True story behind Princess Diana's bombshell biography and one question that was never asked
Princess Diana's memoir caused controversy at the time...Andrew Morton, the biographer that worked with Princess Diana on her book, revealed the one thing he never dared to ask the royal.
Princess Diana, Her True Story – In Her Own Words was released in 1992 with huge success and was met with much controversy. At the time, the palace denied any involvement between a royal family member and the book. However, the author revealed after Diana’s death in 1997, that the Princess of Wales sent him recordings for the publication.
Speaking on HELLO!’s A Right Royal Podcast, Andrew Morton shared insight into the now-legendary book.
During their discussions, nothing was off limits, but that didn’t stop Andrew short of asking one question entirely.
The question Andrew Morton never asked Princess Diana
“The one question I never asked her was, ‘why are you doing it?'” he explained. “Because she might have thought to herself, ‘Why am I doing it’?”
Elsewhere in the podcast, Andrew shared that the entire process was very emotional for Diana.
“I remember occasions when Diana was in tears talking about some of the issues in her life, mostly her suicide attempts, and when I sent her to read through Chapter 6, she was in tears reading it because it just brought back so many memories,” he said.
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“She did have a difficult childhood, an unhappy childhood, and talking about that as well was like ploughing a field, it brought to the surface all kinds of unhappiness.”
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Why did Diana contribute to the book?
Morton revealed later that Diana was sending small pieces of information for the work, after becoming a fan of his work.
He wrote years later on why she contributed: “Like a prisoner condemned for a crime she did not commit, Diana had a crying need to tell the world the truth about her life, the distress she felt, and the ambitions she nurtured. Her sense of injustice was profound.
“Quite simply, she wanted the liberty to speak her mind, the opportunity to tell people the whole story of her life and to let them judge accordingly.”
The information was relayed through Diana’s friend James Colthurst, who didn’t rouse suspicion. He would ask Diana the questions, record the answers via tape, then deliver them back to Morton.
To ensure she seemed off the hook from being named a collaborator, she denied involvement publicly.
At the time, a palace official said on behalf of Princess Diana: “The princess did not cooperate with the book ‘in any way whatsoever’.”
‘Harry won’t regret his book’
Andrew also drew comparisons with Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare. He insisted that it’s unlikely Harry, like Diana, will ever regret its release.
“Diana was relieved when the book came out. And so were many people who worked in Buckingham Palace,” he continued. “I’m sure he feels like he has done the right thing.”
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“Harry will have thought long and hard before doing this, but he also has the undivided support of his wife, which is very different. I mean, this is a huge contrast between Harry and Diana, Diana was talking about a broken marriage, an unhappy marriage. Harry’s talking about unhappiness with an institution.”
Andrew went on to add: “Diana, and let’s just get this straight, never regretted for a living second, having cooperated with the book. She even wrote to us to say as much. There has been all kinds of speculation to say, ‘Oh, she regretted it.’ She never did.”
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