Status of New Crown Princesses

[sesa]

This may seem like a really stupid question, but as I was reading some current articles regarding Diana's dresses sold at auction and how much they were purchased for, the buyers reaction to now owning them, the interest in them, ect. I started wondering if any of the current Crown Princesses will ever reach the status or come close to reaching the status that Diana had.
I know that there are alot of pros and con's regarding Diana and her status and how she achieved it. But she was so revered when she was alive and now that she has passed she is even more so now, that people are paying thousands and thousands even millions of dollars for the privilege of owning one of her evening dresses. Her face is on a million things like dishes, cups, tea towels, dolls, ect. and she was mourned world wide.

Do you think that this was and is a status that only she could achieve because she was one of the very "first Princesses "that was made known to the public? Do you think that if, God forbid, something bad happened to someone like Mary or Letizia, do you think they would be as revered as Diana? That their wedding dresses and evening dresses would be so sought after?

 

[princess gertrude]

Only time will tell. Although, if I were a crown princess these days, I would not want that kind of exposure or criticism. I'm sure that the present royal families are very mindful of how much exposure their princess is getting and the princesses themselves are very aware of the media and what they can do for or to you. I would venture to say that none of them would want to try and "obtain" that type of "status".

 

[Hereditary Mapmaker]

I think most royal families and celebrities learned a lesson from Diana's life and death. There are many more precautions taken for public figures as a result. In addition, coverage of royalty in the US had been steadily declining for years and royalty had lost its appeal. Diana was the right person in the right place at the right time. Who she was, how she behaved-before, during, and after her marriage-and the ways in which she interacted with the public as well as the media all contributed to her larger-than-life persona and legendary status. Her presence on the royal stage caused a massive shift in the media toward coverage of royalty worldwide. Today's world isn't begging for another Cinderella story. It seems that the media is now looking to find fault with royalty - Letizia's weight, Mette-Marit's past, Laurentien's eccentricity. I think that the current crown princesses overall have a very positive image in the minds of their own countries. I think that in time their citizens will come to love and adore them in a deep way, maybe in the same way that the Brits loved Diana. But I don't think any of them will achieve the world-wide superstar status of Diana because the Cinderella story died with her.

 

[pollyemma]

I think Diana's status is in large part due to her being an english speaking princess. anglophones are notoriously allergic to foreign language speakers.

whether rightly or wrongly, its undeniable that american media is the most pervasive and powerful in the world. it often sets the tone for other countries' media. and american media basically doesnt cover royal persons unless they speak english all the time or have a direct american connection like Queen Noor or Grace Kelly.


I think if Diana had been crownprincess of belgium only the belgian people and true royalty fanantics like us would know who she was.

 

[Alexandria]

I think royals pave the way for each other and each new princess who makes it onto the world's stage or consciousness (rather than just their country or a select few countries) makes it onto the world stage for different reasons.

Before Diana, there was Princess Grace was the iconic American beauty/actress who left a successful career to marry her prince. It was very much a fairytale story that ended tragically.

And as Hereditary Mapmaker says, Diana was the right princess at the right time: In a way, Princess Grace's tragic and early death paved the way for Diana to be put on the world stage. Her daughters were still relatively young and even though Caroline was gaining attention for her own love life, she and Stephanie were cast into a role of "tragic princesses" while Diana was cast into the new glamorous princess that everyone embraced.

At the time of Diana's death, the likes of Maxima, Mary, Letizia, Mette-Marit, Laurentien, Mabel, didn't exist so there wasn't someone who was readily thrust into the spotlight to "replace" Diana a she had Grace.

I think however that rather than there being a next crown princess who will take on the media spotlight, perhaps we should consider a crown prince -- namely, Prince William.

 

[corazon]

I totally agree with you, alexandria.
William have his own light., a charisma similar to her mother.
all the princess are diferents, in diana's days was diana-caroline-grace(afer her death)-sthepanie.
the spanish's infantas was too young, now there more. letizia, maxima, mathilde, mary etc.
is a very diferent time.

 

[Tzu An]

I think most royal families and celebrities learned a lesson from Diana's life and death.

Considering Diana's mental instability, I'm sure that one of the MAJOR criteria that a female have is good mental health. Furthermore, I'm sure that many royal families are determined not to let in a headcase who will cause one major drama after another, or will try to usurp the place of the heir apparant. The English royal family has taken a harsh battering and sadly there is immense pressure on William to get it right. I really feel for him, the pressure to save the monarchy is intense.

Back on topic, I'm quite sure they have! I doubt any of the royal families want to deal with someone who will cheapen their royal famaily and ruin the prestige of the dynasty and the reputation of the country.

 

[crisiñaki]

In Diana's times she didn't have competition for the media attention; now all Crown Princes are married, so their wives are all in the spotlight in different times, there's not only one who's the media darling; one way or another they all are (for better or worse)

 

[ksenia]

just wait until her sons marry. there will be the comparisons etc and then i think the question will be answered- althought CP Mary seems to be attracting more attention then the others currently.

 

[justi]

Personally I don't think any of the current crown princesses will reach the status previously attained by Diana for several reasons most of which have been stated by previous posters. These include;

As Hereditary Mapmaker stated

most royal families and celebrities learned a lesson from Diana's life and death. There are many more precautions taken for public figures as a result

And as pollyemma said

being an english speaking princess

And as crisiñaki posted

In Diana's times she didn't have competition for the media attention; now all Crown Princes are married, so their wives are all in the spotlight in different times

Also I believe
-Being a princess of the United Kingdom the media placed more pressure on her (for my lack of better words). I think the current situation with Miss Middleton has proven this, having recieved so much media attention, and the previous situation with Diana I think reporters (IMO at least) are more intrusive in the United Kingdom than other countries
-It seems to be (to me at least) England's royal family's generations are between the others and because of this Diana was one of the few young princess of her time and the fewer who had the whole 'fairytale' princess story attached to her of her marrying her prince.

On one final note if you didn't like reading this whole post I painstakingly composed have a laugh at my expense. When I first read the title of this topic I thought it said statues not status, no wonder I was confused .
And finally (I promise) thanks to all the previous posters of this thread who with their excellent posts allowed me to have the quotes in my post thus making it look mega cool

 

[sesa]

All very good and very valid points. I never thought of Diana replacing Grace theory.
Another thought that I had after reading these post, especially the one with William, is do you think that William will be the next person to achieve this status, rather than another Crown Princess? I think a major part of his immense popularity is because of who he is and who he resembles. I think he will be the next revered person "because he is Diana's son" and "because he somewhat resembles her in his features and his actions". Sure he is 2nd is line to the throne, but I think his popularity is based on who he is rather than his status within the RF. AT this point in his life, he already seems to have the world's attention and admiration.
If I had to pick one of the crprss's to be the next person to achieve Diana's status and follow in her footsteps (so to speak) in regards to worldwide admiration, I think Princess Mary is a good contender. Being that she is from an english speaking country (originally), has the fashion thing going for her, and she seems to be very popular within Denmark, has just as many pros and cons (controversery) regarding her. I wonder if her popularity will elevate to a higher status? Or if the the DRF will put a cap on it and her, and only let it reach a certain degree?
I guess only time will tell??!! I need to stop thinking.

 

[Little_star]

I think Diana reached the popularity she did becuase she crossed so many boundaries, religious, cultural and social. I don't see any of the current Crown Princesses doing this. Outside of Denmark, Australia and this board how many people have heard of Mary? the same applies to the other Crown Princesses. So far none of them have the sheer number of people interested in them.

 

[norwegianne]

Also, in some ways, I think that the messy separation and divorce also did something to promote Diana as a "status-symbol" - or rather make her more known. Certainly the "fairy tale" wedding started it all, and there were several years when the "fairy tale" image lived on, especially when William and Harry were born fairly quickly. But trouble in paradise is more intrigueing to people than perfection.

I'm unsure if anyone has the potential to fill the gap made by Grace & Diana, or if anyone would want to.

As far as the English language goes, Mary has it, but unlike Grace, she wasn't really famous before she met her prince. Some of the glamour in Grace and Monaco was that she was a movie star before, and thus known to a relative amount of people. How many of the current crown princesses can claim the same? Letizia was a reporter, but it is hardly the same glamour-factor, is it?

Besides, the world has grown up a bit as well. I hope.