However, what makes Diana’s story enchanting were not her lovers, rivals or her ex-husband, but how she survived the Camilla Parker moments of her life to become a great icon of our media-driven times. It would be tempting but dishonest to dismiss Diana's charitable causes as a free-floating global celebrity's part time hobby, her acclaimed "power of touching" merely a tabloid fantasy. The Princess was genuine in her concern and sensitive to the pains of strangers. She would pay regular hospital visits to dying AIDS patients and would meet their grieving relatives after their death.
Diana’s transformation from an unhappy Mary Antoinette in Sony walkman to a Mother Teresa in Versace remains a fantastic biography of the late 20th century. This Oprah-free Oprah Winfrey Show lasted for 16 long years. From walking the aisle of St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1981 to stepping into the dangerous landmines of Africa in 1997, Diana shimmered in various kaleidoscopic moments.
In July of 1981 at St. Paul’s Cathedral, she began her affair with the world in a wedding dress made of silk taffeta, ivory tulle and lace with a 25-foot long train. In 1997 in Angola, she made a deep impression in body armour over white cotton shirt, and khaki pants. In between, Diana became both a sinner and saint. She lied and loved, hunted and got hunted; experienced pleasure and pain; suffered low self-esteem and bulimia. Child of a broken family, her home too broke apart. Her dying hours were spent far away from two people she loved most - her sons.
She now lies buried at Althorp, her ancestral home, in an island in the middle of a lake - as lonely in death as she was often in life.
Article comments
1 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Great writing, Mayank. I'd like to think of it as "the thinking man's review of the thinking man’s Diana trash." Well, all except for the naughty bits -- but that's part of the compliment, too, somehow.
2 - bliffle
...and Tina Brown gets my vote as The Thinking Mans Bombshell. Watch the interview by Charlie Rose, the only man in america who looks good in a pinstripe suit.
3 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!