Queen of Hearts Diana

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It seemed to pass unnoticed by the vast majority yesterday, but the memory is still vivid of that awful moment, just after midnight August 31 1997,when Diana, Princess of Wales, was involved in that horrific Paris tunnel car crash which led to her death shortly afterwards.

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The horror, shock and simple disbelief that gripped the entire western world was a palpable force, so incredibly powerful that when her family, the Spencers, established a charitable fund in her name, $150 million worth of donations poured in within the first week.

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Diana was the first royal to break the mould of pomp and mystery surrounding the royal family, truly bringing a human touch to contact with the public, something they valued so much she was known as the people’s princess, much loved by all.

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Diana was undoubtedly, in the eyes of the British public, a victim of her own goodness, married to a man whose heart belonged elsewhere, struggling with weight problems and issues of and self-esteem, made worse by the humiliation of her very public divorce from Prince Charles, yet she still shone like a beacon.

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Bulimia and depression dogged her life, made public by an avaricious press, whose hunger for news was blamed for the car chase that led to her death, yet she was incredibly selfless. Her deep compassion about AIDS, in the early 80s, and her willingness to hug victims at a time of public paranoia about such contact, helped change the way AIDS patients were treated and endeared her even more to the public.

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As the 80s ended, she then put her life at risk often in her campaign highlighting the horror of land-mine overuse and efforts to outlaw the weapons, which led to a Nobel Peace prize in 1997.  What most appealed to everyone about this amazing woman was the simple fact of how contradictory she was.

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Born into a very wealthy family, she nonetheless had the common touch, and was fiercely independent, dropping out of school, and taking work as nanny, teacher’s aide, and housekeeper, despite the family wealth, and she would often take the unheard of step of being a royal prepared to wear jeans in public.

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Diana hated the press, but knew how to play them, dropping 30 pounds after Prince William was born and becoming fashionably thin, and prepared to drop in and visit cancer, AIDS, and leprosy patients when there was no press present, her activism seemingly truly rooted in genuine concern, creating a public image of powerful popularity, much to the disgust of the royal family.

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The biggest change that this iconic woman effected was that within the royal family itself, who could no longer distance themselves from the British people. Forced, by public opinion, to accept that her wayward ex-daughter-in-law was beloved, on The day prior to the September 6th internment Queen Elizabeth not only made a public statement expressing the family grief, but also ordered the Buckingham Palace flag to half-mast, breaking with a 1000 year-old tradition of an honor reserved for reigning monarchs only in the past.

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I was among the millions who wept buckets that day, because this incredible woman had touched me just as much as the rest of the world, her tragedy and selflessness a lesson to us all, and the cruelty of her untimely death especially poignant as she had once again, apparently found love, only to have it so savagely ripped away.

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Hard to believe that 14 years have now passed since that terrible night, but the memory of this iconic lady will always burn bright, and the Elton John tribute song, based on Candle in the Wind, about Marilyn Monroe, will forever be remembered as the epitaph of a tragic, beautiful princess who deserved so much more in life. R.I.P. Diana, you will forever be the peoples princess, and we your humble fans.