1982: Diana's Fall

[Lovelydiana]

her friends and his friends and the motives of authors and witnesses are not trustworthy for both camps in my opinion.

I agree Australian with that. It is hard to know who to believe.

 

[TheTruth]

Diana wasn't mad. She was just too young to marry Charles (look at William and Kate, they are 25 and after 4 years they broke up ...). I think she was waiting for so much affection (maybe because her mother didn't really gave it to her ...). Charles, who was toughly educated, simply didn't knew how to comfort her and show the affection she wanted. In a relationship, both are "responsible" for the sadness they cause to each other. Maybe it was an act of despair or a simple accident, we will never know. In any case, Charles couldn't hate Diana, his wife, at a point to stay indifferent to her sadness. IMO he really tried to make her happy and Diana tried to BE happy but what they endured in their childhood (for Diana a mother a little alcoholic and for Charles a very strict education) may have touched them more deeply than they thought.

 

[sirhon11234]

I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Avalon]

Diana wasn't mad. She was just too young to marry Charles (look at William and Kate, they are 25 and after 4 years they broke up ...). I think she was waiting for so much affection (maybe because her mother didn't really gave it to her ...). Charles, who was toughly educated, simply didn't knew how to comfort her and show the affection she wanted. In a relationship, both are "responsible" for the sadness they cause to each other. Maybe it was an act of despair or a simple accident, we will never know. In any case, Charles couldn't hate Diana, his wife, at a point to stay indifferent to her sadness. IMO he really tried to make her happy and Diana tried to BE happy but what they endured in their childhood (for Diana a mother a little alcoholic and for Charles a very strict education) may have touched them more deeply than they thought.

Very well put, TheTruth!
I completely agree with you on basically all points. Marriage is a game of two and it takes the will of both sides to manage a successful one.

 

[acdc1]

i think diana was a good number of things when she threw herself down the stairs, and after as well.

She was depressed, who knows what about, she had so many bad things going on at that time. the hormones from her pregnancy may have contributed as well. She probably already had the deep-rooted phsychological problems, and was maybe even a little mentally ill. she needed love, care, and help, and she just wasn't getting it from charles or anybody else.

 

[MARG]

I believe "the fall" was an accidental trip down two or three stairs. She would have had to have been psychotic to try to commit suicide in such a way. She would never have risked damaging or loosing her child, injuring herself severely or even killing herself.

At that time Diana was a force to be reckoned with, and she knew it. Even she herself was ambiguous as to the "facts" as her notes to Andrew Morton versus her later interviews showed.

IMO it was nothing more than an unplanned temper tantrum that could have been a lot worse than it was. It did, however, in later retelling, become a club with which to beat Charles.

Such are the basis for one of the many myths and fables of this lady's life.

 

[tenngirl]

I believe "the fall" was an accidental trip down two or three stairs. She would have had to have been psychotic to try to commit suicide in such a way. She would never have risked damaging or loosing her child, injuring herself severely or even killing herself.

At that time Diana was a force to be reckoned with, and she knew it. Even she herself was ambiguous as to the "facts" as her notes to Andrew Morton versus her later interviews showed.

Marg,
Why was she a force to be reckoned with? Because she was pregnant with the heir?
Tenngirl

 

[MARG]

Marg,
Why was she a force to be reckoned with? Because she was pregnant with the heir?
Tenngirl

By the time Diana was pregnant for the first time she was already a 'superstar'. She had an adoring public that watched every move she made, every dress she wore, every hat, every hair style. Every little thing she did was plastered over the pages of the adoring Tabloids and Women's magazines. She was a walking fashion icon and being pregnant just meant 'pregnancy' fashion = more money etc.

To be honest, I don't think she really even understood the power she had, at that time.

Having met her briefly I was amazed at the sheer charisma she exuded. To this day I have never seen a photograph of her that came close to capturing the breathtaking beauty of her smile and it's irresistable magnetism. Men, irrespective of age or status just seemed to be reduced to gaping adoring puppydogs. Women either wanted to adopt her or emulate her.

All in all, pretty potent stuff. The stuff that dreams are made of, and everyone wanted to be part of that dream.

 

[Suonymona]

According to the new Tina Brown book, Diana accidentally stumbled and the whole "suicide fall" was a story for Morton's book; one that was changed from HM the Queen finding her to the Queen Mother to avoid problems.

NOT my opinion, just what Tina Brown is now claiming.

 

[TheTruth]

Here's one part of the documentary "the Secret Tapes" where Diana talk about that fall :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIHf97m1UiA

In that declaration, she says that she actually threw herself down the stairs ...

 

[sassie]

Here's one part of the documentary "the Secret Tapes" where Diana talk about that fall :
In that declaration, she says that she actually threw herself down the stairs ...

Yes, but at the time, she will still perpetuating the myths in the Morton book. At a later date, she told friends that she had slipped, which was more likely the truth. The maternal instinct to protect the child within is very strong.

In any case, as one eyewitness later said-it wasn't a flight of stairs. It was three wide, shallow steps. Whether she slipped intentionally or accidentally, it wasn't as nearly as dramatic an event as hurling herself headfirst down an entire flight of stairs. As a suicide attempt, it's a non starter-I can't imagine anyone would think they could commit suicide falling down three steps.

 

[TheTruth]

Thanks Sassie for the info . I was thinking of something like this but it was still a little confused in my head .

 

[hibou]

Properly medicated? -- No I do agree the marriage was a grave mistake. Had Diana NOT become Mrs. charles Windsor, she would have been alive today!

Yes she probably would still be alive but she would still have problems although she would have been able to get help sooner than she did.

 

[HRH Kimetha]

The maternal instinct to protect the child within is very strong. .

Sometimes, though, when a psychological ill mother sees or feels that what she may be carrying is more important than she is through her own perception, she will "use" the unborne child as a manipulative means to get what she wants; therefore, she gains power through the unborne child, especially an heir to a throne.

 

[sassie]

Yes, but in this case, by her own admission, she didn't. She said that several times. She said it to Rosa Monckton, she said to Lucia Flecha de Lima, she said to Lana Marks...she said it to several people who have all gone on record to say that she said it. She slipped down three steps. I recall it when it happened-it was not the huge event that it has since been made out to be. She was being far more manipulative-and making a much stronger attempt to gain power over Charles-by dramatizing the event to Andrew Morton than she was in 1981.

The "suicide attempts" that Diana reported to Andrew Morton have to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[HRH Kimetha]

I agree with you, Sassie. I was commenting on the "maternal instinct" that sometimes the "maternal instinct" givens way to manipulation of the mother to get something.

 

[sassie]

I agree with you, Sassie. I was commenting on the "maternal instinct" that sometimes the "maternal instinct" givens way to manipulation of the mother to get something.

Well, that's true, although it generally doesn't involve doing something that might cost the life of the unborn child.

 

[Lovelydiana]

Yes I also agreee it hass also been said in a book called Diana: IN Pravte The Princess Nobody Knows Lady Colin Campbell has also said that her attepts to slit her wrists were also not true because she was in the public eye so much adn if she had hurt herself in that wat the public would have seen it.

 

[ghost_night554]

Yes, but in this case, by her own admission, she didn't. She said that several times. She said it to Rosa Monckton, she said to Lucia Flecha de Lima, she said to Lana Marks...she said it to several people who have all gone on record to say that she said it. She slipped down three steps. I recall it when it happened-it was not the huge event that it has since been made out to be. She was being far more manipulative-and making a much stronger attempt to gain power over Charles-by dramatizing the event to Andrew Morton than she was in 1981.

The "suicide attempts" that Diana reported to Andrew Morton have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Do you know a link where I could find an article or something of them talking about it?

 

[Duchess]

so right. statistically speaking, there's a couple of other things - suicide attempts aren't carried out in the presence of others and throwing yourself down the stairs is unlikely to be successful as a means of ending one's life and even if it were, women don't normally choose a method so "violent" (for lack of a better word). diana's "attempts" were a cry for attention.

 

[ghost_night554]

I still can't see how she cut herself wouldn't the marks have shown on photos?

 

[Mermaid1962]

Cuts on her legs and torso could have been hidden except when she was in a bathing suit, and in that case the photographers couldn't get too close. It would be interesting to look at photos and see whether there were times when her evening gowns had her particularly covered up.

I still can't see how she cut herself wouldn't the marks have shown on photos?

 

[ghost_night554]

hmmm true I never thought about that I think I remember reading an article on dailymail from Sarah Bradford's book and she mentioned that the cuts would show on the pictures but now that I think about it your right.

 

[Skydragon]

hmmm true I never thought about that I think I remember reading an article on dailymail from Sarah Bradford's book and she mentioned that the cuts would show on the pictures but now that I think about it your right.

Even shallow cuts would probably have left scarring, none of which seems to be visible on any of the photo's published in the media, of Diana in sleeveless outfits, swimsuits and bikinis. Scars do not always tan over and make up would be ineffective if swimming or diving.

 

[pinkie40]

Diana tended to exaggerate when it got her sympathy for the difficult corners she found herself in every now and then. She was not a fully integrated personality in an old fashioned system full of protocol and rules teamed with a narcissitic husband who was in love with someone else.

A rough spot for anyone to find themselves in so I am sure Diana's anxiety and comfort levels were not what they should have been.

So what matters is what Diana interpreted the situation to be.

Now whether it was a full fledged, dramatic tumble and roll down an exquisite and ancient staircase or if was merely a slip of a few steps, only the witnesses know the truth and they haven't decided to clear up the mess, probably out of a lot of guilt, imo.

 

[Elspeth]

From sassie's post, it appears that at least one eyewitness has given an account of what happened, and it doesn't seem to tally with the Princess's story, at least the one she told Morton.

 

[Mermaid1962]

I'm thinking that she would have got medical help very soon after cutting herself. She was The Princess of Wales and so was seldom, if ever, really alone. If the cuts were fairly superficial, they would have healed okay as long as they were taken care of soon after occuring. I had some cuts after a car accident, and the only scar that I have is a cut that I didn't know about until I'd gotten home and undressed for bed.

Even shallow cuts would probably have left scarring, none of which seems to be visible on any of the photo's published in the media, of Diana in sleeveless outfits, swimsuits and bikinis. Scars do not always tan over and make up would be ineffective if swimming or diving.

 

[Duchess]

i remember the cutting stories but i don't recall her saying that she cut herself anywhere other than her chest and torso. the reason the the chest and torso areas stand out is because i remember immediately thinking that she couldn't have been making any serious attempts. did she actually say that she cut herself on her arms and legs?

 

[ghost_night554]

^I'm trying to think wasn't the legs cutting the one she supposedly did with a pen according to the tapes or am I thinking of the wrong one.

Even shallow cuts would probably have left scarring, none of which seems to be visible on any of the photo's published in the media, of Diana in sleeveless outfits, swimsuits and bikinis. Scars do not always tan over and make up would be ineffective if swimming or diving.

That's true as well, ok now I'm confused lol

From sassie's post, it appears that at least one eyewitness has given an account of what happened, and it doesn't seem to tally with the Princess's story, at least the one she told Morton.

ya and sassie also said her friends have gone on the record about it, although I can't find any articles anywhere of them talking about it, only Bradford's book mentions that the story was actually different then what she told Morton.

 

[cait]

The Morton book version of what happened has always sounded odd to me. A bruised stomach? What did she do, fall right onto her stomach? Neat trick, knowing how to do that & knowing the baby wouldn't be lost.

It always sounded like exagerration, as do the slitting wrists claims. Is it Colin Campnell's book where there's a claim she once tried cutting herself with a grater or a fruit peeler or something? Seems these were cries for help but never serious self-inury.