Diana, Princess of Wales, nurtured a co-dependent love and hate relationship with the press, according to a new book.
Tina Brown, the author of "The Diana Chronicles" said the Princess of Wales would often tip off the press to her whereabouts, often nurturing close relationships with members of the media.
"Diana, was always brilliant with the press," Brown told CTV's Canada AM. "She understood from very early on that unless she would win the press, she wouldn't be able to win the prince."
Brown said Diana would use this for the various photo opportunities for the humanitarian causes she championed.
"She did want some privacy, but at the same time she couldn't resist giving them the images they wanted and one of the pictures she did give them was she tipped them off that she was on a boat with Dodi (Al-Fayed) herself and said 'Take this picture of me on the boat,'" Brown said.
When she saw the photos of her and al Fayed kissing, Brown said, she called the photographer to ask "Why was that picture so grainy?"
Brown said Diana's relationship with the press -- that led her to becoming arguably the most photographed woman in the world -- was rooted in her childhood and began when she frequently posed for pictures for her amateur photographer father. According to Brown, the attention he gave her through the camera compensated for the lack of affection he otherwise showed her.
However, Diana also valued her privacy and was concerned about how her sons would handle the media attention that surrounds the Royal Family.
"I felt that her real passion was her boys. I mean that was the love of her life," Brown said, "I mean, she talked a lot about how she wanted (Prince) William particularly to be able to handle the press."
Brown said Diana wanted to emulate the model of how Jackie Onassis raised John F. Kennedy for raising Prince William.
Brown, a former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, based "The Diana Chronicles" on interviews with more than 250 people about Diana.
The book presents a different point of view of Diana than the public image she presented to the world. While Brown does capture Diana's generous and charitable side it also portrays her as manipulative and immature.
Brown herself met the Princess of Wales for lunch a month before she died in a high-speed car crash that killed Diana, Fayed, driver Henri Paul and injured her bodyguard Trevor Rees.
Brown characterized Diana's relationship with Fayed as a "romance of retaliation," because she was angry at Prince Charles over his 50th birthday celebration.
"She chose the Fayeds because she thought well, they have bodyguards, they have drivers, they have apartments with protection and a villa with a fortress kind of a gate I will be fine and I'll be safe with the Fayeds," Brown said.
"Of course the reverse turned out to be true."
