Lady Di

Lately I've been wanting to read a book about Princess Diana's life. She is such a fascinating person but I know so little about her. I went to the library to get a book on her. There were tons of them. I looked at each one, reading chapter titles, descriptions of the books, back covers, trying to figure out which would be not only the best, but the most true. The last book I picked up was A Royal Duty. It was written by her personal butler, Paul Burrell. I figured who would know her better than her personal butler?

The book is not only about Diana but also about Paul himself. He tells the story of how he came to be Diana's personal butler. The book starts with him as a child. Were he grew up everyone was a coal minor. He was determined he'd become something else so he went to a Catering College. Once graduated he submitted his application to three different place. I can't remember one, a cruise ship, and Buckingham palace. He started work at the palace as the underbutler in the silver pantry.

So far the book is excellent. And I'm only on chapter four. There is so much I didn't know about the Princess. I love the book so much and I love all the little facts in the book so much I'm gonna tell you a few.

First off, here's a few random facts about servants in the palace.

- They should never be seen by the Queen. If a servant is in the hallway and they hear the Queen coming they have to run and hide in any closet of closed door they can find.

- Freshly vacuumed carpet is for Royal feet only. Servants cannot walk on it.

- Servants cannot walk down the middle of a hallway. They have to walk along the edge of the wall.

- Servants are not allowed to look at the Queen during dinner. She doesn't like to be watched.

Here are some other random facts...

-The Queen has her own air space called The Purple Corridor where only her planes are allowed to fly.

- The Queen had 9 corgis whom she adored. She feed them herself and she often feed them pheasant.

- The Queen always has an extra pair of white gloves in her purse and never carries money. Unless she's going to church.

- Princess Diana was only 19 whereas Prince Charles was 32 when they met.

- Before Diana married she worked at a Kindergarten and lived in a "flat" with several girlfriends.

- Diana moved to the palace 6 or so months before the wedding. Charles was often gone on business for long periods of time and she was left very alone. The servants would often sneak into her room and bring her company and McDonald's.

- Princess Diana liked to go for a swim every morning. Also, she loved the Queen but was often too shy to talk to her.

- Diana did not drink tea. She only took coffee.

- Princess Diana loved Princess Grace Kelley. When Princess Grace died Diana made her first unaccompanied foreign flight to attend the funeral.

- Diana named a white evening gown "Grace Kelley" because it was so elegant and beautiful.

- Princess Grace's daughter was in the car with her mother when the brakes went out in their car. They drove off a ridge in the Alps and fell 100 feet. Her daughter survived.

- The Queen actually picked out Diana's wedding ring. Diana didn't really like it but accepted it to not be rude. She said if she had it to do over again she would pick something smaller and more elegant.

I'm sure I could keep going but I'll stop for now. I can't wait to finish the book. I'm only on chapter four. I'm excited about what other little interesting facts I'll read.

Until next time,

Juliana.