Ten Years Later
Today marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Diana Spencer, the ex-Princess of Wales. When she died I was only 16 and not a monarchist. I do however remember thinking that people were overreacting to her death. When Mother Teresa of Calcutta died shortly thereafter, I was deeply angered how her death was overshadowed by Diana; when people did happen to talk about Mother Teresa, they would compare her to Diana. An ex-princess and adulteress is comparable to a living saint?
Now ten years later and a monarchist, my views of Diana have not changed much. The British people, and indeed the whole world, entered into a kind of mass hysteria at her death. She was supposedly the "people's princess," yet more than any other member of the British royal family--to steal a line from the movie The Queen--seemed bent on destroying what the royal family had; that family gave everything to her and she threw it back in their faces. Diana was always an awkward Princess of Wales; she never knew how to function properly within a thousand-yer-old institution. Would Charles have been better off had he never married Diana? I personally think so.
Diana Spencer was a human being, and her death a tragedy. But she was also not a good Princess of Wales, always seeking the spotlight, always drawing attention away from her Sovereign and mother-in-law the Queen. The royal wedding may have been a fairy tale come true, but the marriage was not. Ten years later it's time to let the dead rest, and leave the past in the past.
4 comments:
Man is called to love his wife as Christ loves his Church.
Point taken. However my approach to Diana was rather Machiavellian; I was trying to make the point that she was over-rated as both a Princess of Wales and as a person. But I concede your point--it is disputable, however, if Charles ever loved her, before or after she became his wife.
I suspect that Charles started out loving her. Unfortunatley their personalties pulled them apart. She loved the limelight and couldn't live without the endless streams of adoring men. Pretty soon some of them found their way into her bed. It is rumoured that harry is not, in fact, Charles' son. With his wife's seeking fulfilment elsewhere, Charles rekindled his relationship with Camilla. And the rest, as they say, is History.
I am a Monarchist Scot, founder member of the Edinburgh University Monarchist Society and a retired Officer in Her Majestry's Land Forces
Being a Catholic, and quite monarchist-inclined myself, I find your blog very interesting.
Do you know about Queen Astrid of Belgium? She was the original "Queen of Hearts," a title later applied to Diana. But Astrid really was a Queen of Hearts; a gracious, great-hearted woman, a devoted wife and mother, and beloved Queen. She was born a Princess of Sweden, and hence was raised as a Lutheran, but converted to Catholicism after marrying into the Belgian royal family, from conviction, however, ( ie. not just for political expediency ). She also died tragically in a car accident. You can read more here ( it's an amazing story! ).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrid_of_the_Belgians
Best wishes,
Mary
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