LETTER TO HILATH: What about Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed's privacy?

Dear friend,

As someone who wasn't able to finish reading your book “Diana Aai Dodi Ge Loabi” (the Dhivehi translation of “Diana & Dodi: A Love Story” written by Dodi’s personal assistant Rene Delorm) because of an inability to read lengthy books, I assume the views below would not be too fair. But after reading about a third of it I would like to share some thoughts.

Having a lack of interest in following the luxurious lives of famous people, I was finding it hard to continue reading the book with its elaborate descriptions of Dodi's lavish life. 

And being unable to enjoy the romantic genre, it felt squeamish to read in detail about Princess Diana and Dodi's romantic meetings because it was real, something very private, and not fictitious. 

While reading it, I felt their privacy was being invaded very much and I was wondering whether is it not ironic that their private and secluded meetings at home and on the yacht were given in such detail when it was the one thing that Princess Diana most wanted to avoid while alive. 

I felt the narration, although done after their death, was a betrayal to Princess Diana's most profound wishes. Relying on my limited knowledge and vague memory of Princess Diana's life, I had the impression that a very important thing she wanted in her life was privacy, and here, Rene had laid it bare for the world to know.

It is understandable so many people in the world would wish to know the exact details that are brought in the book and that it is a price famous people have to pay in this world that their privacy is exploited in so many ways.

On the other hand, for people who really want to know about real-life love stories, the book might feel like a treasure with so many privy details. Some might even be inspired by such a book, giving them hope about acquiring love in their later years of life after having previous bitter experiences.

Since it's a translation, it can obviously contain only what was written in English. But somehow, it is captivating to read it in the (Maldivian native) Dhivehi language as well. So for those who are romantics, the book could be hard to put down once they start reading it. The book reflects hard work in trying to bring a thorough translation. No doubt it would be a very valuable book for those who cannot get/read the English books they want.

Upto the part I've read, the only thing that I found out of place was when 'Mr. Dodi' and 'kaley' is used in one sentence for the same person because 'Mr' is respectful and 'kaley' doesn't sound so.

Maybe I'll have a different view about the book if I can get myself to finish reading it. It could even give me another perspective to their whole relationship or give me more insight into why Rene thought of writing such a book while he was one of the people in a position to most deeply understand Dodi and Princess Diana's way of life.

Anyhow, we should never judge a book by its cover and especially never judge a book without reading it to the end either.

Sincerely yours,

XX