“He asked: How many times have you tried to kill yourself?” Princess Diana’s biography is called “the longest divorce suit in history” [FRAGMENT]

Princess Diana, the queen of human hearts – an icon in life and a legend after death – continues to fascinate.

25 years after the book was first published, Andrew Morton returns to the secret tapes he recorded with the Duchess and reveals surprising new facts about her life and personality. In this new, expanded edition, the biographer examines the legacy of Diana – the woman who changed the royal family – giving her a more emotional, human face and thus helping her enter the 21st century. Morton also examines the impact the previous edition of the book had on public opinion.

“Diana: Her Story” is the book that comes closest to the Duchess’s autobiography. It is an uncompromising story about a woman who gave a human face to the royal family and paid the highest price for it.

Read an excerpt from the book:

I think bulimia woke me up. Suddenly, I realized what I would lose if I let go. I was wondering if it was worth the sacrifice. One evening Carolyn Bartholomew called me and asked, “Do you realize that when you vomit, you are expelling potassium and magnesium from your body, and that’s why you have these terrible bouts of depression?” I replied, “No.” “Presumably that’s what you get sick with. Have you told someone about it?” I replied, “No.” “You have to tell the doctor.” I said, “No, I can’t.” She said, “You must. I’m giving you an hour to call the doctor. If you don’t, I’ll tell the world about it.” She was mad at me. And it was thanks to this that I met the psychiatrist Maurice Lipsedge. He came, he was cute and very nice. He came in and said, “How many times have you tried to kill yourself?” I thought, “I can’t believe he’s asking that,” but I heard my own voice, “Four or five.” He asked me various questions and I could be completely honest with him. We talked for a few hours and finally he said, “I will come to you once a week for an hour and we will discuss everything.” Then he added, “You are all right, your husband is the problem.” And as he said that, I thought, “Maybe it’s not me after all.” He helped me regain my self-esteem and gave me different books to read. I kept thinking, “It’s about me, it’s about me, I’m not alone.”

Dr. Lipsedge said, “In six months you won’t recognize yourself. If you manage to keep you from vomiting, your life will change completely. “I have to admit, if I was born again, there were only outbursts before, strange outbursts, especially at Balmoral (very difficult), Sandringham and Windsor. I was feeling and vomiting. Last year everything was fine, I was sick once every three weeks, compared to before I checked four times a day. I was so happy with this progress. The disease never affected my skin or teeth. so much acid! I was amazed at the condition of my hair.

I thought if people saw me smiling on the front page of the Daily Mail, they would think I was okay. But I guess they were wondering what was going on, but nobody asked it out loud. , but with them it was like with doctors who say: “You’ve lost a little weight” or “You’ve gained a little weight”, or “What do we have here? You have to take care of yourself a little.” But it ended there, no one was really into it.

I hated myself so much I thought I wasn’t good enough. I thought that I was not good enough for Karol, that I was not a good enough mother – I had a lot of doubts.

I am just like my mother. No matter how badly I feel, I can pretend to be extremely happy. My mother is an expert on this. I did it, I got it, but in those dark times I couldn’t cope with people saying, “It’s her fault.” I heard it all over and over, from the royals and the media who started writing it was my fault “I’m Marilyn Monroe in the eighties and I love it.”

And I never said, “Hurray, how wonderful.” If I ever do, it will be trouble. I will continue my duties as Princess of Wales for as long as I am destined to do. And if I go the other way, it will be difficult. it will change, it will change.

Photo dated 12/21/84 (left to right) Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, Prince Harry and the Prince and Princess of Wales after Prince Harry’s baptism ceremony. Archives

From day one, I knew I would never be queen. Nobody told me that – I just knew it. Six years ago I found my way to the astrologer Penny Thornton. It was Fergie who introduced us. I said, “I have to get out of here, I can’t take it anymore,” and she said to me, “One day you’ll get out, but you’ll be allowed to do so. It won’t be a divorce or anything like that.” Her words were always in my head. She told me this in 1984, so I’ve known about it for a while.

I got dressed for dinner, and he [Karol] He criticized me, “Just not that dress again” or something. but some voice in me said, “Goddamn it, go for it.” So I set myself up for something terrible. I decided not to kiss Camilla hello anymore, but to shake her hand. It was a big step for me. I felt so brave and brave, I wanted to do what I had to do. Charles teased me all the way to Ham Common, where the party was to be held. “Why are you going with me?” – he was teasing me all the time, teasing me, teasing me. I was not provoked, but I was at the border.

Anyway, I walked in, reached out to Camilla for the first time and thought, “Pooh, it was easy.” About forty people attended the party, we all sat down. Remember, they were all my husband’s age, so I felt completely out of shape. But I decided to do what I had planned, and I planned the attack.

We were all upstairs after supper. I was talking to someone and suddenly realized that neither Camilla nor Charles was around. It worried me, so I went downstairs. I knew what I would have to face. They tried to stop me from going downstairs. “Diana, don’t come down.” “I just want to find a husband, I want to see him.” I’d been sitting upstairs for about an hour, so had a right to go downstairs to find him. At the bottom, I found a happy triangle – Camilla, Karol and another man. They chatted happily with each other. I thought, “Okay, time for you,” and joined the conversation as if we were best friends. And then this man said, “I think we should go upstairs by now.” So we got up and I said, “Camilla, I’d like a word with you if possible.” She looked very embarrassed, hung her head, and I said to Charles and the other man, “Okay, boys, I’ll have a chat with you here. Camilla and I’ll be back in a moment. ” They fired upstairs like headless chickens. I felt that all hell had broken loose on the second floor. “What is she up to?”

I offered Camilla, “Why don’t you sit down?” She said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” And she said, “It’s no secret.” I replied, “I guess so.” I wasn’t as strong as I would have liked, but at least I managed to talk to her. She said, “You never let him see your kids when he’s in Scotland.” I replied, “Camilla, the kids are either in Highgrove or in London.” That’s Charles’s biggest mistake: he never sees the kids. But I don’t take them at all. One day William asked, “Dad, will you play with us?” And he replied: “I don’t know if I have time”. This is a famous quote – it always comes up in such a situation. So he cannot complain that I limit his contacts with children.

But let’s get back to Camilla. She said, “You have everything you’ve ever dreamed of. All the men in the world fall at your feet, you have two wonderful children. What more could you want? “I didn’t take it seriously. I replied,” I want my husband. “

The cover of the book ‘Diana. Her story ‘, Andrew Morton Marginesy Publishing House