Diana in 3-D

LOVE her or not, Diana, Princess of Wales, was a part of everyone's lives.

Media coverage was so great that no one could avoid news of what the self styled Queen of Hearts was up to.

So when she died so tragically and suddenly, the shock which spread through the nation was natural. Seeing her every day in the newspapers or on television, most people felt they knew her. Even so opinion on her still varies vastly.

This latest book is written by Judy Wade who covered Diana's wedding and toured with her for the Sun newspaper. She is current editor of OK magazine.

As such there is a certain amount of 'insider' knowledge, interviews with Diana's personal hairdresser, and a handful of close friends.

Like most books written about Diana, most is nevertheless speculation based on opinion or gossip.

But what Wade does manage to do is create a wholly believable, three dimensional image of the former Princess.

Unlike most, it is not sycophantic, but paints the picture of a generous and likeable, yet equally devious and quite selfish woman.

This was, according to Wade, a woman who loved to gossip, watch the soaps and wander around her home in Marks and Spencer clothes.

But the most revealing in this book is Wade's claims that Diana was helplessly in love with Pakistani surgeon Hasnan Khan -- the man friends say she told them, she was going to marry.

Equally of interest, is her claims, via interviews with bodyguards that Diana was far from in love with Dodi Fayed and that they had argued on their last day in Paris because he would not slow down their speeding car. Dodi was, according to Wade's account, a pleasurable way of passing time, and above all a tool by which she could make Hasnan Khan jealous.

This book is an easy read, giving believable accounts of the former Princess's life. But perhaps most poignant, is Wade's concluding chapters which all too clearly illustrate just how quickly Diana's star has faded within the public's minds. By Beverly Greenberg