Skydragon said:
Princess Diana wanted to be America's First Lady, claims butler
London, Sept 13: Her divorce from the heir to the British throne Prince Charles may have ended her hopes of one day being the UK’s queen, but it seems that Princess Diana also had hopes of becoming America’s First Lady
http://www.newkerala.com/news4.php?action=fullnews&id=20856
That's not true, is it? That is "preserving the memory"? Alleging that Diana had such rather childish dreams of "visiting Britain on a state visit as First lady of the US" and of "redecorating" the White House? That's imbecile beyond belief. And to consider marrying a man she did not love because of a chance to become "First lady"? How does that fit in with the stories of Diana who had married Charles out of love and was so disappointed hwen he couldn't love her in return? This Diana as presented by Burrell would have married Charles because of the position he offered, apperently. I'm not convinced that she, if she thought about that, really was serious. But somehow it fits in with the character studies of Diana which have emerged after her death and have been supported by quite believable witnesses.
Still, I don't understand why Burrell decided to tell these stories, even if they were true. He must realize that he paints Diana in a very unfortunate light and that these claims are going to stick, even if it is only bits and pieces and the rest of the book is referential and positive. So why does he it? I mean, this is clearly material Charles and Camilla would have loved to have while the media war raged around the divorce.
Burrell surely was clever enough to realize very soon after Diana's death that he had no place in the way Diana's estate and a memorial fund would be dealt with. So he used the trust of the princes and Diana's family in letting him taking care unobservedly of her home to not only take things "for safekeeping" but taking pictures - material for the upcoming sale of his "memoirs". It's disgusting. I'm sure if he had a chance to photograph the dead princess in her burial finery he did it and will sell the pictures one day.
What are his motives? One point I already wrote about is surely revenge on the princes. But there must be more to it. Maybe the message conveyed by Diana's friends and family after Burrell's first book hit their target: a lot of people have claimed in their dismay over the book that Burell was over-valueing his place in Diana's life, that he was a mere instrument for her to lead a comfortable life and certainly not one of the most important persons in her life.
I can imagine that he really believed himself to be in a kind of real relationship with Diana. When he figured that this wasn't the truth or that she conveniently forgot about him in her will, he felt betrayed by the late princess and now wants to destroy her memory in order to "punish" her posthumely through killing the positive image she still possesses in the public.
On using his "insider knowledge" to ridicule people like duchess Sarah who have managed to still move within the Royal circles, he showed himself as her superior, as the one who can hurt her public image. Or is it a coincidence that he "remembers" the story about how Sarah allegedly used princess Eugenie to get back into Diana's good graces when there has a public discussion about if Sarah uses her daughters to further her own aims? One could say both are doing the same but Sarah is much better in acheiving this aim, while Burrell failed with the princes. So it's probably jealousy there which makes me mistrusting the whole story or the way it's presented.
So for me his motives are clear. Thinking about how less knowledge of human nature Diana obviously possessed when it came to her "men" (There is not one I would want to spent an evening with, apart from The Prince of Wales, that is) and how she was deceived by Burrells subservient behaviour, I don't wonder it came to such a terrible end for her.
If it's true what Burrell wrote about the princess giving hints to the paparazzi about Paris in order to make Hasnat Khan jealous, then it's anothere proof of the old saying that mistakes and errors of judgment sometimes add up. And then it only takes such a little additional mistake as to trust a drunken driver and the security of a luxurous limousine and not using the safety belt that lead to such a bitter end.
