“It was precisely because she was so little like their mother that Camilla seemed nonthreatening to William and Harry. She was like the furniture she favored, classic English shabby.

As earthy as Diana was urbane, Camilla was happiest riding to the hounds, tromping through open fields, or digging in the dirt alongside her man at Highgrove. Her attitude toward child-rearing was as relaxed as Diana’s was hands-on.”

Living on the other side of the pond, the Royals have never been a major interest for me. William and Harry have grown into fine, handsome, charming men and I do look on to what they are doing if I see something in a magazine but I do not search for information.

Princess Diana, to me, seemed quiet and pretty but I never understood the obsession. That said, I watched her funeral and cried when Elton John sang his special version of “Candle in the Wind” in her memory. A tragic death for a young life.

In After Diana, Christopher Andersen moves forward and back in time, in an exploration of The People's Princess. Anderson dissects the effects of the aftermath of Diana’s death on her two sons, the Royal family, as well as her life. The author thoroughly researched the affairs of both Diana and Prince Charles, as well as Diana’s unhappiness and emotional turmoil. His sources are those very close to the family. The book is not a page turner — I did not feel the need to engulf every page in one sitting — but it succeeds with thorough research that provides the reader with an abundance of information.

Camilla. Everyone knows about her twenty-something year affair with Charles. But I did not realize that Prince Charles had many other women in and out of his life during his marriage. Andersen provides a complete depiction of “the most hated woman in England.” She’s much more complex than one might think and she also is down to earth and vastly different than Princess Diana. She even encouraged Charles to wed Diana.

A former reporter, Andersen has the inside track on the Royals. His sources are those close to the family. Topics covered include the moments after Diana died, the Royal reaction to her death, the boys' relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles and Camilla’s eight-year plan to marry Prince Charles and make-over her image. It has been nearly impossible recently to avoid pictures or read snippets about Prince William and Kate Middleton or Chelsy Davy and Prince Harry. The Princes are portrayed as the 20-somethings they are.