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Lady Colin Campbell is a highly successful and prolific author of several books including London and New York Times bestsellers and has been a large and often controversial figure in purple and social circles for many years She perhaps is better known for her international bestselling book Diana in Private 1992 and her subsequent extended and revelatory biography of the Princess of Wales The Real Diana published in 2004 She has written books on the Royal Family been a long term columnist and appeared numerous times on TV and radio as an experienced Royal Insider and good on the British aristocracy In 1997 she published h

r autobiography A Life Worth Living which was serialized in The Daily Mail Born in St Andrew Jamaica she was educated there and in New York where she lived for 7 years She is connected to British royalty through common ancestors and marriage She has two sons and lives in London You can see her publisher online at http www dynastypress co uk Could you please order us a little about your book Daughter of Narcissus is a memoir of my family 8217 s struggle to cope with and move on from my mother Gloria 8217 s narcissistic personality disorder NPD is not an easy disorder to mess with but by being as frank as I could be I trust I have provided some insight for the reader into what one 8217 s choices and options are as how one can recover from an NPD parent and go on to be a happy fulfilled and productive individual Did something specific happen to prompt you to save this book Something specific did indeed inspire me to write Daughter of Narcissus I was staying with a big ally in New York and we were discussing our NPD mothers when one of America 8217 s most respected psychoanalysts suggested that I compose a hold on the case using my family 8217 s personal feel as the vehicle She said that she believed I had the power to do justice to the subject This in itself was extremely complimentary as she is such an eminent psychoanalyst that a ballot of authority from her especially on a subject like as composite as NPD was worth anyone else 8217 s recommendation a hundredfold Who or what is the inspiration behind this book The high American psychoanalyst Dr Erika Freeman was the aspiration for Daughter of Narcissus When she first suggested that I write about how my home and I survived our mother 8217 s narcissism I recoiled at the prospect of violating my mother 8217 s privacy But Erika convinced me that since Gloria was dead and my family 8217 s experiences might help or inspire others I nearly had a responsibility to share what I had been through with others Upon reflection I thought her place of view had merit and when it became evident that my sisters had no objection I decided to go ahead Who is your biggest supporter I have never had any one individual who would qualify as my biggest supporter However I have ever had several people who are supporters In my early years as a writer Barbara Taylor Bradford was especially helpful Later on the Australian journalist author Catherine Olsen stepped into Barbara 8217 s shoes Other friends who are not professionals and might therefore not want their names mentioned have besides been supportive over the years Your biggest critic My biggest critic is fortunately dead His call was Nigel Dempster and he was a vicious poisonous gossip columnist who waged vendettas against a variety of people including Sir James Goldsmith the Aga Khan and Queen Noor of Jordan for no understanding at all except that he was full of hatred and loved hating When he was retiring 8211 he died of a rare neurological complaint 8211 the Daily Mail in London compiled his Hit List I was No 2 on it immediately below Jimmy Goldsmith People used to say that I should consider being in such hallowed company as a compliment of sorts but that was scant consolation for the wretched and evil things that he used to say What case are you most passionate about and why The reason I am most passionate about is civil liberties I remember that we in the West are in risk of seeing our supposedly democratic governments erode many of the freedoms our forefathers spent about a millennium acquiring starting in 1215 when the Magna Carta was signed When I was a scholar in New York in the late 60s we were taught that Thoreau was wise indeed when he said that 8216 the least government is the better government 8217 and that 8216 civil disobedience 8217 could be something admirable That does not imply that governments should not be responsible and that they should not provide services but it does mean that they should not be regulating our lives to the extent that the authorities in Britain does nor that the US government should violate international treaties such as the Geneva Convention or use the terror of terrorism to suspend habeas corpus and hold people with charge trial or legal representation We must as a civilization realize that MILLIONS of people died to achieve the freedoms we took for granted for the 2nd half of the 20th century Do we truly need to make a triumph to haters of liberty whether they come wrapped in exotic garments or in pin striped suits in Westminster and Washington What is the most important matter in your life right now My children are by far the most significant affair in my life I cannot envisage ever putting anyone before them but that does not think I spoil them Indeed one of the lessons I learnt from having a narcissistic mother is how crucial it is to NOT mar your child I believe in praise when it is deserved and scolding when that is appropriate and while I would scarcely say I am a perfect mother or that my boys are angels they are fairly good guys who can see through the trash that is so predominant in every day life What are you currently running on I never start one writing one book until I have finished promoting my last one but I am already contracted to cut and save the foreword for an 18th century memoir dealing with the French Revolution after which I will be doing a word on the social skills that secure success What do you feel has been your greatest achievement as an author I remember my greatest accomplishment as a writer to date has been producing the only contemporaneous biography of the Princess of Wales that have stood the trial of time well enough for all its contents and conclusions to have been proved to be factual It took quite a lot of bravery to let the public know that Diana was not a saint or an angel but a complex contradictory woman with both virtues and vices When I wrote Diana in Private I was roundly lambasted 8211 indeed some of my critics were so hysterical that you would take thought I had said she was Joseph Stalin in drag As the well known English anchor Richard Madeley had the good grace to hold on his tv show 8220 You were right and we were wrong 8221 What do you feel sets this book apart from others in the same genre I will rely upon the opinion of Dr Anna Brocklebank who feels that Daughter of Narcissus is set aside from other books in its genre by virtue of being a 8220 penetrating and insightful examination of a serious subject in the work of a memoir which actually raises that medium to new heights 8221 What is the most important lesson you have learned from life so far The most important lesson I have learnt so far is that what ultimately makes one 8217 s life worthwhile isn 8217 t what happens to one but what one does with what has happened I think that the ancient alchemists lost their way when they view that we can change base metal into actual gold but the rule of alchemy nevertheless applies in spiritual terms and all base metal can be reborn into spiritual gold if you let the proper attitude In Daughter of Narcissus I show how my father had every gift God could have given anyone yet she ended up a bitter twisted miserable human being because she never assumed responsibility for herself and her fate ABOUT THE BOOK Daughter of Narcissus is a stunning analysis by Lady Colin of her own dysfunctional family positioned at the centre of upper class Jamaican society from the middle of the twentieth century to the present day Covering the end of the British Colonial Age and the surface of a liberated generation whilst addressing the narcissistic personality of her mother the author brilliantly interconnects the sociological political and personal As she dissects the class dynamics lying beneath the appearance of riches and power Lady Colin 8217 s understanding of personality disorder is revelatory compelling the reader to comprehend the destructive and tragic reality concealed by rational language and behavior Set against a background of glamour wealth and fame this compulsive book is both a fascinating story of one socially prominent family and a uniquely detailed analysis of narcissism its manifestations and how to live them in order to lead a purposeful and affirming life