Portraits of a Princess: Travels with Diana

The dramatic public life of Diana, Princess of Wales was enacted against a backdrop of exciting foreign destinations.

These are inextricably linked to some of the most significant events in her own journey. Who can forget the lonely Princess at the Taj Mahal, the "War of the Waleses" in South Korea, the glamorous Diana, darling of Manhattan fundraisers, or the Queen of Hearts in an African refugee camp? These are just some of the unforgettable images revisited in Portraits of a Princess--Travels with Diana.

Patrick Jephson, Diana's private secretary for many years, gives his unique perspective of his time spent with the Princess. As the man who organized nearly all of her foreign travel and accompanied her on most of it, his viewpoint provides the book with a unique sense of authority.

For Portraits of a Princess Jephson reassembles the core team that worked with him on orchestrating Diana's worldwide crusade: the press secretary, the security chief and the Princess's personal assistant.

From this unmatched archive of experience came candid and entertaining anecdotes which add colour to fascinating behind-the-scenes details of the logistics of a royal superstar on tour: how the press coverage was organized and orchestrated, how the protocol experts were kept happy and how transport and security requirements were adapted to suit Diana's revolutionary royal style.

Other experts comment on the Princess's changing fashion tastes as her wardrobe evolved from the "Shy Di" of the joint tours to the confident glamour icon of Washington society balls or the hands-on charity leader in Africa.

Again and again, as we retrace the Princess's footstep, Jephson asks, "Did she make a difference?"

These striking portraits answer that question.

Patrick Jephson served for six years as the first and only private secretary to Diana, Princess of Wales. He is the author of Shadows of a Princess, which was a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller in 2000.

Kent Gavin FRPS is the winner of over 130 awards and nominations during his career on the Daily Mirror, including Royal Photographer of the Decade for the 1980s and 1990s and seven time winner of Royal Photographer of the Year.