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

[Grace Angel]

I don't remember the early years of Diana either, although I knew who she was and liked to look at picture books about her even in the late '80s at when I was three. I first became a big fan in 1995. From what I've read subsequently, it seems there was awareness of the negative sides of Diana in her lifetime- at least by her detractors and the tabloid press. For instance, the things about her and Olive Hoare and the phone calls she made him. But such things were unconfirmed rumor more than they were after her death when we found out more about her.

 

[ghost_night554]

I think from all I've read it seems around the mid 80's more of the bad things started to come out, I think really early on there was an odd bad article here and there but overall it seemed positive. Back then though those rumors were dismissed as just that rumors although now we know about the torment going on in her head at the time.I still don't believe she had affairs with all the alleged men that have been named don't ask me why I just can't see it but then again I could be totally totally wrong.

 

[Grace Angel]

Yes, early on everybody thought the Diana and Charles marriage was a fairytale and certainly they both got less bad press. Rumors of Diana first having an eating disorder began to circulate in the fall of 1983 when she was photographed in that blue dress looking so thin, and then rumors of trouble in the marriage of Diana and Charles first appeared in 1985 or so. Diana certainly also publicly admitted negative things about herself, for instance that she had in fact committed adultery. I tend to believe the Oliver Hoare phone calls thing and that she did have an affair with him, and she admitted to the affair with Hewitt, and Hasnat Khan she loved very much.. but Will Carling, Barry Mannakee etc, I am less sure of. Of course, there was the call to James Gilbey that was recorded and that was really bad publicity for her. But you are right, some of the things known only as rumors in her lifetime have since been confirmed as fact.

 

[ghost_night554]

Ya your right I don't really believe Burrell's thing about her having 9 suitors I can see it more as really close guy friends then affairs, We know about Dodi, Hasnat, Hewitt I'm a little sketchy about Hoare but there's no other way to explain the phone calls though I don't beleive the rest unless we get more information in the future. I still don't get where the rumor of an affair with Kevin Costner came from except the whole thing about the bodyguard but I still don't see how they can connect the two of them. See the thing with me is the whole manipulation and dropping her friends and all that she did I don't see it as being that bad when you stop and think how insane her life was at the time I'm certain she wasn't even thinking straight.

 

[COUNTESS]

She was neither good, nor bad. She was a person who lived and died in a short space, to most lives. She married wrong, she wanted love, she got protocol and a husband who had a "true" love. It was sad for both. She did good things and foolish things. In the end she is loved by many and reviled by some. Her children have very loving menories, but I am sure not all the memories are good. She pulled the golden ring and found that it was not gold, but tarnished.

 

[Grace Angel]

ghost night554, I agree I don't think she had nine suitors either. Dodi, Hasnat, Hewitt, and Hoare are defintely true, although I think of all of them she loved Hasnat the most, and he honored her memory quite well. I do think her life was sad in some ways, but her legacy is positive. She never found true love that lasted with any man, but the world loved her and still does. She did want to be Queen of People's hearts as she said.

 

[ghost_night554]

For sure I'm so happy with how Hasnat has honored her memory, I also agree I think her legacy when you really stop and think about it is very positive in many different ways. I kinda think and lemme word this carefully if you take away the aspects of her private life not ignore it but just for a second remove it from the equation , Diana did alot of good public work, was some of it staged maybe to some extent but every member of the royal family has to perform.

 

[MARG]

JFK for example, was an icon at the time of his death but after a few years, we also learned how the "perfect American family" was in fact corroded by his many affairs. Of course, this should never dismiss or damage anything he has done for his country and his people. Because someone committed faults in private (for which we haven't really got the right to judge) doesn't have remove the value of his work. There are two very different things and they don't need to neutralize each other to obtain an objective view on things. You can't see someone all white or all black but you can't dismiss one part of someone's life because the other doesn't fit your criteria or moral standards.

Although I agree with the principle you are trying to make there can be no no comparasion between the "private life revealed after death" of JFK and Diana's very public indiscretions (Panorama etc.) during her lifetime.

It is not a question of not fitting my criteria or moral standards, rather a total rejection of the cult of "Everything is somebody elses fault".

 

[Warren]

I believe the comparisons of the late Princess with the private behaviour of President Kennedy, his widow's actions after his death and the alleged indiscretions of Princess Grace are flawed because they are not comparing like with like.

Where Diana did herself no favours was in attacking the very institution that made her what she was and gave her the very platform on which she sought her revenge, or payback, or whatever term is used. President Kennedy, Mrs Onassis and Princess Grace didn't seek to damage their partner's public reputation or their children's birthright by questioning the fitness of the estranged partner and indirectly the entire family.

Diana went even further than this by placing herself above the institution in the course of her marital battles. So for me it's not a moral issue of who slept with who or of how many men she may or may not have bedded, or the undoubted worthiness and sincerity of her good works. It is the damage she directly and indirectly caused to the public standing of the Monarchy and therefore to her son's destiny and to the Queen herself. That was the ultimate disloyalty and I believe the main reason her legacy is somewhat ambivalent.

 

[MARG]

I think one of the saddest legacies she has left is the perpetual cloud over the issue of Prince Harry's parentage. I don't think we will ever begin to understand the anguish he has gone through curtesy of Diana's indiscreet revelations.

While we all like to think that he is undoubtedly a prince by birth, and I believe that one way or another the family "know", should anything happen to William (Heaven forfend) you can't tell me that Parliament and even the mainstream press media would not be demanding some "Proof" that he is indeed a "Wales" and 2nd in line to the throne.

 

[NotAPretender]

Wow. 1995.

I guess I'm blown away by the passage of time, as much as anything.

I don't think Diana thought past her the accumulation of humiliations at the hands of her husband's friends. It's one thing for an affair to take place, it's quite another to realize that your husband's friends are enjoying a good laugh by providing the hot sheets for a mistress's pleasures.

I think everyone was tossing around gasoline and matches at this juncture, and Diana joined.

I see young women in the same general age group advertised on those "Girls Gone Wild" sort of craptacular videos, and think "wow, do you imagine that those videos are going to self-destruct when your children -and their friends - come of age to choose their viewing?" The short-sightedness of youth.

At any rate, I wish she'd had a chance to grow older and find more stability in her life: to see her sons grow up. But she didn't, and it's a strange story to be told. Still being told, really.

 

[Warren]

The follow-on from this post concerning James Hewitt has been moved to the James Hewitt and Diana thread.

 

[ghost_night554]

So for me it's not a moral issue of who slept with who or of how many men she may or may not have bedded, or the undoubted worthiness and sincerity of her good works. It is the damage she directly and indirectly caused to the public standing of the Monarchy and therefore to her son's destiny and to the Queen herself. That was the ultimate disloyalty and I believe the main reason her legacy is somewhat ambivalent.

Forgive me Warren for asking this but I'm a bit still unsure of what was going on during the later years I only really know the basic but when you say the damage she caused to Monarchy do you mean through the comments she made in the Morton book and Panorama(ie, Charles not fit to be King, no on helped her) and her actions at that time but trying to upstage the Royal Family or was there more to the story. Sorry I've just always been a bit confused about all this because I've read similar things before but was just confused if it was reffering to specific event or just in general the things she did. I do agree though I don't really care who slept with who and how many times for me that's not the biggest problem either.

 

[Warren]

... when you say the damage she caused to Monarchy do you mean through the comments she made in the Morton book and Panorama (ie, Charles not fit to be King, no one helped her) and her actions at that time by trying to upstage the Royal Family...

Working as an integral part of the Royal Family would have been desirable but a 'Princess Superstar' intent on her own personal agenda proved to be highly damaging.

 

[ghost_night554]

Oh ok, I'm assuming here by "princess superstar" you mean the agenda she took on in the later years right?Please correct me if I'm mistaken. In the beginning when DI Mania began I don't think she was trying to steal the limelight from the Royal Family. Later on well that's a different story. I would agree definitely though in the later years she seemed to take matters into her own hands and tried to be a Princess on her own instead of keeping quiet still working and doing the joint appearances with the kids which they did till the end.

 

[Warren]

The term "Princess Superstar" first appeared shortly after the wedding. It summed up the intense public interest and goodwill that surrounded (or engulfed) Diana at the time.
The legacy of how she used that status, for better and for worse, is the subject of this thread.

 

[ghost_night554]

Oh ok, I get it now I wasn't familiar with that term used in that way. I have heard it used differently though when describing her later years and how she became a celebrity/princess as opposed to just a princess which she was in the beginning according to some people I've spoken to.

 

[Mermaid1962]

At the beginning, she wasn't nearly the phenomenon that she became. From what I've seen, the "superstar" part really began when the world's press started following her around in the UK and then on the Australia and New Zealand tours. That would have been in 1982 and in 1983. Before William was born, there was interest of course; but it exploded a couple of years later.

Oh ok, I get it now I wasn't familiar with that term used in that way. I have heard it used differently though when describing her later years and how she became a celebrity/princess as opposed to just a princess which she was in the beginning according to some people I've spoken to.

 

[ghost_night554]

Ya for sure, everything I've seen states "Di Mania" began sometime in 83 during the Australia and New Zealand tour

I want to clarify about what I was trying to say is that when I said "princess superstar" I just meant I had heard people in the past use it when describing the celebrity that Diana had made herself in the later years although I am aware as Warren was trying to say, or I believe what he was trying to say is that she was using that power which she had gained over the years to be disloyal to the members of RF.

 

[Mermaid1962]

Yes, I quite agree. She did use her celebrity for good as well, but it's too bad that she also used it in a selfish way. Had she not, she'd be remembered quite differently.

she was using that power which she had gained over the years to be disloyal to the members of RF.

 

[Skydragon]

Yes, I quite agree. She did use her celebrity for good as well, but it's too bad that she also used it in a selfish way. Had she not, she'd be remembered quite differently.

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, this was written by Lord Acton, in 1887:

 

[Mermaid1962]

So I've heard.

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, this was written by Lord Acton, in 1887:

 

[sirhon11234]

For some Diana continues to inspire. There are a lot of people that I know who have sighted Diana as one of their inspirations. I was having lunch with some of my friends last week and Diana came into our conversation and one my friends said that one of the reasons why she's training to become a nurse is because of Diana. She was so inspired by Princess' work with AIDS and Leprosy charities that she decided to become a nurse and care for people who are sick.

I just finished reading Princess Sultana's Circle by Jean Sasson, the book is the third in a trilogy called Princess, which is a series of memoirs of a Princess in the Saudi Royal family. At the end of the book the Princess mentioned Diana and how Diana inspired her to continue her efforts to help women who are mistreated.

In her tremendous kindness, Princess Diana proved that one person can make a real difference. Every act of kindness generated by this one person resonated as a pebble dropped in water, as a ripple which then spread far beyond the original gesture.

I believe this is part of Diana's legacy. Her legacy mirrors her life they're both complicated.

 

[ghost_night554]

That's a great story Sirhon! so glad you shared it with us!

 

[ysbel]

Working as an integral part of the Royal Family would have been desirable but a 'Princess Superstar' intent on her own personal agenda proved to be highly damaging.

I think its difficult for the Royal Family to handle any of the Royals carrying on their own personal agenda in public - even if the agenda itself is good or noble. They've got to make it look like they all represent the same institution or else people won't know what the institution stands for. If people don't know, then they'll start wondering why they even have it. Which is where a lot of people are now (though not all).

 

[Mermaid1962]

Yes, I agree. Diana's work did highlight a lot of problems that people perhaps weren't so aware of until she showed up with the photographers in tow.

That's a great story Sirhon! so glad you shared it with us!

 

[Grace Angel]

Diana and her way of doing things certainly didn't fit in with the RF. Diana I think wanted to create a new kind of royalty, one more focused on being in touch with the people, but one that was also connected to celebrity.. which doesn't go well with royalty, as far traditional royalty goes anyway. Diana managed to combine royalty amd celebrity well, but generally they aren't the same, which is where she ran into difficulties with the RF. Yet, Diana's main legacy is her sons, and so her legacy will always be involved with the RF.

 

[Mermaid1962]

It's interesting that Royal coverage seems to be showing up more and more under the entertainment sections of online papers. I don't like this trend, but I guess it's the world that we live in.

Diana and her way of doing things certainly didn't fit in with the RF. Diana I think wanted to create a new kind of royalty, one more focused on being in touch with the people, but one that was also connected to celebrity.. which doesn't go well with royalty, as far traditional royalty goes anyway. Diana managed to combine royalty amd celebrity well, but generally they aren't the same, which is where she ran into difficulties with the RF. Yet, Diana's main legacy is her sons, and so her legacy will always be involved with the RF.

 

[georgiea]

For some Diana continues to inspire. There are a lot of people that I know who have sighted Diana as one of their inspirations. I was having lunch with some of my friends last week and Diana came into our conversation and one my friends said that one of the reasons why she's training to become a nurse is because of Diana. She was so inspired by Princess' work with AIDS and Leprosy charities that she decided to become a nurse and care for people who are sick.

I just finished reading Princess Sultana's Circle by Jean Sasson, the book is the third in a trilogy called Princess, which is a series of memoirs of a Princess in the Saudi Royal family. At the end of the book the Princess mentioned Diana and how Diana inspired her to continue her efforts to help women who are mistreated.



I believe this is part of Diana's legacy. Her legacy mirrors her life they're both complicated.

Sirhon this is your best statement about Diana, Princess of Wales. I really love how you stated personal as well as read comparisons to Diana's legacy. Her legacy does mirror a complicated person with goodness and badness in herself............ She was a star and a royal. A mother and a single parent. A woman and a girl.

 

[Duchess]

It's interesting that Royal coverage seems to be showing up more and more under the entertainment sections of online papers. I don't like this trend, but I guess it's the world that we live in.

interesting observation Mermaid. you're right about that. once upon a time you never would've found royalty and celebrities in the same section but now it happens all the time.