Diana E-Book

Brian Hoey

• Herausgeber: Pitkin
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 111

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Fully illustrated with beautiful photographs, this special commemorative book by royal biographer Brian Hoey – who had the privilege of meeting Diana on several occasions – pays tribute to the life of this remarkable young woman. Diana, Princess of Wales was admired throughout the world for her vitality, compassion, determination and beauty. When she first came on the scene, she brought a new dimension to the Royal Family and quickly became regarded as one of the most glamorous women in the world. Yet she remained very much her own person: tough but touchingly vulnerable, self-willed but compassionate to a degree that was unprecedented in one of her generation and background. Her tragic death in 1997, in the prime of her life, shocked the world and unleashed a tide of public grief rarely seen. More than a quarter of a century later, her worldwide popularity remains as strong as ever: she is the unforgettable Diana.

Leseprobe

DIANA

THE LIFE AND LEGACY

OF THE PEOPLE'S PRINCESS

DIANA

THE LIFE AND LEGACY

OF THE PEOPLE'S PRINCESS

BRIAN HOEY

Contents

Prologue

6

The Woman Who Might Have Been Queen

10

Royal Connections: The Early Days

18

Lady Diana Spencer: Sloane Ranger

22

A Fairy-Tale Royal Wedding

26

Princess of Wales: Royal Family Life

30

Diana’s Love Affair With America

34

Princess of Style, Beauty and Grace

42

Diana: The Real Princess of Wales

46

A Devoted Mother

50

Prince William: King-in-Training

56

William and Catherine

64

Harry and Meghan

70

A Modern Princess: Diana’s New Life

76

A Queen of Hearts: The Humanitarian

80

England’s Rose: The World Mourns

84

Diana: Remembered By Her Sons

88

The People’s Princess: A Tribute

92

Acknowledgements

96

6

On Sunday 31 August 1997, the nation awoke to the news that Diana, Princess of

Wales had died.

As someone who had the privilege of meeting Diana on several occasions, I still

find it difficult to believe that this event that shocked the world took place more

than a quarter of a century ago. The recollection of that fateful summer day still

reverberates, and for many, like me, the memories remain fresh.

Diana, Princess of Wales was just 36 years old when she died in the early hours of

that August day in 1997 in a horrific car crash in Paris, along with her friend, Dodi

Fayed, the son of Mohamad al-Fayed who was at that time the owner of Harrods,

London’s most famous department store.

More than 25 years on, within the Royal Family itself there have been many

changes: numerous births, several marriages and, naturally, the deaths of some main

characters. Queen Elizabeth II’s sister, Princess Margaret, died on 9 February 2002

at the age of 71. Just seven weeks later, on 30 March, their mother, the 101-year-old

Queen Mother, died at her home, Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park. On 9 April

2021, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, to whom The Queen had been married

Prologue

OPPOSITE:

On 21

July 1997, Diana was at

Northwick Park Hospital

in Harrow, north London,

where she unveiled the

foundation stone for

the children’s casualty

unit; sadly, this was to

be her last official public

engagement.

LEFT:

Diana joined the

Royal Family many times

on

Buckingham Palace’s

balcony for the Trooping

the Colour flypast. How

proud she would have

been to see her son,

Prince William, his wife and

three children alongside

The Queen in June 2022,

when the event coincided

with celebrations for Her

Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.

8

PROLOGUE

for 73 years, died just weeks before his 100th birthday. Most significantly of all,

Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral on 8 September 2022 at the age of 96.

However, the joyous news of the birth of a child has been celebrated many times

in the Royal Family since 1997. The Queen had two more grandchildren: Lady

Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn,

born in 2003 and 2007 respectively, the children of Her Majesty’s youngest son,

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. The Queen also become a great-grandmother many

times over, with her first great-grandchild, Savannah Phillips, daughter of Peter

Phillips, arriving in 2010.

Of all the royal marriages that have taken place over that period, three are of

particular historic note. The first came in 2005, when Prince Charles and Camilla

Parker Bowles (who in September 2022 became Her Majesty the Queen Consort)

were married in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall; constitutional issues made it

inappropriate for them, as divorcees, to be married in church, but a service of prayer

and dedication, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and held in St George’s Chapel

in the grounds of Windsor Castle, followed the legal ceremony.

In 2011 came the wedding of Diana’s eldest son, Prince William, to Catherine

Middleton, a vivacious and charming girl from an ordinary middle-class family

from the Home Counties. Now the Prince and Princess of Wales, their marriage has

been blessed by the births of their three children: George, Charlotte and Louis. In

2018, Diana’s younger son, Prince Harry, married Meghan Markle, an American

divorcee. His wife had been little known in the United Kingdom previously; she was

best known as an actress in the television drama series

Suits

, filmed in Canada for

the cable network USA, and their union brought a sprinkle of Hollywood glamour

to the Royal Family. On the day they were married, Her Majesty created Harry

and Meghan Duke and Duchess of Sussex; they now have two children, Archie and

Lilibet. In 2020, in a move that disappointed many people in Britain, not least of all

the Royal Family, the couple decided to leave the country of Harry’s birth and live

in the United States to seek financial independence and what they described as the

privacy they were denied in the UK.

There have, of course, also been other less than happy newsworthy events.

In 2002, Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, was accused of stealing 310 items

belonging to her, Prince Charles and Prince William. But the sensational trial

collapsed dramatically when The Queen remembered that Burrell had told her

9

PROLOGUE

previously that he had taken the items into his own possession for safe keeping.

Closer to home was the scandal surrounding The Queen’s second son, Prince

Andrew, Duke of York, which in 2022 resulted in him being deprived of his military

roles and royal patronages, and unable to carry out public duties, although he

escorted Her Majesty into Westminster Abbey for his father’s memorial service in

March that year.

But members of the Royal Family have a high sense of self-preservation and

they are experts in what they describe as ‘strategic ambiguity’, so they have taken all

these ups and downs in their stride. And, unquestionably, these family events, when

placed into world context, with its continuing conflicts, unrest, natural disasters and

health problems, pale into insignificance.

Remarkably, in the years that have passed since the loss of Diana, Queen

Elizabeth II commemorated three Jubilees. Most recent of all was her Platinum

Jubilee in 2022 – the same year that she celebrated her 96th birthday – marking her

70 years on the throne. Sadly, it was also the year that Her Majesty died.

All this and much more has happened since Diana died; she now lies at peace

in her grave on an island in an ornamental lake at the Althorp family estate in

Northamptonshire, which her brother Charles has described as ‘an oasis of calm’.

RIGHT:

This Doric-style temple

at Althorp is a memorial to

Diana; at its centre is a black

marble silhouette of the

princess; either side of this are

two stone plaques, one bearing

a quote from Diana about her

charity work and the other a

quote from the eulogy given by

her brother, Charles Spencer, at

her funeral. The memorial is by

the lake surrounding the island

that is her final resting place.

10

After she married the man who is now our king, Diana was the most famous,

photographed and talked about woman in the world. Before that, very few people

knew her name and she would have been the first to admit that up to that point she

had not achieved anything of particular note.

Everything changed when she began dating Prince Charles; almost overnight, and

certainly within a few short months, she was to become the newest star in the most

famous family on the planet. When, at the tender age of 19, her engagement to the

Prince of Wales was announced, she found herself thrust into the uncompromising

formality of life within the House of Windsor.

Diana had that elusive star quality which she managed to combine with the

common touch. With her popular ‘touchy-feely, hands-on’ approach, she positively

encouraged people from all walks of life, and from every class, to approach her and

to engage with her. Unlike many other royals, she never shied away from physical

contact. One of The Queen’s ladies-in-waiting explained Diana’s tactile approach by

saying she was a natural ‘hugger and kisser’.

The Woman Who Might Have Been Queen

OPPOSITE:

Princess

Diana and Her Majesty

Queen Elizabeth II

travelling together to

the State Opening of

Parliament in 1982.

LEFT:

On 27 March

1981, The Queen posed

with Prince Charles and

his fiancée, Lady Diana

Spencer; it was on this

day that Her Majesty met

with the Privy Council

and permission was

granted for the young

couple to marry.

12

Diana was always a woman who acted from the heart and the public loved her

for it. Her aura of accessibility set her apart from the rest of the Royal Family, so

that ordinary members of the public felt they could approach her without any fear

of a rebuttal. Diana had the intrinsic ability to communicate with the regular man

or woman in the street and for them to identify with her, as she became, in many

people’s view, the acceptable face of a modern monarchy.

What was it that she possessed that not only made her different from everyone

else in the Royal Family, but that also led to her being seen as one of the most

attractive woman in history? The answer may be that she exuded a mystique of sheer

feminine magnetism that very few other women in history have possessed. That

characteristic mesmerised nearly everyone she met and many of those who only

viewed her from afar. There were, after all, plenty of women as good-looking as she

was, the difference being that she radiated an air of ineffable femininity elusive to

many other beautiful women. She also possessed one characteristic that eludes many

other members of the Royal Family. Whereas others attract admiration and respect,

in varying degrees, Diana was one of those likeable people who made everyone feel

they were the most interesting and fascinating person she had ever encountered.

Added to this, she also liked to use first names, whoever she was talking to – a

simple technique that made them feel ten feet tall.

There were many sides to Diana: the girlish, giggly youngster when she was

with her childhood pals; the sex symbol she was sometimes portrayed as by the

media; and the sad, vulnerable woman who really wanted nothing more than a

LEFT:

With all their

hopes and dreams before

them, the Prince and

Princess of Wales thrilled

the crowds when they

appeared on the balcony

of Buckingham Palace

on their wedding day,

29 July 1981.

13

THE WOMAN WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN QUEEN

happy, loving marriage. Diana did not seek a divorce; she and the Prince of Wales

were ordered to go down that route by The Queen following the famous, and

unfortunate, television interview Diana gave to the BBC in 1995.The interview

was a disaster: Diana memorably said, ‘There were three of us in this marriage’; she

also cast doubts on Prince Charles ever becoming king, or even wanting to. As far

as Diana was concerned, divorce was the last thing she wanted originally; neither

did The Queen, but Her Majesty had no option when Diana openly questioned the

monarchy. The Queen had to assert her authority as the sovereign and unquestioned

head of the House of Windsor: it was a case of sovereignty over family.

Diana could be both confused and confident at the same time, quick-tempered

yet instantly forgiving, and, in later life, totally fearless but always passionate.

By her own admission, she was not an intellectual and her scholastic record was

undistinguished. But she was far from stupid and possessed a native intelligence, as

she proved over and over again during her short life by becoming far more than the

‘walking clothes horse’ some of her detractors claimed her to be.

RIGHT:

A formal portrait

of the Prince and Princess

of Wales in the 1980s;

at this time everyone

expected Diana would

one day be Queen

Consort when Charles

became sovereign.

14

THE WOMAN WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN QUEEN

Diana was also the woman who compelled other members of the Royal Family to

become ‘celebrities’ in their own right. Whereas before many – with, undoubtedly,

some exceptions

–

had been content to remain aloof, distanced and admired simply

because of the accident of their birth, they now had to do something positive in

order to attract the public’s attention – and gain its affection. Royalty had been seen

by some, however unfairly, as mere figureheads, with armies of sycophantic servants

prepared to massage their egos, being used to occupying the limelight practically

from birth, as if it were their right. For any members of the Royal Family who fell

into such categories, Diana’s arrival eclipsed them almost overnight and apparently

without too much effort on her part; noses were put severely out of joint.

Diana changed any such notions, spreading compassion like honey, hugging

sick children and geriatrics with equal enthusiasm. She was photographed nursing

a baby suffering from leprosy and holding hands with a young girl maimed by a

landmine in Angola. Whereas her sister-in-law, the Princess Royal, who has for

years been recognised as one of the hardest-working members of the Royal Family,

resolutely refused to comply with the pleas of photographers to pick up small babies