Princess Diana of Wales - Long Live the Queen of Hearts
From a numerological perspective, the last thousand years were marked by the Number One (1) which rules male (Yang) energy. This current thousand year is marked by the number Two (2) which governs female (Yin) energy. It was during the transition of these millennia that the destiny of Diana Frances Spencer, Princess of Wales, exerted enormous significance.
From an esoteric point of view, it was Princess Diana's cosmic purpose - through her extremely public life and death - to assist people in an unconscious way on a global level to adjust to the intrinsic energies and characteristics of the new millennium. Her life was a clear signal that it was out with the old energy of the 1 and in with the new energy of the 2.
This was one of Diana Frances Spencer's great gifts to the world - she was a bridge between the rigidity and single-mindedness of the 1st Millennium and the yielding and together-mindedness of the 2nd Millennium. Diana recognized there were others in the world and she reached out to them from her royal position, an act which many people not only respected but revered.
Diana felt. She expressed her feelings openly and unashamedly to the people she served and which the monarchy served through her. She touched people, she made them feel they were together in one family. She cared, she was sensitive and receptive to their needs, feelings, and desires. She was in touch, not just with them but with the rapidly advancing tidal wave of energy that was the oncoming 2nd Millennium.
How many times during the aftermath of her death was Princess Diana referred to as The People's Princess and The Queen of Hearts? Truly, she needed no throne, for she sat on the one throne which moves people more than any other - the Throne of Hearts.
In recognition of her personal power, the Union Jack, the flag of the British Empire, was lowered to half-mast in respect of Diana after her death. This had never been done in the one-thousand-year existence of the British Empire. It was a truly remarkable gesture when one considers the rich legacy of English history and an Empire so vast that upon which, at one time, "the sun never set." When one thinks of the cavalcade of great, auspicious, prodigious, and prominent personalities which England has given to the world through the likes of Winston Churchill - possibly the greatest statesman of the Twentieth Century; William Shakespeare - the greatest playwright of recorded history; Isaac Newton - arguably the greatest scientist in history; Dr. Samuel Johnson - first author of the dictionary of the English language; Alexander Pope, Francis Bacon, Percy Shelly, John Keats, Admiral Nelson, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Rudyard Kipling and on and on and on - personalities for whom the flag was never lowered on their behalf - it is remarkable indeed that it was lowered for one Diana Francis Spencer. One has to marvel at the power of a person who, in just sixteen years, could so move the world and her nation's leadership that she did what no other of her countrymen could do in their entire lifetimes and beyond - honor their passing with the lowering of the Union Jack to half-mast.
This flag gesture is important because it demonstrates what the 2nd Millennium addresses - others, their feelings, and emotions. It was the will of the people, people whom Diana touched, that forced that flag to be positioned in such a manner. And why? Because Diana touched them to such a degree and in such a way they felt compelled, through love, compassion, and respect, to demand a change in British convention and monarchical disposition regardless of what the last thousand years had postulated or protocol dictated.
There is another important aspect to the Union Jack being lowered to half-mast on Diana's death and that is in its symbolism. When a flag is not lowered but kept at the apex of its pole, it signifies oneness, and in the case of Great Britain, the unity and solidarity of the nation, which is why it was never lowered for other esteemed English icons. However, when a flag is dropped to half-mast, it virtually cuts the pole (the 1) into two sections signifying 'others'. The number 2 also indicates relationship, support, togetherness, teamwork, cooperation. In a cosmic way, this is what the Union Jack flying at half-mast in tribute of Diana's life and death was signifying - the emergence of a new set of principles and standards - ideas based on others, relationship, cooperation, support, and all that the yin symbolizes. It is also interesting to note that Diana's numerology chart was heavily saturated in 2 energy. She was an extremely people-oriented person.
Additionally, in further support of this idea, Queen Elizabeth bowed her head as Diana's coffin passed en route to her burial. How often has this happened at the death of one of England's own? And, yes, it was humanistically right and proper for her to do so and would have been humanistically improper if she had not done so. Once we lose our humanity in place of sovereignty, we lose our nobility, respectability, honorability, and humanity. We all die, and to dis-acknowledge another in their death is to ensure our own dis-acknowledgment at the time of our death. To disacknowledge Diana at the time of her passing would be insensitive, cold, heartless, and even cruel. Again, this action of the Queen was highly commendable and also commensurate with the energies of the then oncoming millennium. It showed sensitivity, compassion, and feeling even if it were encased in the seemingly unfeeling demeanor of a passing age.
One very poignant occurrence during her funeral procession was the five-man entourage following her casket. This was composed of her two sons and potential Kings of England - William and Harry, her ex-husband, Prince Charles - a potential King of England, Prince Philip - the Queen's husband, and her brother Charles, Earl Spencer. This may have been perceived simply as a loving gesture, which it most certainly was, but it was also a symbolic 'ushering in' of the feminine principle of the oncoming 2nd Millennium. There was no female presence behind that casket, only male. This was certainly an acknowledgment of the passing of the torch from the masculine to the feminine, not necessarily in gender but in principle.
Diana's power was most visible in the simple dialogue of common people in the wake of her death. As we all saw and heard, it was Diana's warmth, her love, compassion, kindness, sensitivity to the plight of others, and her genuine feeling for people, in general, that was the topic of conversation in those heart-rendering days following her tragic accident on 31 August 1997. No one talked about her academic prowess because she had none. In fact, she had failed her 'O Levels' twice. She was not a heroic general, an acclaimed scientist, noted author, or celebrated politician. She was English Royalty for a time, but it was not her status that people commented on. In fact, it was her absence of a feeling of status and superiority which endeared her to such a vast array of many different kinds and types of people.
In celebration of Diana, David Miller, Former British Heritage Secretary, said, She had compassion. Diana's brother, Charles, Earl Spencer stated during her funeral, All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity, a standard-bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden. The Very Reverend Dr. Wesley Carr, Dean of Westminster, who presided over Diana's funeral, commented, In her death, she commands the sympathy of millions, and Andrew Neil, former editor of the "Times of London," exclaimed, She has set a new standard for a modern monarchy (reference: Blueprint of a Princess: Diana Frances Spencer - Queen of Hearts).
From these quotes, it is easy to see that it was Diana's ability to touch others, to be human, to be feeling, compassionate, concerned, and the kind which molded her uniqueness, endeared her to millions and generated, through the force of her natural living and being, a legacy which may well regard her as the Mother and Matriarch of Britain's future.
However, would Diana's life have continued to have the amazing impact it has had and most likely will have if she had died in old age after a rich and full life? We'll never know. But one can never underestimate the powerful, long-lasting effect of a person's life and works when that person is taken from among our midst in what appears to be premature death, especially in a violent and tragic manner.
We all have a sense of loss when a person dies young and violently. But such a loss often generates a memory that is not easily forgotten and, in fact, tends to immortalize such a one when a later, more natural death would not. Think of the deaths of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, President John Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Too, we tend to remember the person more and the causes for which they worked so selflessly and sincerely when death comes early, unexpectedly, and tragically.
To be a millennia bridge it was necessary for Diana to die young and tragically. William Shakespeare's tragic play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is the most famous and replicated of all his tragedies. Why? Because it, too, like the tragedy of Diana, focused on the theme of youth dying young and tragically. Like humans, these stories compel us to remember and not easily forget.
Most importantly, one can be sure that Diana's offspring, one of whom will no doubt be the King of England, will not forget! Prince William and Prince Harry had their mother steal from them at a very impressionable age, an age in which tragic events are not forgotten and which, likewise, create foundations of future expression. Had Diana died in her seventies, for example, it is questionable whether her impression upon her children and the works she left to the world would have had the same intense impact and effect. By dying young, the intensity, sincerity, and purity of her message of compassion, kindness, caring, sincerity, honesty, and genuine humanity which she conveyed to the British people and the world while alive, will live through her son, the future King of England, and by so doing have a dramatic effect and impact on the future of this proud and stately nation. This is why, among her other titles, she may also be called the Mother or Matriarch of Britain's future.
England's people loved Diana. To them, she has become the Queen of Hearts, The People's Princess, the Princess of Love. The importance of her loving ways will, no doubt, be even more dramatic as England's future unfurls, especially if the royal monarchy remains intact. Through her son William, England's future King, her understanding of people, of others, and of compassion will, hopefully, live on to lift the British Empire into the embrace of the 2nd Millennium, passionately evoking from her people the exulting cries of "Long live the King" and, never to be forgotten, "Long live the Queen... of Hearts!"