Giscard d'Estaing seems likely to raise eyebrows with his new novel, a 'fictional' tale of a president's love for an English princess
Giscard d'Estaing seems likely to raise eyebrows with his new novel, a 'fictional' tale of a president's love for an English princessA former French president seems likely to raise eyebrows with his new novel, a fictional tale of a president's love for an English princess.
Le Figaro newspaper, which has read the book, said the main characters appear to resemble the author, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, and the late Princess Diana.
|
|
Not So Funny: In Giscard d'Estaing's book the main characters bear resemblance to Princess Diana and him. |
Giscard d'Estaing (83), is praised for the novel's wealth of authentic detail. But analysts say he could be inviting ridicule with hints of an affair with a woman more than 30 years his junior.
In The Princess and the President, d'Estaing tells the story of fictional President Jacques-Henri Lambertye's affair with Princess Patricia of Cardiff.
u00a0
In his first-person account, President Lambertye describes the princess as "very pretty, always in the media and unhappy at home", as well as having a passion for charity work, suggesting comparisons with Diana, Princess of Wales.
"I kissed her hand and she gave me a questioning look, her slate grey eyes widening as she tilted her head gently forward," the newspaper quotes Lambertye as saying at their first meeting.
The newspaper praises the author for his knowledge of French literature. However, the novel departs from reality in at least one key detail.
