Different Facets of Diana


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I've been rereading my old ROYALTY magazines from the 90s. All the facets of Diana are there, from the publication of Morton's book to her death. It makes for hard yet oddly nostalgic reading. There was Diana in her beauty and humanity, making charity appearances and fighting landmines. Then there was the other side: the initial suspicion and then confirmation that she was the source of HER TRUE STORY; the Hewitt involvement and letters; the obsessive calls to Oliver Hoare and then the pictures of her meeting Richard Kay to deny the allegations; the trips to Welsh rugby matches with her sons and then the news coming out about her relationship with Will Carling; the devastating and unwise Panorama interview. So many of the different sides of Diana were there. She was certainly a more complex character than we expected her to be during the early 80s. :ermm:
 
Well, there are many sides to all of us.
Due to her marriage, Diana went on do so many great things and did a pretty good job in her royal role and as a mother. It was her private life that sucked and was a mess. I'm sure she wished none of that ever happened.
 
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Dman said:
Oh yes, Diana and Charles loved hitting the dance floor together back in the day. Charles don't dance much anymore but he can actually move.
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Huh? Really? How do we know whether or not he does. We don't have any photo's of royal engagements at BP or Balmoral or any private functions. It speaks to the change in lifestyle that there are no photos of William and Catherine dancing during their long Australasian tour or their Canadian tour.

Pranter said:
She would tower over them no matter if she went without shoes...the shoes she is wearing in the photo are regular heels IMO...certainly not high by any stretch.

LaRae
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You have to remember that sky-high stilettos, a la Catherine, were not in vogue back then but Diana's were often on the high side of the trend.

I find it interesting to look at the different facets of Diana and am a little confounded that some feel she was more complex than expected at that time. I would have to disagree. She was no more complex than many, many other people. It is just that her story, her life, was spewed all over the media. She opened a door thinking she was in control and that was it. She unwittingly made herself public property and had zero control over the ensuing train wreck.
 
Yes, I think you're right, Marg. She was briefing the press as early as during her courtship with Prince Charles. She posed for Arthur Edwards before anyone in the wider public even knew who she was (at a polo match during the summer of 1980) and had long chats with James Whitaker that fall. For the first couple of years that she was in the public eye, she got enormously good press. Perhaps this gave her reason to believe that the photographers and journalists would always be on her side and support her--and, though them, the public.

As proof, I highlight this: " In 1980, he was told Charles had brought a girl called Lady Diana Spencer to a polo match. I had no idea what she looked like, so I walked round the park and saw this girl wearing a D necklace, and I asked if she was Diana Spencer. She said yes, and posed for a picture.He checked with the office and was told she had only just turned 19." From this article: <http://www.essexlifemag.co.uk/people/a_royal_engagement_1_1643938>

Re her talking to James Whitaker: "In December 1980, I remember an astonishing late evening when I called round to see Diana at her flat after being tipped that there was an engagement announcement imminent.

I talked to Diana for a long time about the situation. She would not commit herself to anything, but she assured me that marrying into the Royal Family would not be a problem for her.

She made it clear that as the girl who was literally brought up next door to Sandringham House (as a child she lived at Parkhouse on the Estate) she was used to the Royal Family.

When I pressed her to guide me whether there was to be an engagement even as soon as the next day, Diana urged me to be cautious.

I did not write the story."

<http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/princess-dianas-life-and-death-obituary-1282386>


MARG said:
She unwittingly made herself public property and had zero control over the ensuing train wreck.
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MARG said:
Huh? Really? How do we know whether or not he does. We don't have any photo's of royal engagements at BP or Balmoral or any private functions. It speaks to the change in lifestyle that there are no photos of William and Catherine dancing during their long Australasian tour or their Canadian tour.
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MARG, I meant to say is that we don't see Charles really hitting the dance floor "publically" as he used to. He can really move when he wants to though.
 
:previous: lol, I remember that video. There he's just fooling around but he can get down when he's good and ready.
 
^^^ Here's a video of the curtsey. It starts about 1.38. (ETA I've deleted it. The link reproduces the video, not just a link, and I think that's forbidden here and I don't know how to fix it. Just google "Princess Diana in Japan, 1995 - YouTube") I don't think the curtsey looks so awkward in action. I'm very impressed with Diana's ability to execute that manoeuvre in that tight, short, skirt and high heels.
 
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Roslyn said:
^^^ Here's a video of the curtsey. It starts about 1.38. (ETA I've deleted it. The link reproduces the video, not just a link, and I think that's forbidden here and I don't know how to fix it. Just google "Princess Diana in Japan, 1995 - YouTube") I don't think the curtsey looks so awkward in action. I'm very impressed with Diana's ability to execute that manoeuvre in that tight, short, skirt and high heels.
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She was a very athletic woman and knew how to do her thing when it came down to curtsey.
 
Dman said:
She was a very athletic woman and knew how to do her thing when it came down to curtsey.
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Also she studied and loved dancing. She would have acquired quite a bit of balance and grace with ballet training.
 
Nico said:
DM article with a somewhat balanced view for once :
Princess Diana told Camilla 'I sent someone to kill you' claims Prince Harry biographer | Mail Online
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You called this balanced? When reading PJ, there is one thing you wont know most of time, her source of information. She would just threw a claim that who said these and who felt these, never bother to give the time of the event, the source of her information. I think most likely, she is her own source. Never bother to read her book.
 
If the Camilla story is true, the ultimate source would have been either Diana or Camilla. I can imagine Diana telling the story, in the same way that she told about slapping her father and pushing her step-mother down some stairs. If you've seen the tapes she made with Peter Settelen, she tells these stories quite happily. Camilla might have told the story to a friend as well. I would certainly tell someone if I was told something like that. There was some criticism of Prince Charles as well, which is something new for Penny Junor.
 
Mermaid1962 said:
If the Camilla story is true, the ultimate source would have been either Diana or Camilla. I can imagine Diana telling the story, in the same way that she told about slapping her father and pushing her step-mother down some stairs. If you've seen the tapes she made with Peter Settelen, she tells these stories quite happily. Camilla might have told the story to a friend as well. I would certainly tell someone if I was told something like that. There was some criticism of Prince Charles as well, which is something new for Penny Junor.
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I would like to know the source. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Diana had made nuisance calls or tried to play mind games with Camilla (frankly, I would be surprised if she hadn't). I'm just a bit suspicious of new revelations at this late date.

Penny Junor has been mildly critical of Prince Charles in the past (see her biography of Willilam) but she is definitely on his side regarding the break up of his first marriage.
 
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:previous: It's not a new story re: Diana calling with the threat to Camilla. It's been around for at least a few years, but I can't remember where I'd originally read about it. I'm agreed that Junor's definitely in Prince Charles's camp and that she's a muck-raker. Prince Harry's birthday seems to have been an opportunity for her to bring up a lot of bitter feelings without really shedding any new light on her subjects.
 
If the source was Diana, JP would be more than happy to tell the world that the source was Diana.

JP repeated this story for many time. Without surprise, it was JP herself who first come up with this story (long time ago). I have a copy of the original article. And without surprise, there is no source and no date there either.

So it is either a lie, or either the source cant be disclosed. But I tend to believe the first case. Because, not only the story has no source, it has no date. If it was true, at least she would be able to tell us around what time it happened, right?
 
anbrida said:
If the source was Diana, JP would be more than happy to tell the world that the source was Diana.

JP repeated this story for many time. Without surprise, it was JP herself who first come up with this story (long time ago). I have a copy of the original article. And without surprise, there is no source and no date there either.

So it is either a lie, or either the source cant be disclosed. But I tend to believe the first case. Because, not only the story has no source, it has no date. If it was true, at least she would be able to tell us around what time it happened, right?
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Or, 3. the source is Camilla. Certainly Junor is in the golden circle of Charles and Camilla both before and after the marriage. He has certainly therefore, given his tacit approval to the many awful but unsubstansiated rumors she has presented as 'facts' over the years.
 
I am so disgusted by this nonsense. Diana has been dead for years. No real references to anyone or anything that documents this kind of innuendo. Poor Camilla being threatened by vile Diana. Diana was no angel and she was angry at her husband's mistress, who knows what she said. But, so how it was missed all these years. Over the years the Wales PR office has done its best to smear Diana. She was no saint, but no one in the sordid story was. They all are a hypocrites.
 
Mirabel said:
I really wish they wouldn't keep dredging all this stuff up again!
Diana is dead; let her RIP.
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She is an historical figure and as such will be dissected for the rest of time - in the same was as Anne Boleyn for example.

There is nothing new in this story anyway.

Most of it was reported at the time and much was confirmed by Diana herself in one way or another.
 
Iluvbertie said:
She is an historical figure and as such will be dissected for the rest of time - in the same was as Anne Boleyn for example.

There is nothing new in this story anyway.

Most of it was reported at the time and much was confirmed by Diana herself in one way or another.
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Yep. Diana is a historical figure and every aspect of her life will be dissected by school children and university students and historians and interested persons for the rest of time, and there is so much more primary material available in respect of Diana than there was for Anne Boleyn, and so much secondary material, too: the Squidgygate tapes and transcript, the Settelen tapes and transcript, the Panorama interview, Hewitt's book, Morton's books, Dimbleby's book, Lady Colin Campbell's book, Junor's book/s, and all the other books; the wedding tape, the funeral tape, Diana's will and subsequent orders varying it; the inquest transcripts; and all the videos and photos of Diana over the years. Plus everything written about Carling and Hoare and Camilla and Dale Tryon and Tiggy Legge-Bourke and all the other reports/allegations about other affairs.

It's all out there for everyone to see and read, and they will. Well, until someone more interesting comes up and people get bored with Diana. But even if general interest in Diana wanes, you can bet that centuries from now some people will still be wading through all the available material on Diana, and they won't feel constrained to only research the material that casts her in a favourable light.

I'm not convinced there will be nothing new in the story, however. It is possible that some of the authors' source material may be revealed at a later date, or some other material which is currently being kept secret for some reason.
 
Agreed. There are Diana's official diaries, for instance. They won't be released until years in the future, and then only to historians and serious biographers. Also, as people who were friends and/or staff of Charles and Diana die off, authors will be more likely to admit that they were sources.:flowers:

Roslyn said:
I'm not convinced there will be nothing new in the story, however. It is possible that some of the authors' source material may be revealed at a later date, or some other material which is currently being kept secret for some reason.
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COUNTESS said:
I am so disgusted by this nonsense. Diana has been dead for years. No real references to anyone or anything that documents this kind of innuendo. Poor Camilla being threatened by vile Diana. Diana was no angel and she was angry at her husband's mistress, who knows what she said. But, so how it was missed all these years. Over the years the Wales PR office has done its best to smear Diana. She was no saint, but no one in the sordid story was. They all are a hypocrites.
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Completely agree COUNTESS. But this story is not in fact new. I remember reading it during the period after Diana's death, when Mark Bolland was hired to manage Prince Charles's p.r. and was working like a busy little beaver to makes Charles and Camilla more palatable to the (then) very hostile British press and public.

The source was of the story even then was...wait for it....PENNY JUNOR.:cool:
 
To clarify, I'm not doubting that there is more to the story than we know, but I would like to know the source as new information comes out. I am sure there are many incidents that have not been made public--mostly because Charles has not told his side of the story and Diana had a very selective memory. We know that Charles has asked his friends not to criticize Diana's behavior.

That's not to say I don't believe the story. Penny Junor obviously has sources in Charles and Camilla's camp--just like Richard Kay, Andrew Morton, et. al., have sources in Diana's camp. I had never heard about the late night calls to Camilla but it's consistent with Diana's behavior. Diana (soft of) admitted that she made nuisance calls to Oliver Hoare's wife and there are credible reports that she harassed Hasnat Khan by telephone. It seems very likely she harassed Camilla by telephone, too. The opposing argument is not that it isn't true but that Diana's dead and Penny Junor was on Charles's side. Hardly credible denials.

Diana is gone but she was a public figure. She, herself, opened her private life to the media. She also opened the private life of others to the media. I know Diana's fans don't want Charles to respond because they are afraid that his account will be believable and Diana's image will suffer.

Luckily for them, Charles himself doesn't seem to be interested in disclosing private information about Diana, but I am sure many of his friends are itching for the public to know the his side. The reason Penny Junor is not able to provide a source is probably because Charles would be upset with the person who leaked the information. That says a lot about Charles and his love for his sons and his late ex-wife.
 
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Diana never admitted the nuisance calls to Diane Hoare, choosing instead to blame them on a schoolboy prank even in the face of phone records indicating that they had come from her phone and her residence!
 
Actually, Diana admitted that she made some of the calls. The rest (and she never specified the number) she blamed on a child. I think it speaks volumes about Diana's character that she tried to place the blame on this poor child--who couldn't respond--during a TV interview that she knew would be viewed by millions of people. The damage to Diana's reputation was negligible but she was so in love with her public image, she didn't care that she hurt the child. If she truly cared about the welfare of children, she would have let it go. In this respect Diana demonstrated that she didn't have half her ex-husband's class.
 
[QUOTEshe tried to place the blame on this poor child][/QUOTE]

This is [one] of the reasons i hold her in contempt, and could not mourn her death in 1997
 
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The article you posted includes an admission that she called the Hoare residence--some of the calls were made from her Kensington home and I think her sister's home. In the article below, she denied even knowing how to use a phone box (in the U.S. we call it a phone booth). So much for being a woman of the people.

I don't believe it was a school child. The article you cite does not include any police or official sources, just Diana's allegation. Even if the child was responsible, Diana should not have "outed" him. It wouldn't have killed her to deny and keep her mouth shut. Sometimes grownups just let things go.
A Princess in Peril - Harassment, The British Royals, Princess Diana : People.com
 
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