Dianaworld: the 'cultural phenomenon' behind the People's Princess

'Very fine' book examines the cultural groups who once admired her, and the legacy she left behind

Dianaworld book cover
Princess Diana gained an 'extraordinary cultural hold' that went far beyond her death in 1997
(Image credit: Edward White / Penguin Books Ltd.)

"I didn't think it was possible to produce an interesting book about Princess Diana at this juncture," said Nicola Shulman in Literary Review. "But, by George", Edward White has done it.

In "Dianaworld", he sets out to analyse how the third daughter of a "primogeniture-practising" family, born in the middle of last century, defied the limited expectations set for her and became "the most famous woman in the world". His book is not a conventional biography, and it offers "few new facts for Diana watchers". But what it does with "admirable intelligence" is to consider Diana as a cultural phenomenon – a figure who embodied many of the tendencies of her time, and became a repository for the fantasies of millions. White emphasises her "contradictions and paradoxical behaviours": Diana was an aristocrat who "believed herself to be an ordinary person"; a "curious elision of modern empathy and the ancient magical powers of royalty". Full of "arresting phrases" – Diana was a "wounded healer", who in her infamous BBC interview dressed as a "soap opera widow" – this is a "very fine" book.

White emphasises the way people saw in Diana exactly what they wanted to see, said Frances Wilson in the TLS. For British Asians, she was "the rebel who broke out of an arranged marriage". Drag queens admired her for her transgressiveness. Julie Burchill even argued that many of her traits – "profoundly maternal... strong-nosed, comely" – indicated Jewish blood. Meanwhile, Tony Blair – the ultimate "Dianaman", says White – seized on the grief over her death to play up their similarities. Diana, he said, "throbbed with non-conformity", a quality he identified with.

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