2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
It's Time To Let Princess Diana Go
Dafna Laskin
Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: Commentary
It has been 10 years now since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and still the coverage persists. Conspiracy theorists and family members alike insist it was an imperial plot against the princess - an attempt by the stuffy, reticent monarchy to do away with a young woman whose vibrancy and selflessness impeded the royal family's ability to ignore the humanity and plight of the real world. And so the glamorous mother of two was murdered in cold blood on that fateful Parisian summer night, leaving a nation in mourning and the world in shock.
How seamlessly this story is sewn together, flawless down to all the last details: that Prince Phillip thought at the time that Diana was pregnant with boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed's baby, expediting the murder; that driver Henri Paul, the acting security manager at the Ritz, who witnesses claimed did not appear to be intoxicated as he escorted Diana to the car that night, had a blood alcohol level three times the French legal limit; and finally, that paparazzi were chasing the car, inciting Paul to speed into the Place de l'Alma, the underpass in which the car crashed.
It would seem that very few people are able to take Diana's death as the accident that it was - a tragedy sure, but a mishap nonetheless. All of Britain, paralyzed by news of the princess' passing, turned out en masse for the funeral, where an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide watched the procession on their televisions. The audience was inevitable considering the world's love affair with Diana, who had overcome an embarrassingly public divorce from a cold and unfaithful husband to devote her life to charity work.
Of course it didn't hurt her popularity that in a generally unattractive monarchy, Diana was a beacon of alluring beauty whose genes have thankfully found their way into her two young sons, William and Harry. Indeed, her beauty is often the first thing interviewees praise her for, usually ahead of her work with landmine victims or health agencies. And she was young, a change of pace in a royal family led by an eternally ancient, often ornery-looking queen whose gaze, one imagines, could freeze a room. In short, the Princess was just the right face at the right time.
How seamlessly this story is sewn together, flawless down to all the last details: that Prince Phillip thought at the time that Diana was pregnant with boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed's baby, expediting the murder; that driver Henri Paul, the acting security manager at the Ritz, who witnesses claimed did not appear to be intoxicated as he escorted Diana to the car that night, had a blood alcohol level three times the French legal limit; and finally, that paparazzi were chasing the car, inciting Paul to speed into the Place de l'Alma, the underpass in which the car crashed.
It would seem that very few people are able to take Diana's death as the accident that it was - a tragedy sure, but a mishap nonetheless. All of Britain, paralyzed by news of the princess' passing, turned out en masse for the funeral, where an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide watched the procession on their televisions. The audience was inevitable considering the world's love affair with Diana, who had overcome an embarrassingly public divorce from a cold and unfaithful husband to devote her life to charity work.
Of course it didn't hurt her popularity that in a generally unattractive monarchy, Diana was a beacon of alluring beauty whose genes have thankfully found their way into her two young sons, William and Harry. Indeed, her beauty is often the first thing interviewees praise her for, usually ahead of her work with landmine victims or health agencies. And she was young, a change of pace in a royal family led by an eternally ancient, often ornery-looking queen whose gaze, one imagines, could freeze a room. In short, the Princess was just the right face at the right time.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
jb
posted 9/07/07 @ 6:34 PM EST
Diana was killed this was not an accident. No, she should not be forgotten. BECAUSE THE ROYAL FAMILY, who is highly respected had a major part in her death. (Continued…)
Jacquelyne Sanders
posted 9/07/07 @ 7:47 PM EST
Sorry, but "icons" are not forgotten, they live on forever. Diana will always be the mother of the future King of England and thanks to her, the monarchy has changed a great deal. (Continued…)
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