One of my "guilty pleasures" is reading gossipy "royalty" biographies, dealing in the sorrows and tribulations of the exceedingly privileged. This story of the life of Mrs. Frances Shand Kydd, mother of Diana, grandmother of William and Harry of Wales, is a good example of that genre. It is written with the subject's co-operation, and, not surprisingly, is sympathetic to her perspective. It does help one's understanding of modern British history, I believe, to grasp the fact that the upper classes of Britain have a long heritage of rotten child-rearing practices. ( )