Diana: Death of a Goddess: Difference between revisions
PARAKANYAA (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
PARAKANYAA (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 13: | Line 13: | ||
}} |
}} |
||
'''''Diana: Death of a Goddess''''' is a book about [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], by psychiatrist and documentarian David Cohen. It was published in 2004 by Century, an imprint of [[Random House]]. A continuation of Cohen's 2003 documentary film |
'''''Diana: Death of a Goddess''''' is a book about [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], by psychiatrist and documentarian David Cohen. It was published in 2004 by Century, an imprint of [[Random House]]. A continuation of Cohen's 2003 documentary film on the same topic, ''Diana: The Night She Died'', the book argues that the truth about Diana's death is not purely accidental but not entirely conspiratorial; Cohen concludes that her death was at least partially accidental. It also ties her death to [[Order of the Solar Temple]] cult, as well as the death of [[Grace Kelly]]. |
||
| ⚫ | The book was a bestseller. It received mixed reviews; its research and some of its conclusions were praised, while others were criticized as lacking evidence. Some reviewers called it sensationalized, while others praised it for not being sensational. Particular criticism was targeted at the book's theories about the Solar Temple, previously expounded in a different documentary by the same author, which were criticized as inconsistent with the known facts about that group as well as a stretch. |
||
The book argues that |
|||
[[Order of the Solar Temple]] cult, which it presents as tied to Diana's death, as well as the death of [[Grace Kelly]]. |
|||
Cohen concludes that her death was at least partially accidental |
|||
| ⚫ | It received mixed reviews; some of its conclusions were |
||
== Background and author == |
== Background and author == |
||
| ⚫ | David Cohen, the book's author, has a PhD in psychology and is a psychiatrist. He has directed several documentaries and written other books of an "exploratory" nature.<ref name="Tele041002">{{Cite news |last=Manning |first=Gary |date=2004-10-02 |title=Diana book exposes conspiracy of incompetence: But, take author's claims about Solar Temple cult with a grain of salt |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/telegraph-journal-diana-book-exposes-con/160704109/ |access-date=2024-12-11 |newspaper=[[Telegraph-Journal]] |location=Saint John |page=20 |language=en-CA |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issn=0837-3736}}</ref> The book is largely based off of interview testimony, including police contacts and intelligence officials, as well as that of a man who claimed that he had been hired to kill Diana.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Verlander |first=Helen |date=2004-05-30 |title=Diana: A never-ending story |url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/diana-a-never-ending-story-20040530-gdxx9k.html |access-date=2024-12-11 |work=[[The Sunday Age]] |location=Melbourne |pages=23 |language=en-AU |issn=1034-1021}}</ref> The book's back cover displays what is purported to be a photo of the car that crashed, shortly before it occurred,<ref name="Tele041002" /> while the book's cover claims that it contains "SENSATIONAL new material" on her death.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Gregory |first=Martyn |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Diana/vZPJjwm6ITMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT279 |title=Diana: The Last Days |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7535-4431-0 |page=279 |language=en}}</ref> |
||
[[Diana, Princess of Wales]], was . She [[Death of Diana, Princess of Wales|died in a car crash]] alongside her partner [[Dodi Fayed]] 31 August 1997. The |
|||
A 1997 documentary about the [[Order of the Solar Temple]] cult was made by Cohen and David Carr-Brown, which aired on the English [[Channel 4]].<ref name="Bédat1998" /><ref name="Introvigne2000" /> In 2003, Cohen created a documentary about Diana's death, ''Diana: The Night She Died'', which aired on [[Channel 5 (British TV channel)|Channel 5]]. He followed that documentary up with the book.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite magazine |last=Bainbridge |first=Beryl |date=2004-05-31 |title=Dangerous liaisons |magazine=[[New Statesman]] |pages=51–52 |language=en-GB |volume=17 |issue=809 |issn=1364-7431}}</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | David Cohen, the book's author, has a PhD in psychology and is a psychiatrist. He has directed several documentaries and written other books of an "exploratory" nature.<ref name="Tele041002">{{Cite news |last=Manning |first=Gary |date=2004-10-02 |title=Diana book exposes conspiracy of incompetence: But, take author's claims about Solar Temple cult with a grain of salt |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/telegraph-journal-diana-book-exposes-con/160704109/ |access-date=2024-12-11 |newspaper=[[Telegraph-Journal]] |location=Saint John |page=20 |language=en-CA |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issn=0837-3736}}</ref> The book is largely based off of interview testimony, including police contacts and intelligence officials, as well as that of a man who claimed that he had been hired to kill Diana.<ref name=":1" /> The book's back cover displays what is purported to be a photo of the car that crashed, shortly before it occurred |
||
Cohen had previously directed two documentary films |
|||
A 1998 documentary |
|||
2003 documentary |
|||
The book contains much of the same material as |
|||
== Contents == |
== Contents == |
||
The book begins |
The book begins |
||
Order of the Solar Temple (OTS), a French cult linked to the deaths of many people in murders and mass suicides |
|||
paul drugged assassination plot<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Elliot |first=Francis |last2=Goodchild |first2=Sophie |last3=Lichfield |first3=John |date=2006-02-05 |title=The Diana Files |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-diana-files-343293.html |access-date=2024-12-11 |work=[[The Independent]] |language=en-GB |issn=1741-9743}}</ref> |
|||
paul drugged assassination plot<ref name=":0" /> |
|||
concludes it was "partially" accidental<ref name=":1" /> |
concludes it was "partially" accidental<ref name=":1" /> |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | <ref |
||
| ⚫ | |||
The book was published in 2004 by Century, an imprint of [[Random House]]. |
|||
| ⚫ | <ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kurosawa |first=Susan |date=2004-05-15 |title=A case for conspiracy |work=[[The Weekend Australian]] |location=Canberra |page=9 |language=en-AU |issn=1038-8761}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name="Mayer2014">{{Cite book |last=Mayer |first=Jean-François |author-link=Jean-François Mayer |title=Legal Cases, New Religious Movements, and Minority Faiths |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing|Ashgate]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4724-2874-5 |editor-last=Richardson |editor-first=James T. |editor-link=James T. Richardson |location=Farnham; Burlington |p=51–52 |language=en |chapter=The Order of the Solar Temple: From Apocalypse to Court |editor-last2=Bellanger |editor-first2=François}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Frazer |first=Jenni |date=2017-08-25 |title=Princess Diana: Twenty years on, and the theories multiply |url=https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/film/princess-diana-twenty-years-on-and-the-theories-multiply-cyzhftcn |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=[[The Jewish Chronicle]] |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-04-03 |title=No dead certainty |url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/5367377.no-dead-certainty/ |access-date=2024-12-11 |work=[[Dorset Echo]] |language=en-GB |issn=2515-852X}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> |
||
bestseller |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
''Diana: Death of a Goddess'' received mixed reviews. |
|||
''Diana: Death of a Goddess'' was published in 2004 by Century, an imprint of [[Random House]].<ref name=":3" /> It was again published by Arrow (also an imprint of Random House) in 2005. The book was a bestseller.<ref name=":4" /> |
|||
| ⚫ | It received mixed reviews. [[Beryl Bainbridge]] writing for ''[[New Statesman]]'' called it a "good read" that "goes a long way towards raising doubts" about the official ruling of the case. She said the book "uncovers much that was deliberately concealed", and praised it for being informational without becoming sensational.<ref name=":3" /> ''[[The Sunday Age]]'' said the book's title "reflects the idealised and cult-like status" that Diana had achieved after her death. They contrasted this to the book itself, which they noted never used the word goddess, calling it not an attempt to explore her appeal, but instead "the most sensational investigation to date of what happened in the tunnel below the Place de l'Alma in Paris."<ref name=":1" /> Gary Manning, a reviewer from the ''[[Telegraph-Journal]]'', said that despite its title it did not offer much insight into the perception of Diana or her status as a "goddess".<ref name="Tele041002" /> The Dorset Echo |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | Manning said that if one read the book "without considering who the victims were", one would come to the conclusion that the only coverup was one of "pervasive ineptitude". He said Cohen offered psychological insight into the case, but that he found himself unconvinced by Cohen's proposed evidence for conspiracy, with the "strings [being] too tenuous" and it not leading to any "solid conclusion".<ref name="Tele041002" /> ''<nowiki>''The Sunday Age''</nowiki>'' said it presented "credible sounding evidence" to the idea that "the truth lies at both ends of the spectrum" (between conspiracy or pure accident).<ref name=":1" /> Manning called the information the book provided on the final hours of Diana's life, as well as the "monumental number of questionable actions and decisions" fascinating, and said the book was a clear condemnation of the incompetence of the authorities.<ref name="Tele041002" /> |
||
| ⚫ | '' |
||
=== Solar Temple theories === |
=== Solar Temple theories === |
||
The book's theories connecting the Solar Temple were criticized by several commentators.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Mayer2014" /><ref name="Tele041002" /> ''The Sunday Age'' said that though many of Cohen's conclusions seemed credible, the Solar Temple link required "a stretch of the imagination".<ref name=":1" /> Manning noted the connection as "a strand in the conspiracy web that hasn't been examined before".<ref name="Tele041002" /> [[Jean-François Mayer]], a researcher of the Solar Temple, cited the book as one of many works promoting "far-fetched rumors linking the Solar Temple to all kinds of criminal cases and other mysterious events", with Cohen speaking to those who made very surprising statements on the group. He said that there was no trace of any such tie substantiated by the investigation into the OTS.<ref name="Mayer2014" /> |
|||
The book's theories connecting the Solar Temple were especially criticized by several commentators; |
|||
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', said that though many of Cohen's conclusions seemed credible, the Solar Temple link required "a stretch of the imagination".<ref name=":1" /> Manning noted the connection as "a strand in the conspiracy web that hasn't been examined before"<ref name="Tele041002" /> |
|||
Cohen had previously promoted the Solar Temple theory in |
Cohen had previously promoted the Solar Temple theory in the 1997 Channel 4 documentary. The source for this was a man who identified himself as Georges Leroux or "Monsieur Guy", refusing to reveal his true identity; Leroux claimed to have been a former member of the OTS and Di Mambro's personal driver. He claimed that Kelly had been initiated, along with several other other famous people, into the OTS in 1982, and that prior to her death she had donated about 15 million Swiss francs to the group.<ref name="Bédat1998">{{Cite magazine |last=Bédat |first=Arnaud |author-link=Arnaud Bédat |date=7 January 1998 |title=Grace de Monaco membre du Temple solaire? Les dessous d'un scoop bidon |trans-title=Grace of Monaco a member of the Solar Temple? Behind the scenes of a bogus scoop |url=https://scriptorium.ch/zoom/196416/view?page=22 |access-date=23 September 2024 |magazine=[[L'Illustré]] |pages=22–24 |language=fr-CH |via=[[Scriptorium (website)|Scriptorium]]}}</ref><ref name="Introvigne2000">{{Cite book |last=Introvigne |first=Massimo |author-link=Massimo Introvigne |title=Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8156-0599-7 |editor-last=Wessinger |editor-first=Catherine |editor-link=Catherine Wessinger |p=144 |language=en |chapter=The Magic of Death: The Suicides of the Solar Temple}}</ref> According to Leroux, Kelly's death, deemed an accident, was actually a plot by Di Mambro, and the massacres were actually a plot by the Italian mafia.<ref name="Bédat1998" /> |
||
In 1998, Swiss journalist [[Arnaud Bédat]] tracked Leroux down and interviewed him. According to Bédat, Leroux provided no proof of any of his assertions; having found out his real identity, Guy Mouyrin, he noted that he had lied about multiple elements of his history and also had multiple prior criminal convictions for fraud, theft, blackmail, and document forgery.<ref name="Introvigne2000" /><ref name="Bédat1998" /> He was known by those around him as someone who made up stories, and was then wanted by the Swiss police for over 100 instances of fraud and robbery |
In 1998, Swiss journalist [[Arnaud Bédat]] tracked Leroux down and interviewed him. According to Bédat, Leroux provided no proof of any of his assertions; having found out his real identity, Guy Mouyrin, he noted that he had lied about multiple elements of his history and also had multiple prior criminal convictions for fraud, theft, blackmail, and document forgery.<ref name="Introvigne2000" /><ref name="Bédat1998" /> He was known by those around him as someone who made up stories, and was then wanted by the Swiss police for over 100 instances of fraud and robbery, known as a "professional con artist".<ref name="Bédat1998" /><ref name="Introvigne2000" /> |
||
None of the former members of the Solar Temple could recall having ever met |
None of the former members of the Solar Temple could recall having ever met Leroux, and the story was contradictory to facts about the Solar Temple, as it had not even existed when the initiation of Kelly had supposedly taken place in 1982 (being founded about two years later).<ref name="Bédat1998" /> Kelly's name is also not mentioned in the relatively complete lists of Solar Temple members that were left behind.<ref name="Introvigne2000" /> When questioned about this by Bédat, Cohen admitted that he did not thoroughly check Leroux's background, and did not know his real identity (or that he was wanted by Swiss police).<ref name="Bédat1998" /> This claim likely stems from the fact that Jean-Louis Marsan, the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple (OSTS), was a childhood friend of [[Rainier III, Prince of Monaco]], Kelly's husband. Despite the name, the OSTS was a different neo-Templar order and had little to no connection to the Solar Temple, though Marsan had met Di Mambro on one occasion.<ref name="Introvigne2000" /><ref name="Bédat1998" /> |
||
== References == |
== References == |
||
Revision as of 23:04, 14 December 2024
| Author | David Cohen |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Princess Diana |
| Publisher | Century |
Publication date | 2004 |
| Pages | 263 |
| ISBN | 1-84413-795-3 |
| OCLC | 224109942 |
Diana: Death of a Goddess is a book about Diana, Princess of Wales, by psychiatrist and documentarian David Cohen. It was published in 2004 by Century, an imprint of Random House. A continuation of Cohen's 2003 documentary film on the same topic, Diana: The Night She Died, the book argues that the truth about Diana's death is not purely accidental but not entirely conspiratorial; Cohen concludes that her death was at least partially accidental. It also ties her death to Order of the Solar Temple cult, as well as the death of Grace Kelly.
The book was a bestseller. It received mixed reviews; its research and some of its conclusions were praised, while others were criticized as lacking evidence. Some reviewers called it sensationalized, while others praised it for not being sensational. Particular criticism was targeted at the book's theories about the Solar Temple, previously expounded in a different documentary by the same author, which were criticized as inconsistent with the known facts about that group as well as a stretch.
Background and author
David Cohen, the book's author, has a PhD in psychology and is a psychiatrist. He has directed several documentaries and written other books of an "exploratory" nature.[1] The book is largely based off of interview testimony, including police contacts and intelligence officials, as well as that of a man who claimed that he had been hired to kill Diana.[2] The book's back cover displays what is purported to be a photo of the car that crashed, shortly before it occurred,[1] while the book's cover claims that it contains "SENSATIONAL new material" on her death.[3]
A 1997 documentary about the Order of the Solar Temple cult was made by Cohen and David Carr-Brown, which aired on the English Channel 4.[4][5] In 2003, Cohen created a documentary about Diana's death, Diana: The Night She Died, which aired on Channel 5. He followed that documentary up with the book.[3][6]
Contents
The book begins
Order of the Solar Temple (OTS), a French cult linked to the deaths of many people in murders and mass suicides
paul drugged assassination plot[7]
concludes it was "partially" accidental[2]
The book attempts to tie the death of Grace Kelly and diana to the Order of the Solar Temple
Publication and reception
Diana: Death of a Goddess was published in 2004 by Century, an imprint of Random House.[6] It was again published by Arrow (also an imprint of Random House) in 2005. The book was a bestseller.[10]
It received mixed reviews. Beryl Bainbridge writing for New Statesman called it a "good read" that "goes a long way towards raising doubts" about the official ruling of the case. She said the book "uncovers much that was deliberately concealed", and praised it for being informational without becoming sensational.[6] The Sunday Age said the book's title "reflects the idealised and cult-like status" that Diana had achieved after her death. They contrasted this to the book itself, which they noted never used the word goddess, calling it not an attempt to explore her appeal, but instead "the most sensational investigation to date of what happened in the tunnel below the Place de l'Alma in Paris."[2] Gary Manning, a reviewer from the Telegraph-Journal, said that despite its title it did not offer much insight into the perception of Diana or her status as a "goddess".[1] The Dorset Echo
Manning said that if one read the book "without considering who the victims were", one would come to the conclusion that the only coverup was one of "pervasive ineptitude". He said Cohen offered psychological insight into the case, but that he found himself unconvinced by Cohen's proposed evidence for conspiracy, with the "strings [being] too tenuous" and it not leading to any "solid conclusion".[1] ''The Sunday Age'' said it presented "credible sounding evidence" to the idea that "the truth lies at both ends of the spectrum" (between conspiracy or pure accident).[2] Manning called the information the book provided on the final hours of Diana's life, as well as the "monumental number of questionable actions and decisions" fascinating, and said the book was a clear condemnation of the incompetence of the authorities.[1]
Solar Temple theories
The book's theories connecting the Solar Temple were criticized by several commentators.[2][9][1] The Sunday Age said that though many of Cohen's conclusions seemed credible, the Solar Temple link required "a stretch of the imagination".[2] Manning noted the connection as "a strand in the conspiracy web that hasn't been examined before".[1] Jean-François Mayer, a researcher of the Solar Temple, cited the book as one of many works promoting "far-fetched rumors linking the Solar Temple to all kinds of criminal cases and other mysterious events", with Cohen speaking to those who made very surprising statements on the group. He said that there was no trace of any such tie substantiated by the investigation into the OTS.[9]
Cohen had previously promoted the Solar Temple theory in the 1997 Channel 4 documentary. The source for this was a man who identified himself as Georges Leroux or "Monsieur Guy", refusing to reveal his true identity; Leroux claimed to have been a former member of the OTS and Di Mambro's personal driver. He claimed that Kelly had been initiated, along with several other other famous people, into the OTS in 1982, and that prior to her death she had donated about 15 million Swiss francs to the group.[4][5] According to Leroux, Kelly's death, deemed an accident, was actually a plot by Di Mambro, and the massacres were actually a plot by the Italian mafia.[4]
In 1998, Swiss journalist Arnaud Bédat tracked Leroux down and interviewed him. According to Bédat, Leroux provided no proof of any of his assertions; having found out his real identity, Guy Mouyrin, he noted that he had lied about multiple elements of his history and also had multiple prior criminal convictions for fraud, theft, blackmail, and document forgery.[5][4] He was known by those around him as someone who made up stories, and was then wanted by the Swiss police for over 100 instances of fraud and robbery, known as a "professional con artist".[4][5]
None of the former members of the Solar Temple could recall having ever met Leroux, and the story was contradictory to facts about the Solar Temple, as it had not even existed when the initiation of Kelly had supposedly taken place in 1982 (being founded about two years later).[4] Kelly's name is also not mentioned in the relatively complete lists of Solar Temple members that were left behind.[5] When questioned about this by Bédat, Cohen admitted that he did not thoroughly check Leroux's background, and did not know his real identity (or that he was wanted by Swiss police).[4] This claim likely stems from the fact that Jean-Louis Marsan, the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple (OSTS), was a childhood friend of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, Kelly's husband. Despite the name, the OSTS was a different neo-Templar order and had little to no connection to the Solar Temple, though Marsan had met Di Mambro on one occasion.[5][4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Manning, Gary (2 October 2004). "Diana book exposes conspiracy of incompetence: But, take author's claims about Solar Temple cult with a grain of salt". Telegraph-Journal. Saint John. p. 20. ISSN 0837-3736. Retrieved 11 December 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f Verlander, Helen (30 May 2004). "Diana: A never-ending story". The Sunday Age. Melbourne. p. 23. ISSN 1034-1021. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ a b c Gregory, Martyn (2010). Diana: The Last Days. Random House. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-7535-4431-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bédat, Arnaud (7 January 1998). "Grace de Monaco membre du Temple solaire? Les dessous d'un scoop bidon" [Grace of Monaco a member of the Solar Temple? Behind the scenes of a bogus scoop]. L'Illustré (in Swiss French). pp. 22–24. Retrieved 23 September 2024 – via Scriptorium.
- ^ a b c d e f Introvigne, Massimo (2000). "The Magic of Death: The Suicides of the Solar Temple". In Wessinger, Catherine (ed.). Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases. Syracuse University Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-8156-0599-7.
- ^ a b c d Bainbridge, Beryl (31 May 2004). "Dangerous liaisons". New Statesman. Vol. 17, no. 809. pp. 51–52. ISSN 1364-7431.
- ^ a b Elliot, Francis; Goodchild, Sophie; Lichfield, John (5 February 2006). "The Diana Files". The Independent. ISSN 1741-9743. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ Kurosawa, Susan (15 May 2004). "A case for conspiracy". The Weekend Australian. Canberra. p. 9. ISSN 1038-8761.
- ^ a b c Mayer, Jean-François (2014). "The Order of the Solar Temple: From Apocalypse to Court". In Richardson, James T.; Bellanger, François (eds.). Legal Cases, New Religious Movements, and Minority Faiths. Farnham; Burlington: Ashgate. p. 51–52. ISBN 978-1-4724-2874-5.
- ^ a b Frazer, Jenni (25 August 2017). "Princess Diana: Twenty years on, and the theories multiply". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "No dead certainty". Dorset Echo. 3 April 2004. ISSN 2515-852X. Retrieved 11 December 2024.