We’re coming up on the 25th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death. All summer, there have been stories about Diana, books about Diana, documentaries about Diana. It’s been a huge bummer. How I felt about Diana when she died in 1997 is not the way I feel about her now. In 1997, she had already been the most famous woman in the world for the better part of two decades. She seemed so grown-up, so glamorous, so tragic, but (at that point) so free. Twenty-five years later, I think about how young she was when she married Charles, and how young she was when she died, how she was still at the whims of that evil f–king family. I think more about her legacy and memory and how her legacy has been coopted and misappropriated by all of the worst f–king people. So, that’s the People Magazine cover story this week – how her death affected everyone in her life. Some highlights:
Princess Diana was starting a new chapter following her divorce from Prince Charles, but her life was tragically cut short on Aug. 31, 1997, when a car accident killed her and two others, Dodi Al Fayed and driver Henri Paul. She was 36.
“There are very few moments like those in history. I remember where I was in every tiny detail when I heard about Diana,” says royal biographer Ingrid Seward, who knew Diana personally. “It affected everybody.”
Andrew Morton, Diana’s biographer, says that despite Prince Charles’ many achievements as the longest-serving Prince of Wales, his first marriage will “always haunt him.”
“Just as Henry VIII is remembered for his six wives, Prince Charles is remembered for his first wife,” Morton says. “It will always haunt him. His life has been defined by his marriage.”
Harry, now 37, has called himself “my mother’s son,” keeping her presence close through his charitable causes and his own family. “Harry has made it perfectly clear that every decision he has made he refers upstairs to his mother,” says Morton. “His decision to go to America—he felt she was watching over him and giving him the thumbs-up.”
The public’s blame largely fell on Camilla and her affair with Prince Charles. However, the pair married in 2005, and Queen Elizabeth announced her desire for Camilla to be known as “Queen Consort” when Prince Charles takes the throne.
“Her life has turned around perhaps more than anybody else’s,” says Morton. “Diana’s death has put her right in the constitutional center of Britain.”
I think Charles would have always married Camilla, but the reaction to his remarriage would have been vastly different had Diana lived. The most affected people would be, without a doubt, her two sons. Royal commentators are always starting sh-t like “Diana would have loved Kate and hated Meghan” or what have you – one of my personal theories is that if Diana had survived, the Middletons wouldn’t have even been in the picture. Carole and Kate wouldn’t have been able to work over William that way, and Diana would have politely told Carole to f–k all the way off. Now, does it follow that Diana would have liked Meghan? I’m not sure about that either, but Diana would have loved the fact that Harry protected his wife in the way no one ever protected her (Diana).
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- HRH PRINCESS OF WALES (HRH Princess Diana) Seen at the 1995 Wimbledon Tennis Championships. COMPULSORY CREDIT: Talking Sport/Photoshot Photo UGL 009812/G-04a 09.07.1995,Image: 501805420, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries call Photoshot Global HQ – London + 44 (0)20 7421 6000 , also New York Office Tel : + 1 646-429-8731 and Hamburg Office Tel +49 (0)40 530 240 5959, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photoshot / Avalon
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- DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES Visiting the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu Temple in Neasden, North London. Wearing a garland of flowers. COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot Photo UG 013280/E 06.06.1997,Image: 502657612, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries call Photoshot Global HQ – London + 44 (0)20 7421 6000 , also New York Office Tel : + 1 646-429-8731 and Hamburg Office Tel +49 (0)40 530 240 5959, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photoshot / Avalon
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- DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES At Northwick Park and St Mark’s Hospital, Harrow to open the new Children’s Ambulatory Care Centre COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot Photo UIW 013520/B-08 21.07.1997,Image: 502739184, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries call Photoshot Global HQ – London + 44 (0)20 7421 6000 , also New York Office Tel : + 1 646-429-8731 and Hamburg Office Tel +49 (0)40 530 240 5959, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photoshot / Avalon
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- Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, visit Canada Diana is wearing a Catherine Walker suit and a hat by Graham Smith at Kangol City Hall, Prince George, British Columbia,Image: 513291383, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: John Shelley Collection / Avalon
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- HRH PRINCESS OF WALES (HRH Princess Diana). Seen at the VJ Day Celebrations. With Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales,Image: 526293424, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries call London + 44 (0)20 7421 6000 , New York + 1 646-329-6242 or Hamburg + 49 (0)40 530 240 5959, Model Release: no, Credit line: RK / Avalon
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- Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, visit West Wales At Rhydyronen station on the Talyllyn Railway Diana’s coat dress is made of tan coloured checked wool with brown leather cuffs and collar and was designed by designer Arabella Pollen.,Image: 549311926, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: John Shelley Collection / Avalon
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- Diana, Princess of Wales, visits Liverpool Cathedral,Image: 552324728, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: John Shelley Collection / Avalon
That poor woman selling magazines even in death, I hope she is resting in peace in a heaven without the royal family, with pop music and nice clothes and looking down on her grandchildren with a smile on her face.
That was EXACTLY my first thought: they’re STILL using her to sell magazines.
For all the talk about Harry and Meghan ruining the monarchy…if the most compelling person in the monarchy has been dead for 25 years, the monarchy was in trouble anyways.
^^^^This right here.^^^^
@Shazbot, EXACTLY
@Lemon Diana’s up there with Gianni Versace and George Michael. I think she’s good with clothes and music 🙂
Um, the woman really couldn’t take a bad picture but the one they chose here is not the most flattering? The colors they chose for the font aren’t very complimentary either. I know Diana covers always sell but don’t be so lazy.
I think the perspective we have on her life will keep changing. People grow older and give less of a f*ck. I think once Charles’ generation of royals dies or gets up there in age, the press will care less and less.
Diana would have loved Meghan. She’s a woman of color (and we know Diana was drawn to women of color because she sensed they understood the intense social control she was often subjected to better). She’s an actual Hollywood actress, which we know Diana was crazy about. She’s into charities/philanthropy, which…I mean. They’re VERY similar in terms of interest and worldview, so I think they would have either been friends or at least allies.
Kate is manipulative and emotionally sophisticated (like Camilla) which is why she was able to “snag” William (fawning over him and refusing to stop clinging to him) the exact same way Camilla did with Charles. I think that would have repulsed Diana, the idea that history would repeat itself that way. Besides, Kate only wanted William because she wanted to become the “new Diana”. Wouldn’t have made any sense if the OG was still around.
I agree with everything you’ve said but if Harry hadn’t experienced unimaginable trauma at age 11, he might have been very different. He was still the spare and took abuse on that account, but overall with a doting mother and generally happy life, he might have been content in his world and never had the chance to meet a woman like Meghan before marrying an English aristo. (Now, on the rebound from his divorce after producing the requisite children, who knows?)
Yeah its a hard game to play, so to speak, bc if Diana had lived everything would have been very different for those boys. I agree with others that there would have been no Kate (and if the Middletons had tried anyway Diana would have shut that down fast), but I think its trickier with Harry. I think Diana would have loved Meghan but would Harry have ever met her? Harry’s whole life would have been so different, he likely would not have founded Sentebale, and while he may have joined the military I doubt he would have felt the need to push to go to Afghanistan, which changed so much for him, etc.
I don’t think Diana would have had to do much if anything to stop the Middletons. If Carol still played up the pseudo maternal figure, William would have seen it as weird and off putting and may have broken up with Kate early on. Although the Middletons would have probably used a different tactic If Diana was still alive.
Had Diana lived, there might have been many other women willing to marry Square Peg, Her tragic end might very well have played a part in young women’s apprehension about becoming a part of that that whole terrible family. Diana herself would have helped ease the women in and told them the truth and how to navigate the disgusting Royal system. Oh, and Square Peg might not have been allowed to grow up a raging, narcissistic butthole.
I also think she would have liked Meghan.
They’re both can-do women who love to help people.
No question that played a part in aristo women steering clear of the RF. I still think Wills had plenty of options besides Kate if he had been courting outside the aristo world. Kate was only there for having shoe horned her way in.
Good lord, 25 years. Morton is right, his first marriage will be one of the defining aspects of Charles’ legacy. It’s been 25 years and Diana is still haunting the royal family. they thought people had forgotten but as it turns out, people haven’t, and thanks to the Crown, people who weren’t around for those years now know about it.
One of the funniest things is how gen Z women have taken her side.
The story of how the much older prince married the young girl and treated her like shit hasn’t aged well. At all.
All these young women with expectations of equality and dignity in the world world. What’s a man from an ancient world to do?
Just as a side note…It really bugs me that People plays all sides when it comes to the royals. When it comes to Diana, she will haunt Charles for the rest of his life. I’m glad there’s the occasional reminder that she may be gone but the world hasn’t forgotten.
Now I don ‘t want to tarnish Diana’s memory and I’m not buying the crazy Diana stories Clarence wants us to believe. However, I do think had she survived that she would have been incredibly possessive over both William and Harry. I do think William would remain largely the same. He’d have married Kate and there would be constant stories over Diana being at constant war with Carol(e) and Kate and ultimately she’d have fallen out with William when he became too much like Charles. That path was already being laid at the time of her accident. I think Harry never would have taken on royal work in the first place. I think Diana would have mama beared Eton into figuring out his dyslexia a lot quicker and he’d gone to university rather than the military. Had she made the move to California, I think it’s possible Harry would have lived with her full-time when he came of age. Nor do I think he would have ever had any issues with drugs or alcohol.
ITA, Diana’s death was the defining event of Harry’s life up until his marriage. Had she lived, his journey might have been very, very different. But William’s character was already well-defined at the time of his mother’s death—the selfishness and anger we see today already documented—and his path forward as an heir inescapable. I think he would still have been targeted by Middletons and still have gravitated toward them because his resentment of both his parents for their divorce publicity was so great.
But why would William have been susceptible to Carole’s surrogate mummy routine if he had a doting mother? Wills May still have been difficult and entitled, but I don’t think the Middletons would’ve stood a chance.
@BettyRose Carol(e) would have simply been everything Diana wasn’t. I honestly think her job would have been easier had Diana lived. Carol(e) and Kate would have simply given William a much closer version to a normal life. It would have been competitive but it would be all about “giving William the love and care he never got from his parents but totally deserved.”
Lets not forget that bizarre story around the time of the statue unveiling where it pretty much said that Diana was a bad mother and Carol(e) was the mother Peggy never had – it was a Middleton approve piece in retaliation for Khate not being allowed to attend the event.
But she wasn’t a bad mother? She was young, chronologically and emotionally, but their material and educational needs were more than met. All she had to do was love them unconditionally. Don’t we believe did that?
It should not be forgotten that Carole put down Diana which imo was super tacky while Uncle Gary put down Charles by saying Will and Kate should be next.
Diana said she told her sons when they find love to hold onto it. I believe she was sincere. Diana would have wanted LOTS of times with her grandchildren. I don’t see her as a domineering mother in law, not in the least. I think though Kate’s laziness would have tried her patience.
I don’t trust People as of late and their commentary on anything. I cannot believe that it has been 25 years now. I will never forget that late night and finding out she and Dodi were killed. It was even mention at church service the next day. Many in the congregation were truly affected and in tears. What a impact she made and continues to make.
I agree with Kaiser that Diana would be supporting Harry’s decision to protect his wife.
I believe Dodi El Fayed’s fathers claims about the accident. QE2 and her men in gray think they’re gonna get away with this. Well they better think again… ’cause Karma can be a real Bi+@h!
Oh, without a doubt, Diana would have put the kibosh on the Middletons with the quickness. And she might not have even had to, because there would have been no missing Mummy void to fill.
William would still be an upperclass prick, but he probably wouldn’t have gone off the deep end into pure evil. And might have actually accomplished something of significance with Diana’s encouragement. Instead of living a fallow existence.
It is unfortunate that Diana’s name will always be tied to Dodi Fayed. I believe he was a summer distraction and not a romance, on her part.
Being such a close friend of hers, right? 🙄
A long time friend of Diana said this in an interview after the crash, to refute the claim they were engaged. I agree with her assessment that this was not a serious relationship.
@Dee – No need to be snippy. One of Diana’s closest friends, Rosa Monckton, said that Diana told her she was definitely NOT marrying Dodi, that he was just a bit of fun. She remarked to her that she “needed a new marriage like a bad rash on my face.”
Yeah I think so to. I suspect she was still figuring things out and trying to find her way..
Summer romance or not, she seemed to care for him and him her. Why is it unfortunate? What a choice of words on your part. And tbh Dodi isn’t talked about enough. He had family and friends who loved him too. Interesting that you speak of a man of color in this manor.
I doubt Diana would have rushed into a second marriage about a year after the divorce. She may have been fond of Dodi, but I think she would have declined his proposal but may have wanted to just date him for the time being.
@girl_ninja thank you so much for articulating that. The original statement was so unnecessarily rude to the deceased, whose only crime appears to have been tryjng to use his immense wealth to give Diana the protection the RF had stripped her of. Whether or not he was her “true love”, their relationship KILLED him and ruined his father’s life. Be respectful of that.
While it’s crass for People to monetize Diana yet again, this along with all the books and documentaries about Diana recently serve to remind everyone (or inform those too young to remember) what an impactful life she managed to craft IN SPITE of Charles and the Firm, and how horribly she was treated by them. All at the brink of Charles’ and Camilla’s ascension.
Gone too soon 😔
I am hoping Camilla and Charles have more of a wait for their ascension.
I agree that Diana would have loved Meghan. I also believe she would have been besties with Doria, who shared an interest in yoga with her. I have a mental picture of the two of them walking arm-in-arm and laughing.
I don’t think William would have married Kate. Diana would have seen though CarolE’s machinations and would have discouraged that relationship.
I’m firmly in the train of if she had lived Khate and her family would have not gotten close to William. Unlike Peggy she could spot a user a mile off and would have chased that lot off at the gate. William would still have been a assh0le but am not sure he would have been quite like what he has become.
I think Harry would have still married an American – Diana wanted them to attend University there so there would have still been that connection.
I think Diana would have told William off if he tried to tell Harry to slow down. She loved both her sons, and even when they were small she was in there pitching for Harry when William started badly behaving to his brother.
I used to worship Diana! Since her death, I have learned more of Diana’s flaws and have a better idea of who she was as a complex individual.
Had their mother lived, H & W would have likely turned out very differently, perhaps ending up with women completely different from Meghan and Kate. I’ll bet Diana would have loved being a grandmother! Although, can you imagine the christening photos with both Camilla and Diana in them? I still can’t believe it has been 25 years…
BUt since her death, Charles and Camilla’s sympathizers (Ingrid and Penny) did go in for IMO Gaslighting. The “flaws” that they said she had could not be defended by Diana. She was not around to defend herself. Diana admitted she had flaws which is why I liked her, she did not get pretentious like William and Kate and all the spin that they are “perfect.” I don’t think Camilla would have been front and center at the christenings had Diana lived. Likewise, if Diana had remarried, her second husband would not be prominent. There may have been photos of Charles and Diana with their children and grandchildren. I don’t think Diana wanted to be worshipped;. My take on it.
I love you, Princess Diana!
Wow I can’t believe it’s been 25 years. I don’t think there’s been anyone like her since..
Diana was a complex character and I suspect she might have found ageing difficult.
It’s hard being one of the most worshipped women in the world and having to ‘take a backseat’- it is sadly no surprise that beautiful women who die brutally in their prime become icons.
I also suspect she might have been an overprotective and dare I say overbearing mother in law.
I disagree. She would have been a stabilizing balance to William and Harry. I doubt William would have gotten away with so much and gotten above himself had Diana been around. She would not have hesitated to tell William to back off when he tried to interfere in Harry’s relationship with Meghan. I think she would have had more of a Jackie vibe. Jackie was a grandmother when she died and got to see her children become adults and see her grandchildren. I think Diana would have aged gracefully. Diana would have been proactive and continued her work–she probably would have advised William to take a semester in the US and discouraged him from being isolated at St. Andrews. I don’t think she’d be overbearing. I t hink Kate’s lack of work ethic would have tried Diana’s patience. IMO anyway.
I’m not sure about stabilising. Towards the end of her life she was quite mercurial, there were stories about cutting off friends and relatives, and in her own words she had an unhealthy co-dependent relationship with William in particular.
She had wonderful qualities but she was also very brittle, and no wonder considering her childhood and disastrous marriage.
Everything you’ve written about her was what Charles and the Royals were putting forth to oppose everything she wanted to do. She was not “co-dependent”, this was invented to make Charles’s mistress Tiggy Legge-Bourke justified in trashing her to the press and put forth by paid shills like Penny Junor through stories that were invented – and from people like Piers Morgan who insist William knew all about her affairs. She could make inappropriate jokes sometimes but the idea she treated William like a boyfriend is from Charles and palace shills.
She wasn’t mercurial so much as they were doing the exact same thing to her as they tried to do to Meghan and she didn’t have anyone in her corner to help her as she tried to break free. She wasn’t manipulating, she was manipulated.
Did she make mistakes sometimes? Absolutely. But the image of her as flighty, unrealistic, inappropriate, temper tantrum throwing, paranoid, petty – that was palace PR.
Diana did not have an unhealthy relationship to overconfident to William for one thing Diana and will hardly just sat home she had her friends and her work and he was away at school her close friends were her confidants including Elsa bowker and Caroline Bartholomew
Diana learned that Charles friends were not her friends and found out they were lending their homes to c and c for trysts she dropped them and had her own circle of close friends she had until her death she wisely dropped people who were false friends
HandforthParish, your comment shows how well Chuck’s PR campaign through the bm was received by those who wanted to believe what was written. Those of us who were old enough to pay attention were much better able to sort the chaff from the wheat. Andrew Morton’s book will always be the definitive biography of Di’s life. She is the one who gave him all of the information for the book.
How in the world would you be able to talk about how Di would age? Does anyone know what her thoughts were about aging? That’s quite the leap.
Chuck & Co can try to throw the Panorama interview out the window, but it doesn’t matter. All of it is out there. Diana told her own story to Morton and to Bashir. What I find interesting is that you’ve swallowed everything that Chuck’s PR machine spewed.
Actually I remember watching the Panorama interview back in the day (I seem to remember the whole of the UK was watching it! We had a watching party at the time) and I was quite shocked at how dismissive of the way her divorce impacted her children- in fact she said something to the effect of ‘they weren’t concerned, it only involved Charles and I, the boys were out of it’ which might have been true geographically (they were at boarding school) but clealry not emotionally.
She was also quite dismissive of her lovers’ wives, and was cited as the other party in the divorce of the English rugby captain Will Carling, which was a huge scandal at the time.
Diana, as mentioned, was a troubled person and I do think years of abuse and gaslighting throughout her early life (I am including her childhood as both her dad and brother were arseholes and her mum had left the family home) and marriage had left her mercurial and not necessarily ‘stable’- I don’t mean that as an attack.
25 years and they haven’t learned a single effing thing.
Sigh. Not a damn thing.
“Diana would have politely told Carole to f–k all the way off.”
No, she wouldn’t have been polite about it. If we could see alternative history we would be absolutely tickled by Diana’s backhanded comments to Carole. Possibly a jab at her middle class-ness a la what she said to Sophie about her Marks and Spencer skirt.
What was the comment to Sophie? It it is dismissive comments about her outfit that’s horrible.
Sounds very similar to the ‘doors to manual’ snobby insults heaped on CMiddleton in the early days.
Those are never deserved.
I’m skeptical of that story for a lot of reasons. It smacks of the same gaslighting they did to Diana about Tiggy Legge-Bourke – the reporting of an insult that was framed to look like a horrible petty snipe but actually was the result of information Diana was getting from all sides. The subsequent PR about it was similar: “Sophie’s view was that of the rest of the royals, that Diana was manipulative and conniving”. Was she? At this time they were doing absolutely everything in their power to make her look unhinged, petty, spiteful, inappropriate as a mother. Making her look like a terror to the new malleable younger member marrying in was another perfect way to do it.
Sophie made very critical comments about the royals to that fake sheikh, she is not one to criticize, IMO.
Seward was no friend of Diana. After Diana died, she wrote those books where she went in for Gaslighting of Diana. Diana was put on a lot of Majesty Magazine covers for Seward. Seward is not one to speak about Diana.
I think Diana wanted to be first in her sons lives. I don’t think she would have really like anyone. She would have been kind & gracious but she would have been a hard MiL to deal with. She had a lot of issues. Now If she had found happiness in her own personal life, then maybe she would have been a great MIL but sadly we will never know. I do believe, & always will, that the Dodi fling was to make Hasnat Khan jealous. Which makes the whole situation all the more tragic.
That’s the point I was trying to make.
Dian had never been the first in anyone’s life- she was an unwanted daughter and then an unwanted wife, her boys were her only unconditional love.
It’s hard to live up to.