Her Light Shines On

‘ALTHOUGH she plagued her royal relations when she was alive, in death Diana is the biggest asset the Windsors have, and her influence is still being felt today.

Di’s friends remember her as she would have wanted

”Would the Golden Jubilee have been such an open, inclusive and adventurous series of happenings if it had not been for Diana?” asks Robert Lacey. ”Would we have seen Brian May on the roof of Buckingham Palace or Hell’s Angels in The Mall?”

Such things can only reflect well on the monarchy, and on British society as a whole – and we have Diana to thank for them.

Because, as Mr Lacey writes, ”we finally have a royal family who express their feelings about people, not just horses and royal yachts”.

Their feelings during the Party in the Palace might have been ”Anyone found here past midnight will be shot”, but at least they let the rabble in for a few hours.

Aside from opening up the Windsors’ emotional floodgates, Diana made another vital contribution to the Royal Family, being instrumental in producing its only two vaguely good-looking members.

”Diana’s abiding legacy is there for us all to see – in her sons,” reads Hello!’s headline.

”William and Harry carry with them their mother’s looks, along with aspects of her character and spirit, wherever they go,” writes the BBC’s royal correspondent Jennie Bond.

But there is another – ”unwelcome” – legacy of Diana’s death – Harry’s ”periodic falls from grace”.

”His liking for a few too many drinks and his confession about dabbling in drugs could stem from an adolescence spent without his mother to watch over him.”

And no amount of regal relatives, policemen and bodyguards, crazed female fans or members of the British media can ever watch over him like a mother could.

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Posted: 28th, August 2002 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink