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QUEEN OF HEARTS
Born in 1961, Lady Diana Spencer was the daughter of the eighth Earl Spencer. After a long association with the Windsor Family, Diana married Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, on 29 July 1981. Her first son William was born on 21 June 1982, and her second son Henry (Harry) was born on 15 September 1984.
When Diana was first introduced to the public in 1981 she was just 19 years old. Young, beautiful and unaffected, she was immediately popular with the British public, who had long felt alienated from the aloof, old-fashioned royal family.
Diana was someone with whom the public could feel a strong affinity, due to her "estuary" accent, and her former unassuming position as a Nursery School teacher. Within weeks of the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, the press began to follow Diana's every move. Daily, the British tabloids were covered with her photograph - both the "official" pictures associated with her new role, and the illicitly taken photos of her in her private life. A photo of Diana guaranteed sales of newspapers and magazines; and earned the photographer huge sums of money. And not just in Britain. Diana's picture appeared in publications all over the world. By the 1990's, she was "the most photographed woman in the world".
During the next eight years reports began to filter through the press that Diana and Charles were not happy. Diana, suffering under the stress of intense media scrutiny, had developed an eating disorder, and other psychological problems.
In June 1992 Andrew Morton's book, "Diana: Her True Story" said that Charles had had a longstanding relationship with a married woman, Camilla Parker Bowles. Further press stories suggested that Diana was also having an affair.
In December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced to Parliament that Charles and Diana were separating, but that they had no plans for a divorce. Between 1992 and 1996 the media continued to hound Diana. On November 20, 1995 Diana conducted an interview on BBC's program "Panorama" in an attempt to answer questions and quell rumours.
In February 1996 Diana and Charles agreed to a divorce which became final on 28 August 1996.
During her years as the wife to Britain's future king, Diana patronised numerous charities, most notably campaigning for AIDS sufferers and children's charities. Her personal style differed markedly from that of the other royals. She went out of her way to break down barriers, often kissing and holding sick people.
In the year following her divorce, she became a vociferous opponent to landmines. Largely due to her involvement in the anti-landmines campaign, governments in many countries have begun negotiations to minimise or end landmine use.
Almost exactly one year after her divorce, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. Her companion Dodi Fayed, and the driver of her car, were also killed. They had been involved in a high speed car crash as they tried to escape a group of seven "paparazzi" photographers. Immediately following the accident, politicians, writers and cultural critics condemned the "aggressive intrusion" into Diana's privacy by the press. Despite the fact that the driver of Diana's car was legally drunk at the time, public consensus blamed the accident on the paparazzi's ruthless pursuit for photographs.
Within hours of her death, public tributes to Diana began pouring into Buckingham Palace. British newspapers devoted up to two thirds of available space to stories about Diana, and newspapers in nearly every country in the world, also headlined the tragedy. Diana's funeral, a week after her death, was attended by over a million people, and watched live on television by an estimated one billion people worldwide. Six weeks after the accident, English newspapers everywhere still carried stories relating to her life and death.
Like so many iconic (and tragic) figures of the Twentieth Century, including Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Grace of Monacco, Diana's popularity is difficult to explain. For many British people, disenchanted with the Monarchy, she represented the opportunity for the royal family to establish a new role in contemporary society.
Many people were simply fascinated by her youthful beauty and celebrity status. However, she was much more than just a pretty face. Her genuine compassion, as exhibited by her voluminous charity work, coupled with her own personal vulnerability, made her a role model for many people, male and female.
In many ways, her life represented the contradictions and challenges faced by women everywhere. Particularly women in Western, post-feminist democracies. Diana's fairy-tale wedding in 1981 proved to be just the beginning of the fulfillment of her potential. The birth of her sons and her committment to her role as their mother, although important, was likewise just one facet of Diana's life. Like so many women, Diana had to deal with marriage problems, interfering in-laws, her own frustrated desires, and the need for social and professional fulfillment. In common with other women also was the pressure Diana felt to conform to an idealised (and commercialised) model of feminine beauty.
Her attempts to be the "perfect" wife, mother and woman inevitably failed at times. And every failure was captured on film and in print. But it was her vulnerability and her ability to express it, which captured the hearts of millions of people all over the world. She dared to share her weaknesses, as well as her beauty and fame. The drama of her life mirrored their own lives, except more spectacularly.
Diana's death came as a shock. Still young, still beautiful and recently involved in a glamorous, new relationship, people dared to hope that happiness for Diana was achievable. And if possible for her, then maybe they could hope for themselves. |
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