Diana's Relationships with The Queen and Other Members of the Royal Family

[MARG]

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

What she means is that this will be another case of the eternal CDC triangle with the usual Camilla and Charles were horrible to poor little innocent Diana - rather than actually look at the article itself. It is another chance for the bash/defend Camilla and Charles brigade to say the same things they have said for years and the bash/defend Diana brigade to say the same things they have said for years with no one changing their stance.

Unfortunately you are right. Camilla has had the odd nice article written about her and so the have to "balance" things out.

I hate this article as it brings absolutely nothing new to the table and it uses quotes and statements from the the ubiquitous "people" with no names excerpt for Paul Burrell, which is no endorsement of truth. It even goes to far as to quote sources about HM's feelings and the contents of her written correspondence. It is filled with "factoids" with no verification and will inevitable stir the "hate brigade" on both sides. After all this time, no doubt that is it's purpose.

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by Mirabel

I was going by Tina Brown's biog.; she was the one who said the friendship dissolved almost before it got started.

Did she mean at the end of her life? I have always understood that Charles and Diana were forging a friendly rapport just as she died. Am I mistaken?

Originally Posted by Daria_S

I think this may have led to her choosing William as her confidante. Very sad that an adult had to depend on a child for moral support. Of course this is just my guess and I could be very wrong here.

I have worked with children in the US and the unusually intense nature of the relationship between single mothers and sons is often noted. What Diana did with William is not out of the norm - though it is best not to happen, of course (according to some), but life happens, after all. It is what every child of addictive parents (drink or drugs), or any dysfunction, has to deal with. Raises them up fast, makes them older than their years. They lose something - but something is also gained.

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

What she means is that this will be another case of the eternal CDC triangle with the usual Camilla and Charles were horrible to poor little innocent Diana - rather than actually look at the article itself. It is another chance for the bash/defend Camilla and Charles brigade to say the same things they have said for years and the bash/defend Diana brigade to say the same things they have said for years with no one changing their stance.

Well, I did read the article in question (not sure if you were pointing at me but just to be clear) - it is very long and is a curious entwining of the sound and the not-so-sound to the out-and-out fabricated. In sum, it is a very dangerous piece of 'journalism'. I defer to Marge above who states in her post: It is filled with "factoids" with no verification and will inevitably stir the "hate brigade" on both sides. After all this time, no doubt that is it's purpose. My point as well - its meant to stir the pot.

[Mirabel]

Originally Posted by Tyger

Did she mean at the end of her life? I have always understood that Charles and Diana were forging a friendly rapport just as she died. Am I mistaken?

That's what she said in her book: that Diana and Charles started to get along much better, and Diana was thrilled and hoped things would continue to improve.

But she changed her mind when Charles gave that party for Camilla; she was upset by that and the relationship chilled again.

Now, I am not saying this is the absolute truth, just what Tina Brown said in her biog. of Diana. (But I do think the book was basically truthful, though perhaps a little harsh).

[Tyger]

Thank you for the clarification, Mirabel.

Its such a tragic story - really is. Its Greek in its epic tragedy. There are so many lessons to be learned from it. Its like that film from so many years ago - Betrayal I think was the title - that starts at the end of the story and goes backwards so that in that moment at the end of the film when the eventual lovers meet for the first time one wants to say 'no' to them through the screen. This it is with Diana (for me). She was her own worst enemy. I am so familiar with her kind of story - I see it repeated around me endlessly - young women going towards the same precipice. 'No-no' one wants to say - but they will not listen, of course, even if one could collar them.

I know so many believe that Diana today would simply be an older, snappy version of her younger self but there was every indication that in her mid-30's she was prematurely aging. The bulimia was taking its toll - she was having to layer on make-up. We will never know, of course, but I wonder how the olding years would have played out for her and how Charles would have dealt with the situation. Where would have the self-destructive behavior led? The loneliness was palpable.

Here's a picture wherein I see the skin damage becoming visible - even through the heavy make-up. http://tinyurl.com/87so9o8

[Mirabel]

Originally Posted by Tyger

I know so many believe that Diana today would simply be an older, snappy version of her younger self but there was every indication that in her mid-30's she was prematurely aging. The bulimia was taking its toll - she was having to layer on make-up. We will never know, of course, but I wonder how the olding years would have played out for her and how Charles would have dealt with the situation. Where would have the self-destructive behavior led? The loneliness was palpable.

I know what you mean, and I too believe Diana was a very lonely woman. She was at odds with most of her family, had lost just about every friend, was not even seeing so much of her sons once they'd gone away to school.

I remember reading that she fell in with the Fayeds simply because she hadn't many other invitations; the social sphere she'd been born into virtually shut her out after the divorce, preferring to keep in with the RF, while some of the new intimates were around merely to use her and betray her to the press.

I really think that, if she'd lived, she'd have ended up almost as isolated as the Duchess of Windsor, or perhaps like her own mother, with little to sustain her outside of some charity work.

[Zonk]

Let's not speculate one what Diana's life would have become if she had lived but rather stay on topic...and discuss Diana's relatinoship with the Queen and members of the Royal Family.

[olebabs]

I think the animosity between thr BRF and Diana was mainly a story persued by the tabloids. It was allowed to go unreputed by the Royal family, because they never, quite rightly, comment ón their private life. This has made it much easier to print what ever they wanted. My personal opinon is, that the BRF and the Queen in particular had a good relationship with Diana. the Queen is not an idiot, she must have known before hand that C and D had very little in common, but perhaps hadn't expected that Diana was as fragile as she was.

[Al_bina]

If Her Majesty were aware, as you stated, of incompatibility bewteen Prince Charles and then Lady Diana Spencer, why did she allow the union to take place? Was there a hope that Princess of Wales would close her eyes and think about the Great Britain?

[olebabs]

Yes, that is what I think. Or perhaps that because of her youth, that C would be able to form the Young Girl into the kind of wife hé wanted. Diana had the right pedigree and she was a virgin, that was what counted. C should have stood up to his parents and said no.

[Al_bina]

I tend to think each party of this sad union underestimated the other. The BRF hoped that Lady Diana knew the unspoken rules and would not rock the boat. Princess of Wales squandered the star power she had on a petty war with the institution.
It would be fair to say that relationships within the British royal family were polite.

[nascarlucy]

IMO there was a lot about Diana that Prince Charles didn't know and vice versa about each other before they got married. They didn't really know each other very well when they got married.

[olebabs]

Nascarlucy, I think you are right. That is what I meant by writting that her pedigree and her virginity was the most important thing. Had they had the chance like Will and Kate, there is NO doubt in my mind that they would never have gotten married.

[Grandma828]

Diana has been dead a long time. May she rest in peace. What would have happened if she lived will never be known. Speculation is useless.

[MARG]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

If Her Majesty were aware, as you stated, of incompatibility between Prince Charles and then Lady Diana Spencer, why did she allow the union to take place? Was there a hope that Princess of Wales would close her eyes and think about the Great Britain?

Oh, that is rude and unkind to both Diana and Charles. IMO Charles was besotted by that glowing charisma that Diana exuded. Why would he be any different to the majority of men that met her. Unfortunately their differences in nature and temperament were too great to overcome. That is sad. To infer something as vulgar as you have does her an incredible disservice and reduces her to a brainless thing.

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Diana and Charles didn't have the chance to get to know each other. The dated 6 mos and saw each other less than 20 times; in a case like that both parties are still putting on their good dating faces. I truly think that if Charles had gotten to know Diana better he might have never proposed to her. I can't say the same for Diana because she was so young and probably believed in the fantasy enough to think that she could make herself more compatible to him because at 19 she didn't even know who she truly was yet and that someone like Charles wasn't suited to her.

[Al_bina]

Originally Posted by MARG

Oh, that is rude and unkind to both Diana and Charles. IMO Charles was besotted by that glowing charisma that Diana exuded. Why would he be any different to the majority of men that met her. Unfortunately their differences in nature and temperament were too great to overcome. That is sad. To infer something as vulgar as you have does her an incredible disservice and reduces her to a brainless thing.

... rude and unkind ...? It has been said and endlessly repeated in a lofty/direct/diplomatic wording that Prince Charles' interest in Lady Diana was lukewarm at best.

[sirhon11234]

Originally Posted by Grandma828

Diana has been dead a long time. May she rest in peace. What would have happened if she lived will never be known. Speculation is useless.

I agree, at times its morbid one could say with such confidence that her life could have gone wherever with only his or her own personal bias to back them up.

olebabs

It was allowed to go unreputed by the Royal family, because they never, quite rightly, comment ón their private life.

The media is known to exaggerate and paint a rumor as truth so I agree with the BRF not to comment.
I remember reading Tina Brown's bio of the Princess and she wrote somewhere about how one day Charles was in his garden at Highgrove with a friend. And he told this person about the sweater he was wearing. And how Diana had bought it for him and he said she has impeccable taste. Very nice story but I doubt its truthfulness. A member of Charles' inner circle meeting with Brown and speaking of an intimate moment seems a little far fetch. As a journalist student I've never really taken Ms. Brown seriously.

[nascarlucy]

Princess Diana and Prince Charles had a very short courtship (less than a year). The relationship seemed to be rushed. Because Prince Charles was in his early 30's, there was mounting pressure on him to marry and the sooner the better.

If they didn't have the pressure to marry, it would have been interesting to have seen where their relationship would have gone. Or what Princess Diana's relationship with the Queen and other family members might have been in different circumstances. They might have gotten married or they may have gone their separate paths. No one really knows what might have happened in this case.

[MARG]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

... rude and unkind ...? It has been said and endlessly repeated in a lofty/direct/diplomatic wording that Prince Charles' interest in Lady Diana was lukewarm at best.

Tina Brown, Paul Burrell and Andrew Morton et al, could hardly be called reputable sources however, there is absolutely no situation in which I would find your statement at best, distasteful and at worst, utterly repugnant!

I could not disagree with that statement more. When I met them when they visited NZ I can only say what I saw with my own eyes. He was riveted by her as she smiled and charmed her way around the assembled people with her incredible charisma. To me he seemed absurdly proud and totally besotted. I am sad that their relationship did not mature into something more lasting but I have no doubts personally, that at that time, he was as in love with her as she was with him.

[Al_bina]

I actually meant that TRF loyalists of Prince Charles and Camilla,Duchess of Cornwall, said and repeated that Prince Charles' interest was lukewarm. I find your righteous indignation odd at best.