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As a child, my passion was reading; in fact, my family called me a bookworm. I loved mysteries, especially detective stories. My favorite by far was Nancy Drew. I loved the adventures of Nancy, Bess, George, and Ned. Another passion was for fairytales; however, I would always skip the scary or dangerous parts to get to the last part, where they get married and live happily ever after. I must admit I never thought about what their life would be after they get married or what "happily ever after" really meant. It was not surprising then when watching "The Princess," the new documentary about Princess Diana, which used only archival footage to tell her story, that when they mentioned "Happily Ever After," that is what has stayed with me, and has played on my mind.
The royal wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer was a huge spectacle before a world audience, Diana in a huge dress (hideous in my opinion) marrying her prince "charming." What in most cases looked like a wedding scene straight out of a fairytale, upon closer inspection from the archival footage, one could see the cracks, fleeting moments when the turmoil on the inside came to the surface on the faces of both Diana and Charles. The sad, almost embarrassed smiles gave away what was to come. This was not the beginning of “happily ever after” this was the beginning of a nightmare, Diane Spencer's nightmare.
In the Documentary series "The Me You Can't See," Prince Harry shared about the helplessness he felt as a child watching his mother chased by paparazzi, too young to protect her from the onslaught of press intrusion, nasty and vindictive articles. Too young to protect her from the sinister plots of spiteful palace courtiers, or "The Men in Grey," as Diana called them. Men employed by the monarchy to serve the Queen and the heirs to the throne, men who seem intent on destroying anyone whose fame undercuts that of the heirs. I can only imagine the horror he must have felt watching it all play out in front of him, but he was far too young to fully comprehend the huge role his own father's jealousy and the Windsor clan's spitefulness played in their attempt to destroy his mother's life.
Watching Princess Diana's life, reputation, good heart, great work, every movement, and facial expressions scrutinized, mocked, and ripped to threads for no reason other than mean-spiritedness was sickening. Watching entitled reporters invade her privacy and declaring they were given reassurance that she was a virgin, others scrutinized her weight and accused her of being fame hungry because tabloids plastered her pictures in their papers, while others claimed she was demanding and domineering with Prince Charles. When paparazzi camped outside her gym, members of the public blamed her for not having a gym at Kensington Palace. They blamed her when paparazzi on a boat invaded her privacy and photographed a private moment, a kiss with Dodi El Fayed, her boyfriend; they claimed that she wanted this photo out there, she wanted to send a message.
The lack of respect and gross misogyny by British reporters and commentators was appalling; to them, she wasn't human but a piece of meat to maul, feed on and discard as they wished. With no thought to her feelings, they broadcasted she was just a babymaker for Charles, that the marriage was just one of convenience. By the end, the press, so confident they could abuse her with impunity, labeled her practically a monster. So confident because they had the approval of the monarchy, that invisible contract between the press and the Monarchy that is at play to this day.
For anyone not living on Mars, it is not hard to see that the same beasts of the British press have found a new victim in Princess Diana’s daughter-in-law, Princess Meghan. Using the same narrative, the same tactics, and in some cases, the same words, these beasts have been feeding on Meghan and now Harry for the past six years.
As I watched the archival footage of what the British Press and the Palace did to Princess Diana, I, too, felt that sense of helplessness. Helpless to aid a woman I did not know but who I loved from afar and now love through her son Harry. I, too, was powerless to do anything. I could not go back in time and fight for her. I sat there wishing, as Mariah Carey did in her book, ‘The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” that Diana had a fandom when she was alive, people who would fight for her, who would stand in the gap and beat back the rabid press pack, their monstrous paparazzi and the Royal Family who willingly colluded with them to destroy her.
Mariah, in relating to Diana, said, "She had that look—the dull terror of never being left alone burning behind her eyes. We were both like cornered animals in couture," she went on to say, "[On social media] our fans can come to our defense, bring all the receipts, and create a united front so strong then no bland host or commentator, or ravenous paparazzi can even begin to compete with their influence. We are the media. I only wish Princess Di had lived long enough to have Instagram or Twitter. I wish she had lived to see the people become the press." -As reported by Harpers Bazaar.
How less lonely her life could have been if she knew how many people around the world loved and fought for her.
As I reflect on the documentary, I think about what I wish I could tell her. I would tell her about the Sussex Squad. I would tell her that we love her, that we hear her every word, and that we believe her, that we are fighting for her so that her words will be heard and her voice will not be silenced. I would tell her that we love her son Harry and his family, Meghan, Archie, and Lili Diana. I would tell her that we are standing in the gap for them, fighting the British Press, the Palace, and those men in grey every day, calling out their lies and hypocrisy in a way we wished we could have fought for her. We are also calling out Prince Charles and Camilla for how they treated her. I would tell her about the younger generation, the Tik Tok generation, who have jumped headfirst into royal history, and they, too, are speaking up for her. I would tell her how inspiring and impacting it is to watch her work and her heart live on in her son, Harry. I would thank her for implanting her heart into him. I would tell her that her wish had come true, that twenty-five years later, she is the Queen of People's Hearts. 💟👑
Sources :
Mariah Carey: "The Meaning Of Mariah Carey" 2020
Poster: The Princess Documentary (HBO Original) 2022
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13393128/
BiancaBetancourt: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a34206676/mariah-carey-recalls-princess-diana-in-new-memoir/ 2020
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