Tina Brown Book Excerpt: Diana - Saint or schemer?

[Wombat]

In public, she was a global icon of compassion. In private, she seduced other women's husbands – and saw her charity work as a way to upstage the Royals. So, asks Tina Brown in our final extract from her explosive book, who was the real Diana?Newly separated from her husband, the Princess of Wales set about administering her celebrity like a global brand. Her life was now devoted to tending, promoting and conserving the Diana franchise. A cavalcade of show- business personalities, heads of philanthropic trusts, media leaders and politicians filed in and out of her sunny, flower- filled sitting room at Kensington Palace. People like Elton John, Gianni Versace and Hillary Clinton were her peer group now. If she was to meet a foreign dignitary and needed a briefing, she could call Henry Kissinger. For financial advice, it was not the Comptroller of the Royal Household but banker and taste baron Lord Rothschild.Patrick Jephson, her private secretary, managed her portfolio of charities with an astute eye, aiming to expunge any lingering perceptions of the Sloane Princess or Dynasty Di. He recognised how canny Diana had become at using philanthropy to enhance her standing with the public, and thus her power over the rest of the Firm.Travel overseas was critical to her strategy. To the chagrin of the Prince of Wales's office, foreign leaders all wanted to meet the solo Diana. When she visited Cairo, President Mubarak was eating out of her hand. In Paris, she captivated the discerning François Mitterrand. In March 1993, while the press was relaying images of Prince Charles holidaying at Klosters, she was on her way to the poverty- stricken mountain kingdom of Nepal to visit lepers. In July, she took off for Zimbabwe for the Red Cross and President Robert Mugabe, monster in training, was so elated on meeting the Princess he announced, ' She brings light into your life'.

Such a long article...sent to Cassidy for those on the list..if you want a copy and you're not on the list..pm me ;)