Diana's Legacy: What is left or what will be left?


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I was speculating that things might have worked out differently if Diana toed the line. If she kept quiet and didn't make a fuss in public or private (not even unloading to her closest and dearest friends / relatives), did what was expected of her (carrying out her royal duties and not really making her mark so as not to become a media darling), life might've turned out differently. She and Charles would be together. Not happily for her as Charles and Camilla would be carrying on their affair. The boys might've turned out differently. They might've accepted whomever the "firm" selected for them and, like father, like son, have long term affairs.

Then it would have been a no win situation. If she looked dull and did not relate well with the public, it would have been bad for her and she would have been criticized. She was nervous and scared on her first walkabout in Wales but the public took to her and she was a natural with them. I think no royal spouse should have to suppress any "gifts" or abilities she would have. Then she'd be criticized as well. How could she be "prevented" from being a "media darling," stay home, then she'd be criticized too. Diana did very well in her royal work and that's the way it should have been. Charles perhaps should have spoken to someone to deal with his concerns about the public taking to her. It was later on when the two separated that there was "competition." NOt in the early stages. Charles as early as 1983 "joked" in front of Diana that he needed "two wives." He was the one who perhaps should have worked on his attitude.

I think Camilla wanted more than being a mistress. She was not "traditional" in the sense that she put down the wife (a letter came forward that she called Diana that ridiculous creature). Traditional mistress in days of yore, like Edwardian times, would not have dared to insult Alexandra. Edward VII would have put them in their places. Also, it is rather soul shattering for a woman to have to put up with a mistress around in the first place. Even Alexandra who "looked the other way" was said to practice passive aggression with Edward.

No woman even royal should have to put up with a mistress. Charles should have not kept one after his marriage. Even his involvement pre marriage with married women, Dale Tryon and Camilla Parker Bowles was not exactly the best choice he made.

Maybe Charles should have toed the line.

I think Charles and Diana got along after the divorce but they'd not exactly be buddy buddy. I think there was some wariness between them.
 
They were actually quite good friends..Tina Brown had lunch with Diana just before her death and said this:



I imagine that William and Harry saw some of this as their parents co-parented them..Unfortunately, when Charles and Diana’s story is told, it’s only the most dramatic side...it’s never mentioned that they had been on good terms for awhile before her death as thar doesn’t suit the agenda that tv/movie producers want to push.

I dont think they were the best of friends. They met occasionally but they'd had a very bitter divorce and it was only a year after it that Diana died.. and I dont think that she had gotten over being replaced by Camilla in C's affections.. nor would she have relished it if she'd seen Camilla becoming a more open part of her ex husbands life.
 
I dont think they were the best of friends. They met occasionally but they'd had a very bitter divorce and it was only a year after it that Diana died.. and I dont think that she had gotten over being replaced by Camilla in C's affections.. nor would she have relished it if she'd seen Camilla becoming a more open part of her ex husbands life.

I’ll believe Tina Brown, Victoria Arbiter and others....
 
I dont think they were the best of friends. They met occasionally but they'd had a very bitter divorce and it was only a year after it that Diana died.. and I dont think that she had gotten over being replaced by Camilla in C's affections.. nor would she have relished it if she'd seen Camilla becoming a more open part of her ex husbands life.

Camilla always was involved with Charles one way or another even during the marriage to Diana. She was not exactly "replaced" by Camilla, I believe Diana was not happy about being second fiddle. She thought Charles married her because he loved her. Later Charles told his biographer Dimbleby he preferred Camilla when he married Diana. Charles should not have married Diana under those conditions IMO.

Diana had moved on with her life and had fallen in love with Dr. Khan. I doubt she'd have married Dodi. Of course Diana had gotten over it IMO because she just did not spend her time pining over Charles. I think she knew the marriage was over a few years prior to the official separation.

I think it would have taken a little longer for Charles to marry Camilla had Diana lived. He was said to have waited until his grandmother passed on because reportedly she did not want to see them marry in her lifetime.

Diana already had gotten over Camilla but I think there would be dislike/wariness between Diana and Camilla. I don't think Camilla was or is fond of Diana either.
 
I’ll believe Tina Brown, Victoria Arbiter and others....
And Sarah Bradford who has written one of the fullest biogs of Diana, has said that "Diana pretended she had gotten over the Camilla issue and didn't mind about Cam being in Charles' life, but she did really. "
#I'd believe that.
I think that she was very volatile in the last few years, never of the same mind for 10 minutes, and while for her own prides sake, she tried to look like she didn't mind about Camilla, underneath, she was still upset.
 
And Sarah Bradford who has written one of the fullest biogs of Diana, has said that "Diana pretended she had gotten over the Camilla issue and didn't mind about Cam being in Charles' life, but she did really. "
#I'd believe that.
I think that she was very volatile in the last few years, never of the same mind for 10 minutes, and while for her own prides sake, she tried to look like she didn't mind about Camilla, underneath, she was still upset.

I never said that Diana didn’t mind it; Tina Brown said in that same article that Diana would have gone back to Charles had he wanted it. She apparently learned to accept things as they were...we all of us have to do that.
 
I think at that point it was mutual dislike between Camilla and Diana. Diana did love Dr. Khan and he loved her. She did move on and was no Miss Haversham pining away over being jilted. She was still young and in her thirties. I think had Diana lived, she would have gone to events of course involving William and Harry, weddings and christenings. I think she and Camilla would be polite but perhaps "frosty" with each other. Both would need to come into contact with each other since Diana would have always been involved in activities involving her sons with Prince Charles. Diana was looking ahead the last year of her life and at her future role outside the royal family. Diana liked working on causes and enjoyed it. She might have settled down with someone else down the road. She had said she wanted another child. I never saw Diana as "volatile" she seemed to have goals and was setting them for herself. She was focused. Not volatile. I think Diana was more resilient than some think, Perhaps Camilla also did not like the situation and did not like Diana much either. She did call Diana "that ridiculous creature" so no love lost.
 
But she wasn't accepting things as they were. I think she met Charles a few times - if he dropped in for tea.. and possibly in her mind that was a sign that they were getting on great. But what would have happened when Camilla began to be seen as Charles's semi official partner as happened some time before Cam and Charles married? How would Diana have taken that when she was still half hoping to get Charles back? I think she was sadly up and down in the last couple of years and even when she was dating other men, she still half yearned for Charles.....
 
They would always be co-parents, of course they would meet. That's a given. Diana was wary of Charles--and had KP checked for "bugging devices." I can't see in a million years her wanting Charles back --she had said her 'life is torture' and Jepson and other observed Charles putting down Diana. Camilla could not be Charles "semi official" partner until she went through the PR. I think with without Diana around, there would have been the spin doctor around her. I doubt she yearned for CHarles.
 
I don't think Diana wanted Charles back. It's a bit strange for anyone when their ex forms a permanent relationship with someone else, but Charles and Diana were not suited and were never going to make each other happy, and I think they both realised that.
 
I don't think Diana wanted Charles back. It's a bit strange for anyone when their ex forms a permanent relationship with someone else, but Charles and Diana were not suited and were never going to make each other happy, and I think they both realised that.

Um, I think she did at times. She was very wobbly and on and off with her emotions. She may have realised at times that the marriage was a failure but she didnt want him to go to another woman.. and I think that she was, as Tina Brown said, delusional at times about the marriage...
 
I don't think Diana wanted Charles back. It's a bit strange for anyone when their ex forms a permanent relationship with someone else, but Charles and Diana were not suited and were never going to make each other happy, and I think they both realised that.

They both seemed to have wished they could have made it work...or that they had done things differently. Whether Tina Brown is right or not probably doesn’t matter. It’s a genuine tragedy that Diana didn’t live long enough to find her own happiness, but I’ve always been glad that at least she and Charles has made their peace and established a good relationship
 
Um, I think she did at times. She was very wobbly and on and off with her emotions. She may have realised at times that the marriage was a failure but she didnt want him to go to another woman.. and I think that she was, as Tina Brown said, delusional at times about the marriage...

for obvious reasons, Diana was not clinging to Charles. Tina Brown had some iffy statements in her book. Bradford seemed to "get" Diana more than Brown did. Based on one lunch, Brown claimed to be Diana's friend. she wasn't. Charles was going to the other woman. After she asked about a reconciliation in the late 1980s, she was done with him. If she wanted him back so desperately, she would never have gone to Morton. I think she wanted Out with a capital O. Charles was not all that appealing to her that she'd become a Miss Haversham and sit home in her wedding dress. Diana was a realist and she did not say my life is torture for nothing. Charles was no prize for her anymore. Diana was not "delusional" about Charles. I think Charles was unrealistic expecting her to turn a blind eye to the other woman. Had Diana lived, she and Charles would be in touch...as co parents to William and Harry and she would be a part of royal events involving their sons.
 
if she wanted out why did she try to delay when the queen virtually ordered her to divorce, after the Panorama interview? She didn't know what she wanted, and I think she failed to realize that Charles was more fed up with the marriage than she was.
 
The main reason Diana still evokes such a strong force in today's world in a lot of places is because the world loves a good drama and the War of the Wales gave us that in buckets. Every little detail made front page news and with the onset of the internet and social media a thing of the future, the drama was pretty much concentrated to what the media fed the world. Then it was years of fame compared to the 15 minutes of fame we have today.
 
The main reason Diana still evokes such a strong force in today's world in a lot of places is because the world loves a good drama and the War of the Wales gave us that in buckets. Every little detail made front page news and with the onset of the internet and social media a thing of the future, the drama was pretty much concentrated to what the media fed the world. Then it was years of fame compared to the 15 minutes of fame we have today.

yes and there's also her traigically early death. If she'd lived she might have been less idolised.. but dying young meant that she was frozen in time as the young and beautiful princess who had suffered.
 
if she wanted out why did she try to delay when the queen virtually ordered her to divorce, after the Panorama interview? She didn't know what she wanted, and I think she failed to realize that Charles was more fed up with the marriage than she was.

If she did not want out, she would not have spoken to Morton or Bashir. The Queen ordered them to divorce, Diana and Charles. Charles gave an interview the year before where he admitted he was involved with Camilla, forcing the PB divorce. Who was more fed up? I think both of them were. Charles should not have been surprised that Diana would not tolerate Camilla. As I said, he was unrealistic about the marriage from the get go. He admitted he knew he did not love Diana to his biographer. Charles also did not consider the consequences of his naming Camila which caused quite the stir.
 
Diana did a million contradictory things in her life. She was quite capable of doing Morton and then regretting it, or doing Bashir and then realizing that by so doing, she had pushed the queen to order a divorce...and wishing that she hadn't pushed things to that conclusion. She told David Puttnam that she'd done something foolish with the Morton book, and that she wished she hadn't done it.. becuase it was only going to make things worse.. But she went on doing things all the time that contradicted things she had said at other times.
 
The Diana told something to...is not the same as Diana saying it herself. It should be remembered that stories were leaked about Diana in the eighties by Charles supporters. Diana wanted to get her side out. Morton and the go between never said Diana regretted a thing. I do think Diana really wanted out. If she met someone she fell in love with--Charles and Diana were pretty much living separate lives ca. 1986, she could not marry him. Because divorce was strongly discouraged back then. I think everybody has regrets but if Diana wanted to "be with Charles" she would have turned a blind eye to Camilla and been a modern day Alexandra. She was only 23 when the marriage fizzled out. Did Charles regret naming Camilla? He caused Camilla and APB to divorce, arguably they would have stayed in the marriage if Charles kept quiet. I think that sealed the deal of Charles being obligated to Camilla when he named her. It created a whole different scenario. Besides which C and D were separated formally since 1992, it was very very unlikely there would be a reconciliation after that.
 
how is David Puttnam a "Charles supporter" exactly?
 
I was not talking about him "supporting Charles" this is a hearsay comment by Puttnam. Diana obviously reached a point where she wanted this information out there, and she did not admit she cooperated with Morton then. So how could David Puttnam say that when Diana denied cooperation with Morton. She would then be admitting that she was complicit in it. It came out that she was complicit only after her death through Morton himself. She denied cooperating with Morton and never admitted it so what would she tell David if she denied she had any part of the book?
 
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I was not talking about him "supporting Charles" this is a hearsay comment. Diana obviously reached a point where she wanted this information out there, and she did not admit she cooperated with Morton then. So how could David Puttnam say that when Diana denied cooperation with Morton. She would then be admitting that she was complicit in it. It came out that she was complicit only after her death through Morton himself. She denied cooperating with Morton and never admitted it so what would she tell David if she denied she had any part of the book?

She didn't explicitly say it was the book, she said she had done something that she regretted, that she thought it would help but she realized that it would only make things worse. And it was pretty obvious what she meant, since people realized that she must have had some role in helping with the book..
but you are right in saying that she told more than one person that she had not had anything to do with teh book, which was a lie.

She contradicted herself all the time. She claimed at the Bashir interview that she didn't want a divorce, yet her marriage had been over for years, she was seeing other men, and on some level must have wanted to officially end the marriage. If you are correct in assuming that she was really finished iwht Charles -how could she NOT want a divorce?
 
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Diana denied it. Some accepted that some did not. There was no proof that she did without her confessing it. She had a go between between herself and Morton and prepared tapes, so technically she did not speak "directly" to Morton. Morton did not "name" Camilla as a mistress she referred to Camilla as a friend of Charles. I think Diana wanted out that's my take on it. I would say most people on the planet are not entirely "sure" of decisions and inevitably think should I have or shouldn't I have. ANd once Camillla was Named by Charles I think all bets were off for the Wales marriage I think there was NO chance of a reconciliation after the official separation announcement.
 
Diana denied it. Some accepted that some did not. There was no proof that she did without her confessing it. She had a go between between herself and Morton and prepared tapes, so technically she did not speak "directly" to Morton. Morton did not "name" Camilla as a mistress she referred to Camilla as a friend of Charles. I think Diana wanted out that's my take on it. I would say most people on the planet are not entirely "sure" of decisions and inevitably think should I have or shouldn't I have. ANd once Camillla was Named by Charles I think all bets were off for the Wales marriage I think there was NO chance of a reconciliation after the official separation announcement.
So why then would Diana say, as she did, at the Bashir interview, that she didn't want a divorce. Her marriage had been over for years. Her husband had admitted to an affair with Camilla. He didn't want her, she didn't want him, there was no hope of a reconciliation and they were living apart. So how could she NOT want a divorce? YEt that's what she said.
 
I don't think Diana would have said in an interview going around the world that she wanted a divorce.
 
But why say it at all? There was no need to do the interview. There was no need to discuss her personal life at all with Bashir on TV. Why allow a question if she wasn't going to give an honest answer? Besides when the queen wrote to her teling her to go for a divorce, she stalled and tried to slow down the process.. as if she had changed her mind about what she wanted.
Besides she had done an interview going all round the world where she admitted to an affair with a man, absolutely unprecedented behaviour.. so why not discuss divorce...
 
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I like to think of the good Diana did than the bad since were all not perfect. She helped the helpless and gave attention to those who were outcasted by society. Its a reason why she is seen as a great princess(caring, kind, compassionate...)
 
I like to think of the good Diana did than the bad since were all not perfect. She helped the helpless and gave attention to those who were outcasted by society. Its a reason why she is seen as a great princess(caring, kind, compassionate...)

That is nothing new. That is a traditional role for high- and wellborn ladies, to be supportive for good causes. For an example, the Queen Alexandra Royal Army's Nursing Corps was an extension of Princess Christian's Nursing Corps, established after the horrorful stories by Florence Nightingale. In the First World War there were 100,000 (!) nurses deployed. Queen Alexandra became a very active president and still today this corps employs thousands of nurses qorking in NHS hospitals and in military hospitals.

"She helped the helpless and gave attention". Generations of royal and aristocratic ladies did all this, way before Diana. Their structures are still intact. These ladies did this because of their Christian nature and royal duty, often in all modesty. Many highborn ladies ripped their best quality linen, to provide bandages, and themselves stood with blood-stained aprons in Passchendaele or Ypres, giving comfort to men and boys shred into pieces.

Diana did nothing of all this. She used publicity. That is the difference between her and the previous generations. She became Sancta Diana Perfectissimae, almost a clone Mother Theresa herself. It is for anyone to judge but that Diana "helped" is actually the bare minimum of what was a traditional role for royal ladies. She did nothing new.
 
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