For those of you who do not know me, I was born in 1997 – a year that boasts some of the world’s biggest stories: Titanic hits the cinemas as the most expensive film of all time, Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule and O.J Simpson is found liable in civil suit. However, for me, the most shocking story of 1997 was the death of Princess Diana.
2018 marks the 21st anniversary of Diana’s death and yet she remains as inspiring and influential as ever. This article is dedicated the works and passions of Princess Diana, how she helped to shape modern day culture and how she posed as a beacon of light for those suffering from mental health issues.
A Young Diana
Lady Diana Frances Spencer was born on July 1st, 1961 to the 8th Earl Spencer and his first wife, Frances Spencer. For her first few years, Diana lived a relatively quiet life within an elite circle of noblemen. However, in 1969, Diana’s parents suffered from an incredibly bitter divorce that hit the tabloid headlines. Diana’s family home was never to be the same as she stood and watched her own mother leave.
Growing up, Diana did not particularly excel at school; regarded as an academically below-average student, Diana failed all of her O-level examinations and left school at the age of 16 with little qualifications. During this time, Diana’s older sister – Lady Sarah – was dating her future husband, Prince Charles.
Outside of school, Diana was described as an excellent amateur singer who also demonstrated a talent for sports. Prior to her ‘humanitarian career’ as a princess, Diana reportedly longed to be a ballerina – she was as innocent and naïve as any young girl would be. Unbeknown to her, Diana was to grow into one of the world’s most adored role-models of all time.
Engaged at the mere age of 19 and married at 20, Diana lived a very short childhood – she was expected to become a woman much sooner than the average teenage girl. This, we can only imagine, must have been a difficult role to assume, especially since Diana had very little experience as a royal. In a sense, Diana was thrown in at the deep-end and was expected to learn how to swim overnight.
A ‘Fairytale’ Wedding
During his twenties and thirties, Prince Charles’s love life had long been a subject of press speculation. Charles had been linked to numerous women and was subjected to increasing pressure from the Royal family to marry. However, Prince Charles was to have very little say in who he were to marry – in fact, such a candidate was required to have an aristocratic background, be Protestant, previously un-married and a virgin. Diana was able to fill all of such requirements and thus remained a desirable candidate.
On February 24th, 1981, Buckingham Palace officially announced the engagement of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, despite the fact that the two had only gone on a total of twelve dates. During this time, Diana was working as an assistant at the Young England Kindergarten in Pimlico, London (a very prestigious nursery/kindergarten). Prior to this, Charles was dating his sweetheart love, Camilla Parker Bowles, but was forced to end this relationship due to her age, sexual promiscuity and lack of aristocratic lineage. This previous relationship was to cause a lot of distress for Diana and Charles’ marriage.
On Wednesday 29thJuly 1981, the royal Wedding took place at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. 3,500 guests were invited (including Camilla Parker Bowles and her husband). Moreover, an estimated 1 billion people around the world tuned in to watch the wedding on their television screens. At this point, the royal wedding was the ‘most watched’ event ever (even more than the moon landing).
Pictured below is Diana on her wedding day, sporting an dramatic white dress decorated with an extravagant amount of ruffles. To those watching at home, this wedding felt like such a dream, such a fairytale story – how lucky Diana must have been to be marrying a prince! The whole set up was incredibly romantic and replicated that of a fairytale. However, we must learn to never judge a book by its cover.
In the June of 1982, Diana gave birth to Prince William of Wales. Prince Henry (commonly known as Prince Harry) was later born in September 1984.
Diana’s Heartbreak
During the 1980’s, Diana’s marriage to Charles fell apart. Sensationalised by the media, Diana and Charles’ failed marriage was released to the world; both ex-lovers secretly communicated with the press about the failure of their marriage, constantly blaming each other for range of problems.
In 1995, Diana shocked the royal family by sitting down with BBC’s Martin Bashir for a tell-all interview; Diana was not afraid to fight against the ‘picture perfect’ image that the royal family had painted for her. Diana had revealed that once the media had begun to pay more attention to her than her royal husband, the marriage had begun to go south. Diana had claimed that such a thing “can make a proud man, a proud man like my husband, get upset”, even to the point where Charles had argued that the two of them should attend events separately. This claim later brought Prince Charles a lot of negative attention – it seemed that he had always viewed Diana as the eighteen-year-old girl that he had married.
Diana also revealed that she had received very little support from the royal family during her post-partum depression. “I felt like I was the first person ever in the royal family to openly cry and nobody knew what to do,” she said. “If you haven’t seen it before, how do you support it?”. Diana also claimed that her depression gave the royal family a “wonderful new label” to plaster her with. Many had said “Diana is unstable, Diana is mentally unbalanced”. Such negative – yet needless – labels stuck to her during her marriage with Charles. Furthermore, Diana also revealed that during her depression she would hurt her arms and legs and even suffered from severe bulimia. As a young woman attempting to assimilate into royal life, whilst also trying to be the best mother possible for her children, Diana suffered from a lot of pressures. Such a toxic married life was so heart-breaking for Diana; ever since her mother had walked on her as a child, all Diana ever wanted was a loving husband to hold her and a loving family with whom she would love with all her heart.
It was also revealed that during their marriage, Charles was engaged in a serious affair with his ex-lover, Camilla Parker Bowles. Diana claimed that this caused her bulimia to spiral. Moreover, Diana had very little people to confide in whilst trapped within the castle walls. Although Diana did have many courtiers – most of them were friends with Charles and thus would take Charles’ side. Diana had even claimed that such ‘friends’ had claimed that she “needed to be placed in some sort of home to get better”. Such isolation must have been unbearable. Below is Prince Charles and his second wife: Camilla Parker Bowles
Despite this, Diana had confessed that both of them were to blame and confessed to having an affair with James Hewitt. However, despite all of this, Diana’s main focus was to protect her children – she did not want them to live as a broken family and so decided against a divorce (despite her miserable married life). Diana did not wish to ‘shoot down’ the royal family as such and, as a loving mother, Diana put all her love to her children: “I will fight for my children on any level in order for them to be happy and have peace of mind and carry out their duties.”
Diana as a Mother
As a royal, one is opened to a whole new world of advantages. However, as young royals, William and Harry would have difficulty in understanding the outside world. Diana – despite all her heartache – would make sure that her boys had a fun upbringing that also taught them life skills. Diana would take the boys to theme parks and would even walk them to school. Moreover, Diana even took William and Harry to various homeless shelters, to teach them about real life. This alone makes Diana an iconic young lady who constantly fought against the expectations of royal life.
Diana’s passions and charitable work can still be seen today in her sons. Not only are William and Harry changing the monarchy for modern society, but they also know how to communicate with common people and have an understanding of what it is like to live outside of royalty; they have their mother’s empathy.
It can also be seen that Diana had also taught her sons how to have fun. The legendary Freddie Mercury also confessed to sneaking Diana into a gay bar, dressed as a man! Below is a snap of Diana and her boys:
Diana as a Humanitarian
Throughout her life, Diana was viewed as a rebel – her work with those suffering from AIDS and those living in areas awash with landmines reflects this rebellious outlook.
Princess Diana helped the modern world to understand HIV and AIDS as a disease and how it affects people emotionally and physically. During the 80s, HIV and AIDS were viewed under a complete negative light; in 1985, it was found that 50% of readers of the Los Angeles Times favoured quarantining people with AIDS. Today, such a belief seems highly un-educated and remarkable – yet is was Diana herself who educated the world on this: “HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them hug, heaven knows they need it!”
During the late 80’s, Diana shocked the world when she was snapped touching a person who had AIDS without wearing any gloves. Diana challenged the irrational public fear of HIV and AIDS by using her platform; if a member of the royal family was able to shake the hand of someone with AIDS, so can anyone else, anywhere!
Furthermore, during a trip to Angola in 1997 (a few months before her death) Diana became an ambassador and advocate for the anti-landmine activists. During this trip, Diana was filmed walking through a recently cleared minefield for a BBC documentary. Once again, Diana was able to use her platform in order to better others. Diana was seen as an educator: . “I’d read the statistics that Angola has the highest percentage of amputees anywhere in the world…that one person in every 333 had lost a limb, most of them through land mine explosions. But that hadn’t prepared me for reality.”
More than two decades later, Diana’s commitment to mine clearance is as prominent as ever; Prince Harry is now the patron of The HALO Trust, which recently called for the world to become free of such weapons by 2025.
Diana was also a patron of Centerpoint – a homeless centre in London – from 1992 until her death in 1997. It was at this particular homeless centre that Diana had previously taken the princes to. Today, Prince William follows his mother’s footsteps as a patron of Centrepoint. His charity work extends his mother’s education: “My mother introduced that sort of area to me a long time ago. It was a real eye-opener and I am very glad she did. It has been something I have held close to me for a long time.”
Moreover, after revealing the secrets behind her broken marriage, Diana had made the topic of mental illness as open as ever. Members of the public now felt that they had a reason to voice their cries for help and accept their own mental struggles. Today, William and Harry have their own charity for mental health – Heads Together – in memory of their devoted mother.
Due to Diana’s hard work and passion for helping others, she was came to be known as ‘the people’s princess’. Diana had definitely earned this title; during her life, Diana was president or patron of more than 100 different charities, working across a range of important and serious issues.
I hope that you, as a reader, have come to know Princess Diana – not for her royal title or for her heart-breaking death, but for her love and compassion for others.
Image sources:
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