Latest news with #EdwardWhite
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Princess Kate Looks to Princess Diana's Mistakes With the Press and Gives Them "Nothing," Per Royal Author
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. In the new book Dianaworld: An Obsession, author Edward White chronicles Princess Diana's life through the lens of celebrity and the viewpoints of people around her. When it comes to Diana's daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton, the author says her royal career is marked by one major difference—and that Princess Kate has learned from Diana's mistakes. "Kate Middleton is much more reminiscent of the older generation of royal figures in the way that she comports herself," White recently told Fox News. "She was almost 30 when she married William, and that was deliberate from both sides. The big lesson that she probably learned from Diana's life is don't rush into becoming a royal." The royal author noted that unlike Kate, Lady Diana Spencer "didn't know what she was getting herself into" with her marriage to Prince Charles. "She was so young and very, very sheltered when she entered the Royal Family," he added. Diana and Charles barely knew each other after their brief courtship, but Prince William and Kate met in college and dated for nearly a decade before their 2011 royal wedding. As for dealing with the press, Diana and Kate have used very different tactics. Controversial media personality Piers Morgan, who worked with Princess Diana in the '90s, recently told the "Him & Her Show" podcast that "Diana worked the media exactly the same way the media worked Diana." "I used to have lunch with Diana, I used to talk to her on the phone quite regularly," Morgan said. The journalist claimed that he "used to send her stories that we were going to run and she would edit them and fax them back." The current Princess of Wales, however, follows more in Queen Elizabeth's footsteps when it comes to dealing with the press. She's used social media to deliver her own messages rather than giving interviews, using a more tightly controlled and private method than her late mother-in-law. Like Princess Diana and Prince Charles did, William and Kate spoke to the waiting press outside the hospital when their children were born, but Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have largely grown up in privacy. "Diana dealt with the press scrutiny in the way that she felt that she could, and in the way that she felt she had to," White said. "I don't think anybody was advising her to behave the way that she did with them." He added that Princess Kate "handles the press scrutiny really well, but she…had to switch herself off and only focus on duty." For the Princess of Wales, White added that "the best way of dealing with the scrutiny is by giving [the press] nothing. By stepping through the hoops of shaking hands, cutting ribbons and smiling, being dutiful and not being too big for your boots. Those are all the things that the monarchy is built on." While Princess Kate had a firm grip on who she was and who she wanted to be before marrying Prince William, Diana didn't have that opportunity as a young woman. "Diana's life is more reminiscent to me of a pop star's life," White shared. "Someone once said, 'If you don't know who you are before you're famous, then fame is the thing that you become. It is the thing that will define who you are.' I think that's what happened to Diana, at least for many years."
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Kate Middleton's royal success came from dodging Princess Diana's missteps: author
Kate Middleton has been crowned the reliable, glamorous face of a modern monarchy. Several royal experts believe that her secret to success has been playing by the rules and not breaking out as a royal rebel. Edward White has written a new book about Kate's late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, titled "Dianaworld: An Obsession." It examines the "Diana Effect" and how it continues to influence both the monarchy and pop culture, decades after her death at age 36. White told Fox News Digital that, unlike Diana, who became engaged to the much older former Prince Charles when she was just 19 years old, Kate was more mature when she said "I do" to Prince William. Kate married the royal in 2011 when she was 29, and he was 28. "Kate Middleton is much more reminiscent of the older generation of royal figures in the way that she comports herself," White explained. "She was almost 30 when she married William, and that was deliberate from both sides. The big lesson that she probably learned from Diana's life is don't rush into becoming a royal." "Diana's life is more reminiscent to me of a pop star's life," White shared. "She didn't know what she was getting herself into. She was so young and very, very sheltered when she entered the royal family. Someone once said, 'If you don't know who you are before you're famous, then fame is the thing that you become. It is the thing that will define who you are.' I think that's what happened to Diana, at least for many years." Kate was not born into royal life. She's the daughter of a flight attendant and a flight dispatcher and comes from a well-to-do area of London. It was at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland where Kate first met William, the elder son of Charles and Diana and heir to the British throne. They were first friends and then housemates before they were romantically linked in 2004. Kate graduated in 2005 with a degree in art history and a budding relationship with William. William complained about press intrusion, and Kate's lawyers asked newspaper editors to leave her alone. Even so, the British media followed every twist in their relationship, including a brief split in 2007. The tabloids dubbed her "Waity Katie" for her patience during their courtship. William later acknowledged that the couple's romance wobbled for several months, saying they were both young and trying to find their way. In comparison, Diana was known as "Shy Di" when she found herself suddenly thrust into the glaring media spotlight. She later became an unlikely revolutionary during her years in the House of Windsor. Diana helped modernize the monarchy by making it more personal, changing the way the royal family related to people. By interacting more intimately with the public – kneeling to the level of children, sitting on the edge of a patient's hospital bed, writing personal notes to her fans – she set an example that has been followed by other royals as the monarchy worked to become more human and remain relevant in the 21st century. But Diana's brief life was plagued with problems. She became paranoid of the palace trying to control her and cited a lack of support from senior members and the "men in gray," or palace aides who prioritized tradition. Meanwhile, Charles continued seeing his mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles. Their marital woes played out on the world stage and Diana famously declared in an explosive 1995 interview with the BBC, "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." "Diana dealt with the press scrutiny in the way that she felt that she could, and in the way that she felt she had to," said White. "I don't think anybody was advising her to behave the way that she did with them. It's an invidious position to be in. Kate Middleton handles the press scrutiny really well, but she… had to switch herself off and only focus on duty." "The best way of dealing with the scrutiny is by giving [the press] nothing," White continued. "By stepping through the hoops of shaking hands, cutting ribbons and smiling, being dutiful and not being too big for your boots. Those are all the things that the monarchy is built on." WATCH: PRINCE WILLIAM, KATE MIDDLETON CAN LEARN FROM PRINCESS DIANA'S MARRIAGE British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that Kate receives constant support from both the palace and her family – something that Diana lacked as she struggled with royal life. "The truth is, there was an enormous amount of tension and animosity between Princess Diana and Prince Charles," said Chard. "They were not a happy couple and didn't work as a team… Princess Diana was like a rabbit thrown into the headlights. Life was hard as she didn't have the support she craved and needed. She learned to fend for herself, grew in strength and was perceived as a rebel. She wasn't going to allow anybody to dim her light." "Princess Catherine came from a supportive family, "Chard shared. "She also had a longer time edging her way into royal life. The most important factor is that she and Prince William are a dream team. They work together perfectly. They are each other's rocks, plus they have an amazing extended support network. Princess Catherine has always had a strong sense of self, a quiet strength, confidence and resilience… She also knows what is expected of her as the future of the modern monarchy." "She navigates her role like a breeze and is the perfect future queen," Chard added. Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner also agreed that William, a supportive spouse, has been essential to helping Kate navigate royal life with ease. "Diana was strangled by royal bureaucracy, having to live with royal rules and regulations," he said. "After trying everything to make Charles love her, she eventually decided to fight back." "I used to work with Diana during those days," he shared. "I watched on many occasions when both competed with each other for the best photo opportunity. Diana always won because she was 'The People's Princess' and everybody wanted to see her on public walkabouts, not Charles, which he grew to hate." Diana also confided in the wrong people when she wanted her voice heard, Chard argued. In 2021, William and Harry criticized the BBC after it was revealed that one of the broadcaster's journalists used "deceitful behavior" to secure Diana's TV interview. William said the BBC's failures contributed to the deterioration of his parents' marriage and worsened Diana's feelings of paranoia. Diana was killed in 1997 from injuries she sustained in a car accident. She was 36. At the time, her car was being chased by paparazzi. "Princess Catherine had far greater preparation and resilience than Princess Diana due in part to entering into the monarchy as an adult, well aware of the institution's demands, and with years of support from Prince William, her family as well as the palace," British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. "She's been able to turn to her family to help her navigate both public and private challenges," Fordwich shared. "She has handled the intense media scrutiny with a blend of transparency, regal dignity and composure. Even her recent public acknowledgment regarding the unfortunate photo editing controversy demonstrated accountability and leadership, shielding the royal family from any further backlash." "Despite intense international speculation during her illness, Princess Catherine even managed to share information on her terms, balancing public interest with personal privacy," Fordwich continued. "She hasn't played the press in the same way Princess Diana did, as Princess Catherine is far more secure in general." There's one thing all the royal experts agreed on – the monarchy's future looks bright, something Diana would be proud of. "Princess Diana sparkled, had an affinity with children, and loved her children more than anything in the world," said Chard. "The same can be said of Princess Catherine."
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Dianaworld by Edward White review – why we're still obsessed with the people's princess
A thriving industry of books, TV shows and films has kept Diana, Princess of Wales's image alive since her death in 1997. Most focus on her flawed inner world, and claim to uncover her 'true' self. Edward White's lively, deeply researched Dianaworld gives us something very different. White, whose previous work includes an acclaimed biography of Alfred Hitchcock, approaches Diana's story through the people who saw themselves in her – the doppelgangers, opportunists and superfans who found parallels between the princess's life of extraordinary privilege and their own. His subjects are the frequently ridiculed devotees who fuel celebrity culture: women rushing for the Diana hairdo; impersonators opening supermarkets; psychics jolted awake the night of the fatal crash. It is, White says, 'less a biography of Diana, more the story of a cultural obsession'. He marshals an impressive range of sources – diaries, oral histories, teenage scrapbooks, adverts and comedy skits. There is the woman who, eight months pregnant and living in a homeless hostel, feels a deep bond with the princess also expecting her first child; the sex worker who sees in Diana's rejection of royal pomp her own disdain for British hypocrisy; the owner of an Ealing boutique specialising in Shalwar Kameez who, after Diana wears one on a trip to India, encourages her customers to 'look like a princess'. There are nationalists and internationalists, royalists and republicans, conservatives and progressives, those who pitied, admired, were beguiled or infuriated by Diana. In their stories it is very hard to see where Diana ends and the rest of us begin. Such intense connections to celebrities are easily dismissed as 'parasocial relationships', one-sided, delusional versions of love. But the strength of White's approach is his desire to take seriously the stories that drew people to Diana and continue to shape her afterlives. There is no single explanation for her enduring appeal – and in fact, any attempt to provide one will seem foolish after White's book. Instead, he traces what sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild calls the 'deep stories' that power our gut reactions. Some of White's subjects connected with Diana through narratives of the 'doomed family', seeing their own generational histories of trauma in hers. Others, particularly immigrants and gay people, recognised her as a kind of outsider. White demonstrates how some of the most radical images in Diana's life derived their power from older tropes. Photos of her shaking hands with HIV-positive men certainly challenged the stigma and misinformation surrounding the disease. But they also summoned more ancient ideas: the laying on of royal hands and the religious concept of the 'healing touch'. As White's subjects try to explain why Diana mattered to them, they often find themselves inside these deep stories, repurposing them for the modern age. As White astutely puts it: 'Blair once told an interviewer that Diana invented a 'new way to be British'. It might be more accurate to say that through Diana, the British invented a new way of fantasising about themselves.' Above all, what Diana offered was a new way for British people to imagine the place of emotion in public life. Again and again, White's subjects tell us that what drew them to Diana was her messy but apparently authentic expression of emotion, the way she challenged British reserve. The historian Thomas Dixon argues that the stiff upper lip was only a brief, 20th-century anomaly in the emotional history of Britain, where sobbing in the streets has been far more common than not. Yet, by the 1980s and 90s, Britain seems to have felt like a place where a reservoir of long-repressed sentiment was ready to overflow. Right from the start, people were fascinated by Diana's feelings. First it was her tears, her blushes, her bitten fingernails, her self-conscious head tilt. Later, it was her weight loss, reckless outbursts, and her penchant for what Julie Burchill called 'damp, self-dramatising American therapy-speak'. Finally came the endless cruel speculation about her mental state and accusations of borderline personality disorder and paranoia. Her seemingly excessive or apparently unwanted emotions resonated with people struggling to express their own in a world only too eager for them to quietly conform. Though, as White observes, Diana's pain was also an essential tool in neutralising potential resentment towards her gilded life: 'Poor Di, so human, so lovable,' as one man put it. As have others before him, White sees this emotionality as a watershed moment, when Britain was forced to reckon with the new self-actualisation culture that had been gathering momentum for some time on the other side of the Atlantic. 'Arguably of greater social significance than her embrace of any specific cause – homelessness, domestic abuse, addiction, mental illness, Aids – was the emotional tenor in which she approached them,' writes White. As bouquets mounted up outside Kensington palace after Diana's death, some grieved, while others found the public spectacle coercive, seeing it as synthetic as the plastic wrapping on all those flowers. Today, with far more terrifying spectacles of public emotion to contend with, worrying about the authenticity of mass grief seems quaint. This book is an ingenious solution to the problem of biography in an age of global celebrity, where identity seems much less stable, a jumble of ever-changing projections and imaginings. It is hard to know what White himself makes of the continuing obsession with his subject. Dianaworld is a kaleidoscopic place, stuffed full with contradictory perspectives. But perhaps that is appropriate for a life that ultimately seemed so mercurial and slippery, so un-pin-down-able. As one visitor to Althorp comments at the end of a rather lacklustre tour of Diana's childhood home, 'Is there nothing else Diana? Is that it?' Dianaworld: An Obsession by Edward White is published by Allen Lane (£25). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.
Express Tribune
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Diana in Drag? New Biography details how the Princess of Wales' snuck into a gay bar with Freddie Mercury
A new biography of Princess Diana is making headlines for revisiting a decades-old story that blurs the line between royal myth and cultural legend. In Dianaworld: An Obsession by Edward White, the late Princess of Wales is said to have disguised herself in drag to visit the Royal Vauxhall Tavern—a well-known London gay bar—accompanied by Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and television personality Kenny Everett. Photo: W. W. Norton & Company The account, originally shared by actress Cleo Rocos, describes Diana's ensemble as a camouflage jacket, leather cap, and aviator sunglasses. According to Rocos, the group managed to enter unnoticed, with Diana's disguise convincing enough that she passed as an eccentric male model. They stayed briefly for a drink before returning to Kensington Palace, and Diana reportedly returned Everett's clothing the next day. Though never officially confirmed, the story has resurfaced over the years as a symbol of Diana's unique relationship with the LGBTQ+ community and her desire to experience life outside the confines of royal protocol. The book places this anecdote within a broader narrative about Diana's search for identity, privacy, and connection—especially following her separation from then-Prince Charles. Author Edward White revisits Diana's early years, her evolving public persona, and her lesser-known escapades with empathy and detail. The biography portrays these moments not as isolated episodes, . Dianaworld: An Obsession is out 29 April.
Toronto Sun
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Decades after her death, Princess Diana is still larger than life
Published Apr 28, 2025 • 5 minute read "Dianaworld: An Obsession" by Edward White. MUST CREDIT: W.W. Norton jpg Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Does Diana, Princess of Wales, still matter? So much else has happened since her shocking car-crash death in Paris in 1997 – 9/11, the Iraq War, Barack Obama, Brexit, the first Trump presidency, the pandemic, the start of Trump's second term. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Consider this: Kensington Palace in London has an exhibition called 'Dress Codes' featuring gowns worn by some rather significant women, including groundbreaking designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, Princess Margaret, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. Not a bad lineup. But out in the hallway, by the entrance, bigger than life and positioned to bring in the crowds, is a glamorous photograph of a single figure, the exhibition's main lure: Diana, Princess of Wales. As biographer Edward White ably demonstrates in 'Dianaworld: An Obsession,' the once-bashful beauty who married her frog of a prince defies death's diminution constantly. While he presents few new facts about Diana's life – inevitably, given how exhaustively she was covered both before and after death – White takes advantage of a quarter-century's distance to present the cultural postmortem she deserves. His astute evaluation of what the princess was and continues to be, to the people who knew her and the millions who didn't, makes a convincing case that her populist presence in the 1990s presaged the politics of the 21st century. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Lady Diana Spencer first walked onto the world stage in 1981 as an anachronism, a throwback, a teenager who'd attended finishing school not high school, a blue blood in the age of punk, a young bride at a time when young women having sex and postponing marriage was the norm. But she rapidly became a change agent, a breath of fresh air among the fusty royals. Not for her the formal walkabouts; Diana plunged into crowds to meet fans up close – to chat, to share confidences and, most significantly, to touch and hug. She made big news shaking hands with an AIDS patient. As years passed, she intimated she possessed the healing touch, the same that royals in ancient times were said to have. Modern princess, mythological powers – such was the contradictory nature of Diana, an aristocrat who began to fancy herself the people's champion. White aptly calls the princess a 'cut-and-shut' figure, referencing the way two damaged cars can be welded into a single, imperfect vehicle. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Behind palace doors, after her marriage crumbled, she took a lover and secretly puppet-mastered her own bombshell 1992 biography 'Diana: Her True Story.' Her capacity for risk-taking was enormous, White notes, and it 'exacerbated almost every difficulty she encountered as a member of the royal family.' But this was part and parcel of her grandiosity. Rejected by a cruel husband, she was summoned, according to the book, to a higher purpose. She once said to a startled Peter Nott, bishop of Norwich: 'I understand people's pain, people's suffering, more than you will ever know.' White, previously the author of 'The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock,' employs an overly academic style on occasion, perhaps aiming to resist the hyperbole surrounding Diana. He also devotes considerable space to the feelings of ordinary people, relying on oral histories in the British Library, personal testimonies included in the Mass Observation project at the University of Sussex and private diaries. Most never met Diana, yet 'consider her a vital presence in their lives,' he writes. Is it churlish to describe those sections as the least interesting? Far more compelling is White's analysis of Diana's impact on the monarchy, British politics and wider society. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. After her separation from Prince Charles, she formed a quasi-alliance with Tony Blair and his New Labour movement. For a time, they appeared to sing from the same hymnbook. The princess believed in a reformed, consoling monarchy; Blair promised a post-Thatcher Britain 'in which ambition for oneself and compassion for others can live easily together.' Diana hoped that once Blair became prime minister, he'd appoint her as a sort of roving brand ambassador for Britain – a humanitarian on the hoof, who also waved the flag. 'Nobody, including Diana, really knew what such a position might entail,' White notes. It never came to pass, as Blair disapproved of Diana's willingness to be drawn into the orbit of Mohamed al-Fayed, the Harrods owner, who had been implicated in a scheme to bribe members of Parliament. Blair advised her to stay away from al-Fayed, but, Diana, willful as ever, instead distanced herself from the prime minister and started dating Fayed's son. Dodi Fayed died in the car crash that also killed her. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. What followed in Britain was unprecedented: national mourning was so emotional, so unbridled, that one observer, future prime minister Boris Johnson, called it 'a Latin American carnival of grief.' In the run-up to the funeral, Queen Elizabeth II was hectored by the media into flouting protocol and flying the Union Jack over Buckingham Palace at half-staff, and making a public attestation to her sorrow in a televised speech. Diana, Blair once said, invented a 'new way to be British.' White counters, 'It might be more accurate to say that through Diana, the British invented a new way of fantasizing about themselves.' RECOMMENDED VIDEO Whatever transmogrification took place, the royal family got the memo. They have abandoned the stiff upper lip; nowadays they speak openly about their emotions and eschew pompous patronages to concentrate on social ills. Prince William aims to end homelessness in Britain – his mother having taken him at age 11 to visit a London shelter to meet those with no place to live. He and his wife, Catherine, have spearheaded a mental health initiative called Heads Together. Notably, William chose a spouse radically different from his mother: introverted, measured and cautious rather than impulsive and reckless. But thanks to Diana's rejection of royal conventions, her son had greater freedom to pick someone from outside the ruling class. (Famously, Catherine's mother is a former flight attendant, her father a former flight dispatcher for British Airways.) This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Diana's life as a divorcée in the 1990s and the response to her death 'did inject into the mainstream of British life a strain of populism that had usually existed only on the fringes,' White writes. While he resists linking Diana directly to Brexit, he accurately points out how the political climate in Britain has never been the same. Authority is met with less deference. Institutions are more open to outsiders. Politicians weep on camera and urge the public to show troubled youths more love. And leaders can be chastised for appearing to lack feeling. In a bizarre episode earlier this month, Kemi Badenoch, head of the Conservative Party, was questioned closely on a BBC News show as to why she hadn't yet watched the widely discussed Netflix drama 'Adolescence' about a West Yorkshire boy who murders his classmate. Badenoch countered that she prefers to devote time to meeting real people in trouble rather than watching television dramas. It's hard to imagine this exchange happening in pre-Diana Britain. Of course, interest in the princess has always spanned the globe, and a new generation is meeting the rebel royal through the numerous television, film and theatrical productions about her. The obsession, in White's view, shows no sign of fading away. – – – Clare McHugh is the author of the novel 'The Romanov Brides.' – – – Dianaworld An Obsession By Edward White W.W. Norton. 416 pp. $31.99 Federal Elections Celebrity NFL Celebrity Sunshine Girls
