PRINCESS DIANA
THE ECHO OF BEAUTY
THE ECHO OF BEAUTY
August 31, 1997
THE DAY DIANA DIED
One Year Later
PREFACE:
I wrote Princess Diana
a letter of appreciation
and admiration years ago
writing sincerely at the finish ~
Would that we Americans
had a beautiful princess
to serve
to love
and to revere,
and would that she were you.
Presently,
Diana most graciously
acknowledged my letter,
writing her personal thank you,
which I will always consider
a most special treasure.
I fell under Diana�s spell
from the very first.
Finally, I could understand
how subjects could reject
their personal aspirations
and happily rush to serve
and to protect just such
a fair damsel in distress.
I was Diana�s American subject
while she lived
and I will continue
to show deference to this
extraordinary young woman
who understood humanity
more than many of us
and how to administer it
more than most of us.
My heart seemed to burst
the day she died
~ for her and Will and Harry ~
but more for a wretched world
that needs her so much
and so many more of us
she would have taught
the power of love
and more to her point
the proper way to use it.
Pat Murphy
Accumulator of this brief collection
of tribute to England�s greatest Queen.
The following are bits and pieces
representing personal opinion,
articles and prose copied, quoted and
all freely paraphrased for clarity
with no malicious intention to
misrepresent or to infringe on
any author�s rights of creativity.
Any unintentional infraction of
the code of good conduct
is sincerely regretted and will be
promptly corrected as specified.
Dear Reader,
Please enjoy personal glimpses
of the world�s most remarkable woman
~ The Queen Of Hearts ~
Her Most Gracious Highness
Princess Diana Spencer Windsor.
What inspires
such deep universal feelings
of sorrow and loss?
Certainly Diana
was a mind-spinning
tangle of contradictions:
beloved by millions
yet sadly alone;
dazzlingly regal
yet down-to-earth;
skillfully manipulative
yet disarmingly direct;
worldly yet naive;
brave yet riddled with doubt;
self-loathing yet proud;
needy herself
yet boundless
in her capacity to give.
In revealing
her own flawed humanity,
Diana proved that
~ she was everything ~
~ she was nothing ~
just like the rest of us.
The people
have made irrevocable
their choice of Diana
over the British Royalty.
They chose her warmth
over their chilly indifference,
her breath of fresh air informality
over their implacable stuffiness,
her humor
over their witlessness,
her soul stirring need
to make a difference
over their age-old, inbred,
paralyzing fear of change.
Christopher Andersen
Author
There is no reason
to canonize Diana
because to do so
would be to miss out
on the very core
of her being.
For all the status,
the glamour,
the applause,
Diana remained throughout
a very insecure person at heart,
almost childlike in her desire
to do good for others
so she could release herself
from her deep feelings
of unworthiness.
Diana was
the very essence
of compassion,
of duty,
of style,
of fashion,
of beauty.
She was someone
with a natural nobility
who was classless
and who proved in her last year
that she needed no royal title
to continue to generate
her particular brand of magic.
Charles, Earl of Spencer
Brother of Diana
Diana Frances Spencer
had more English blue blood
flowing through her veins
than the whole house of Windsor put together.
Forced into seclusion
at Balmoral Castle in Scotland
by the cold, resolute queen,
his grandmother,
Prince William asked his father
the most conspicuous question,
"Why are we here when Mummy�s in London?"
Giving the devil his due,
for once in his life,
Prince Charles stood up
to his mother, the Queen,
and was instrumental
in giving the populace
what they wanted most of all,
the Union Jack
flying on Buckingham Palace,
an extended cortege route
for the multitude of people
to show deference
to their beloved princess,
a unique and impressive funeral
and a Royal message of grief
from the Queen to the people.
Prince William was in favor
of all of the people�s demands
and firmly insisted on being part
of everything concerning
his mother�s funeral
from sympathy cards
and books of condolences
to the funeral procession itself.
The idea to auction off
Diana�s dresses for charity
was the idea of Prince William,
Diana�s closest confidante.
Prince William is, indeed, his mother�s son.
Circumstances permitting,
Prince William and his brother Harry
will show by example and keep
the beauty of all Diana stood for
alive and well in England
and throughout the world.
"Mummy, look!" said a little girl
standing outside Kensington Palace
that Saturday morning
as Diana�s coffin rolled past the multitude of
grief-stricken mourners assembled there.
"It�s the box with the princess!"
No single event in history
had ever been witnessed
by so many people at one time.
A worldwide audience
of more than 2.5 billion watched
the solemn progress of Diana�s cortege
through the silent streets of London
and the subsequent funeral
at Westminster Abbey.
You were Cinderella at the ball
and now you are Sleeping Beauty.
A card on flowers at the Kensington Palace gate
The Princess Of Wales
Princess Diana�s own words,
When I was born
I was unwanted.
When I married Charles
I was unwanted.
When I joined the Royal Family
I was unwanted.
I want to be wanted.
All people want to be touched.
From the day I entered this family,
nothing, nothing could
ever be done naturally.
If anything happens to me,
do you think they�ll remember
me as another Jackie Kennedy?
I just want to see
if there�s a light
at the end of the tunnel.
William and Harry
will be properly prepared.
I am making sure of this.
I don�t want them
suffering the way I did.
Whoever is in distress can call on me.
I will come running wherever they are.
It is my destiny.
It�s worse than sexual abuse.
On being hunted by the paparazzi
I will fight for my children on any level
in order for them to be happy
and have peace of mind
and carry it their duties.
My boys mean everything to me.
They�re my life.
When I cup my hands
around the face of someone suffering,
they are comforting me
as much as I am comforting them.
The biggest disease
this world suffers from
is the disease of people
feeling unloved.
Please don�t call me that.
I�ve never been called Di
and I really don�t like it.
I desperately
wanted our marriage to work.
I desperately
loved my husband
and I wanted to share
everything together.
I thought we were
a very good team.
Here was a fairy tale
everyone wanted to work.
It was also a situation
where you couldn�t indulge
in feeling sorry for yourself.
You had to either
sink or swim
and you had to learn that very fast.
I swam.
All I ever wanted from the monarchy
was a ~well done~ that�s all.
The royal family was in the habit
of offering ~constructive criticism~
not words of encouragement.
After a time you see yourself
as a good product
that sits on the shelf
and sells well
and they make
a lot of money out of you.
On a Virgin Atlantic plane
flying over Windsor Castle,
playful Diana dressed up
as a Virgin Atlantic stewardess.
She seized the intercom
microphone and said,
"If you look out the window
to your right just now
you�ll see Granny�s place!"
"Give it plenty of bounce!
I need lots of bounce!"
To her hairdresser Symonds
before a date with Dodi.
Crazy about Sharon Stone�s
fabulous face and sleek hair,
Diana said to her hairdresser Symonds,
"If I could be anyone in the world,
I would be Sharon Stone."
Diana would become truly angry
when Dodi called attention to
all the gifts he had purchased for her:
"That�s not what I want, Rosa.
It makes me uneasy.
I don�t want to be bought.
I have everything I want.
I just want someone
to be there for me,
to make me feel safe and secure."
I literally adore them.
They are the daughters I never had.
Of Beatrice and Eugenie
Fergie�s two daughters
Diana�s friend, Tess Rock, felt that
a special part of Diana�s heart
still belonged to Prince Charles.
She recalled arriving at Kensington Palace
just after Prince Charles had left.
"Did you see Charles?" Diana asked.
"He just left, and guess what?
He was wearing the sweater
I gave him for his last birthday.
I was so touched."
The Princess Of Wales
Words Of Friends And Others
It was difficult to comprehend
the enormity of the situation.
All I could think of was
the sadness of this young woman
dying when she had everything to live for.
I prayed for her sons, William and Harry.
Father Clochard-Bossuet
Paris Hospital
Consul General Moss
blurted out to Chief Nurse Humbert
as he rushed into the room
where Diana still lay naked under a sheet,
"The Queen! The Queen!
Madame, the Queen
is worried about the jewelry.
The Queen wants to know
where are the jewels?"
I heard the astonishing message
and with telephone still in hand,
I told Prince Charles
his ex-wife was dead.
Prince Charles
unleashed a howl
of spontaneous anguish
that roused the entire castle.
Then he buried his face
in his hands and wept,
breaking into uncontrollable sobs.
Sir Robert Fellowes
Early that afternoon
a lovely arrangement of lilies
were delivered to the Paris Hospital
to honor Diana
that were ordered by Prince Charles,
" . . . because they are her favorite."
"Photographers were swarming all over the car,
snapping as many photos as they could.
We still feel dirty now
when we remember that we saw
humans behaving that way."
Jack and Robin Firestone
viewing the accident scene from a taxi.
She wanted the Royal Family to be human.
There was no kindness there,
and she was a kind person.
Lady Elsa Bowker
You cannot comfort the afflicted
without afflicting the comfortable.
One of Diana�s favorite observations
of her friend, Mother Teresa
There was a doubt-riddled Diana
the public never saw.
There would be
crying and sobbing and wailing
for two or three hours
until the black mood
had run its course.
Then Diana would step
out of the darkness into the light
as if there had been
no darkness at all.
Lord Polumbo
There was a huge
amount of antagonism
at Buckingham Palace,
a whispering campaign
that this woman was a cracked vessel,
that she was potty,
and a danger to the family.
Vivienne Parry
She had a way
of going straight to the heart.
Vivienne Parry
Diana�s long, nude body
was covered only by a white sheet.
She looked extremely young.
Her eyes were open and so vivid.
Her skin was so smooth.
She looked like
the most exquisite china doll.
I felt very much in awe.
I marveled at the extent to which
Diana�s face had remained unmarred.
I steeled myself against
the brutal nature of her injuries.
The surgical scar the surgeons made
from her sternum to almost her navel
in a frantic attempt to repair her heart.
Diana�s hands and feet were bruised,
as her right side was bruised,
the only external evidence
that her ribs were crushed, her right forearm
badly fractured was black and blue,
a two inch cut on her right derriere
and a nasty three inch gash
on her right thigh.
Chief Nurse Beatrice Humbert
Paris Hospital
The way you see her on television
with those big blue eyes
and that marvelous smile ~
and then the big blue eyes
were no longer there
nor was the marvelous smile.
There was the pallid face of a cadaver.
The question you ask yourself afterwards is,
did she know she was so loved?
Chief Nurse Beatrice Humbert
French Hospital
Diana! We love you!
We Love you!
We�ll never for get you, Diana!
Cried out by the huge crowd
that had gathered
on the grounds of the Paris Hospital,
as the cortege pulled away
to take Diana�s coffin to airport.
Her dark side was that
of a wounded, trapped animal,
and her bright side was that
of a luminous being.
She never knew
how much she was loved.
Rosa Monckton
She was a wonderful
and warm human being,
though her life was often
sadly touched by tragedy.
She touched the lives
of so many throughout the world
with joy and comfort.
How many times
shall we remember her
in how many different ways ~
with the sick, the dying,
with children, with the needy.
With just a look or a gesture that
spoke so much more than words,
she would reveal to all of us
the depth of her compassion
and her humanity.
Tony Blair, Prime Minister
A breathing tube had been inserted
down Diana�s throat and into her trachea.
There is absolutely no way that
she could have said anything.
It would have been impossible.
Diana�s attending physician
at the scene of the crash
Unlike the Americans and the British
who practice a scoop and run approach
to get the victims to a hospital,
as quickly as possible,
the French prefer to stabilize patients
at the scene.
In the United States and in Britain
you are rushed to the ER.
In France, the ER is rushed to you
in ambulances fully equipped
and staffed not by paramedics,
but by an emergency doctor and nurse.
Rather than move Diana from the scene
the decision was made
to stabilize her on the spot.
There was no way of knowing
Diana was bleeding internally
from a tear in her left pulmonary vein,
discovered my surgeons at the hospital
after opening her chest cavity to apply
repeated attempts at heart massage.
Christopher Andersen, paraphrased
She had a huge capacity
for unhappiness which is why
she responded so well
to the suffering face of humanity.
She understood real unhappiness
and had a unique ability
to spot the broken-hearted.
Rosa Monckton
Prince Charles� valet, Stephan Barry,
observed at a royal picnic:
"The Royals don�t mind
serving themselves.
They don�t even mind cooking, but
~in sharp contrast to Diana~
cleaning up is definitely out."
Patty Palmer-Tomkinson recalls
one of Diana�s favorite pastimes ~
stalking game ~
she didn�t like the killing part ~
just the stalking.
"We went stalking together.
We got hot.
We got tired.
Diana fell into a bog,
got covered with mud,
laughed her head off,
hair glued to her forehead
because it was pouring rain.
She was a sort
of wonderful English schoolgirl
who was game for anything."
She was ruled be her heart,
and not by her head.
Roberto Devorik
She is kind, generous, sad
and in some ways
rather desperate,
a very shrewd
but immensely sorrowful lady.
Carolyn Barthalolmew
She was a fighter to the end.
Sam McKnight
How can a picture be worth a life?
Stephane Darmon
She softened the monarchy
without their permission.
I hope her sons
will be the recipients
of half the goodwill she received.
Brian Williams
What I find most interesting
is the effect Diana
had on the Queen
who had to face the choice
of keeping her cool reserve
or opening things up a bit.
She chose the common touch.
Barbara Walters
The focus on
her extraordinary charity work
will overshadow the personal stories.
Catherine Crier
She�s definitely
going to be perceived
as the icon of this age.
She�s going to become
even more luminous ~
a �90s goddess ~
a tragic, flawed goddess.
Vicki Mabrey
She liked attention.
She liked the camera.
It would be silly to deny it.
Her main legacy
will be in her children.
She�s always going
to live on through them
and our interest in them.
Larry King
She struck a chord with woman
because of her tremendous
task of self-discovery.
All of us struggle
with self-discovery ~
try figuring it out
with a crown on your head!
Women responded, and still do
to her courage and independence.
Lisa McRee
Until Diana
I don�t think we realized
the power of celebrity
when she chose to do good.
Diana will become a legend
and less human over time.
She is already
more myth than real
and I think people need that.
Erin Moriarty
A year after
Princess Diana�s tragic death
her legacy of love
continues to grow stronger.
Francine Prose
Message on a bouquet
of blue and white flowers
at Diana�s funeral.
My most darling friend,
my sister . . . . I love you.
I miss you.
My soul mate and partner.
God bless you.
Fergie
