust towards Charles, this is the book for you. It easily fed the personal fire of all of my positive thoughts I had of her, as well as all of the negative thoughts I had of him. I especially appreciated the chapters covering the years of William and Henry growing up without their mother in their lives and the impact she left on them. I had not heard as much about their schooling and military experiences before and it was interesting to read of those influential moments and their impacts. It was so easy to caught up in the events in their lives and feel like I was right there next to them, experiencing it firsthand with them. The statue – which was originally commissioned in 2017 on the 20th anniversary of her death – was revealed at an afternoon ceremony on what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday. Her sons put on a united front at Thursday’s event, entering the garden in conversation together before making their way over to greet their aunts and uncle – their mother’s siblings Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes and Earl Spencer. Also in attendance was the statue’s sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, garden designer Pip Morrison as well as members of the statue committee.