You might know Princess Diana best by her “Revenge Dress”, or the fact that she was on track to become Queen of England, but she was so much more. Her story is more than what anyone makes it out to be. As well as her entrance to the family, her activism and humanity, and even her death were all impactful. Many say the monarchy is the way it is today because of the great strides Princess Diana made although we may be able to speculate about what might have been if events didn’t unfold the way they did, the British royal family is still doing well.
16 year old Diana Spencer first laid eyes on Charles at a party while he was 29. Later, Charles would retell the meeting in a 1981 Engagement interview with BBC’s Angela Rippon and ITV’s Andrew Gardener. “I remember thinking what a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was. I mean, great fun, and bouncy and full of life and everything.” They didn’t see each other much after, as Diana’s older sister was seeing Charles. 2 years later after Charles had gone through many personal hardships, they met again and developed a relationship. They were to get married with him aged 32 and her 20.
After their engagement was announced, Diana was thrown into the life of a public figure. Although she didn’t treat it like every other royal family member treated it, she helped others, and gained the adoration of the world. Princess Diana would specifically help elderly and children. Generally, she would do whatever needed to be done and was always a helping hand. In the 1980s, AIDS was popularly stigmatized, and everyone was scared and thinking it was highly contagious by touch. Princess Diana had publicly shaken bare hands with an AIDS patient. Which made huge strides in destigmatization and changed how people thought about AIDS. One of our school librarians, Mrs. Ivory, shares Princess Diana’s impact on her life, “Because, you know, I think a lot of people have opinions about homeless people, people with AIDS, and she normalized that for them and made them see that these are just people. And that had an influence on me as a younger person because I was younger then too, to just look at people differently, look at them for who they are and not put labels on them necessarily. And that, I think, was one of the biggest things that I appreciated about her.” During the last year of her life, Princess Diana had a landmine walk, drawing the public’s attention to the urgency about landmines and their destruction. Carrying on her legacy after death, her two sons continued to support charity, donating thousands of dollars in honor of their mother, knowing that is what she would’ve wanted.
In the latter of 1997, long after her divorce with Charles and after her shortly lived relationship with Dodi Fayed, Princess Diana got into a car crash, ultimately killing her. After asking a Broad Run government and civics teacher, Mrs. Armani, she said, “She had just gotten divorced in the early 90s and it just, you know, just her trauma with everything… with Camilla’s and Charles’s affair and everything. It was just like, the classic tragedy of a fairy tale, knowing that she’s actually gone completely, almost like you’re blowing out a candle.” The public took it as well as anyone would. Blaming the paparazzi tailing her that night, blaming the royal family for not treating her well enough, etc. Her actions while she was alive and her death would not be forgotten. To this day, she stays as the most popular royal family member, even after divorce and death. In a YouGov poll, it is said that she outranks every other alive member of the royal family even after almost 30 years of no new press or vitality.
After Princess Diana’s tragic removal, the British family is still doing well. After Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022, Charles took over the throne and is now King Charles and is no longer the Prince of Wales. His wife and queen is Camilla, who were both shamed in public after they had gotten together once Princess Diana was gone. King Charles is currently struggling with an undisclosed cancer, at age 77. On the other hand, Queen Camila, age 78 has recently recovered from cancer. Other than the Meghan Markle and Prince Harry issues, the British royal family is doing steady as we wish them and their citizens the best.
Although yes, Princess Diana had many iconic outfits and moments, she was also a well rounded, good hearted person. Even though she was so young was introduced to the spotlight, in light of all of her struggles she did the best she could, and better than we would. Her charitable actions had impacts that are still helping today, and from most all you will hear is them singing her praise. She cared about the British people, and citizens from everywhere. We can only hope the royal family moves forward still holding her morals and sentimentality.
