Princess Diana: A legend in our lifetime

Even those not enamoured of the Empire that had shrunk to just a set of islands by the end of the last century were enchanted by Diana, Princess of Wales. It is actually hard to imagine that in the era before the worldwide web, without smartphones and social media, a tall, dewy “English Rose” had captured the imagination of people around the globe.

Just what is it about this woman, who was in the public eye for only 16 years that has made her an icon of her time? It cannot be just her beauty as celebrity circles are never short of that virtue. Ditto glamour and beautiful clothes. Indeed, her daughter-in-law has all those attributes too, and has been in the spotlight for just two years less.

But Kate simply isn’t Diana. Was it because Diana made people believe –if ever so briefly –that fairytales can come true, thanks to the Disney-ish cast of her ‘romance’ with Prince Charles and that grand wedding in a billowy white silk dress and diamond tiara? Her shiny hair, limpid blue eyes and peachy cheeks were the stuff of schoolgirl fantasies, as was her sudden engagement to a future king.

Even these days, in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of her death, I find myself reading those re-runs of her life, times, loves, lovers, hates, heartbreaks, family holidays, denouements, dresses, hats and final moments with keen interest. And when I post them on social media, the many ‘likes’ from my friends reaffirm the hold the ‘People’s Princess’ still has on us.

I couldn’t believe my ears but the TV confirmed it. So that Sunday was spent glued to the TV, seeing images of her engagement, wedding, motherhood, separation, divorce, charity work – none of which were actually unfamiliar to me.

She died as she lived, in the public eye. For millions like me, it was as if Diana had grown up in front of us. We saw the innocence 20 year old’s gaze give way to awareness of star power in a few short years, as her blonde mane became sleeker, her make-up and clothes more assertive. Then came a defiant look, disillusionment, despair, ineffable sadness and finally a devil-may-care disregard.

Though she was a glamazon who lived a life of unbelievable razzle-dazzle, she managed, contrarily, to seem so much like us. Perhaps many in her– my –generation had similar trajectories; or at least some parts of their life experiences concurred with her’s. So ordinary people, much to their own amazement, could see something of themselves in a princess. That she did not follow through on the trade-off – a secure and comfortable life as a princess in return for unquestioning obedience to the stifling and almost loveless rules of royalty—gathered her more fans.

That a once-tongue-tied ingénue could find the guts to cock a snook at convention, struck a chord in lands quite far away from her in laws’ domain. No other celebrity in recent times has achieved that degree of connect with the masses, not even politicians or her sons. Instead of deliberately plunging into doomed relationships with men to get back at her unfaithful prince, had Diana taken to politics (impossible, of course) she would have been unstoppable, as the success of her charity work indicates. Diana’s instinctively tactile charm – hugging the poor, underprivileged, ill or dying— was unheard of for a “royal” 20 years ago. Now it is textbook stuff not only for politicians but also the sons she brought up so differently, her picture-perfect daughter-inlaw and other members of her former family. There is no going back to the formal royal hand wave.

Her many flaws only made her more human, more relatable. And if Diana had not died at the age of only 36, her halo may have tarnished eventually. Her bitterness could have taken a toll on her popularity. In good old Indian style, Diana’s relationship with her daughter-inlaw– who obviously has a tremendous hold on her son – may have also dimmed her aura. But those are imponderables.

The ‘candle in the wind’ was snuffed out far too soon for disillusionment. Just like John F Kennedy and his ‘Camelot’ were for another generation, Diana remains frozen in time as a rose-tinted memory. A thousand years ago, her story would have been the stuff of ballads and legends. Sadly, these days we only have social media.