Catherine J
Aristocracy
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2011
- Messages
- 218
- City
- Halifax
- Country
- Canada
I've given this topic a lot of thought over the years.
My initial reaction, at the time of Diana's death, was rather alike to the reported response of Mother Theresa's (who was also on her own deathbed) when being told Diana died - she responded, if I recall correctly, (and I cannot provide a citation) along the lines of it was very sad but maybe it was for the best. These were not her exact words - I forget how they were formed - but the context was that if she was going to die, it was best that she died before she could have become ... unhappier / unwiser.
I've read it several times but cannot find it at the moment as I forget the actual wording and cannot remember the person quoted. It was not mean or vindictive at all - but I remember it summing up my feelings exactly.
I was astounded and disgusted by the outpouring of grief from newspapers/people that had been calling her names and casting aspersions on her character. I was disgusted that Mother's Teresa's death went virtually unnoticed because of Diana's death. I was profoundly sad that the English people chose to call out the Monarch on her response to it. My response, in a nutshell: How DARE they!
Did she handle it "appropriately"? I don't have a clue what "appropriate" might mean in this context. I do know that I think she handled it as *she* thought was appropriate - which was sufficient for me.
I am not a Diana fan, never was, and came to nearly "hate" her towards the end of her life. I saw her as a manipulative, petulant "me generation" selfish individual who brought a quality to the monarchy that made me less respectful of it. I mourned the loss of the "nobility" in the "royalty" and wished she would just shut the hell up with all her boo-hoo self pity and start acting, as one reporter so famously put it, "like a princess!". I was tired of her crap already.
So, I assumed that the Queen was similarly tired of her and angry at her for the damage done. Given this thought mode, the public baying at her door for a more overt show of grief, made me angry at the public and I just always assumed the Queen was exerting a sort of royal authority and dignity as a matter of setting precedents and establishing a cause and effect pattern, which I consider a smart move. The lesson: The Sovereign will do what the subjects need and the Sovereign will consider their needs, but the Sovereign is not a wind up doll that cries and laughs on demand. Even for Diana. Maybe even especially for Diana. Diana caused a lot of damage to the institution the Queen had spent all of her considerable life protecting.
I consider it a proof of her great strength of character that she stayed her course as long as she did, did was that necessary in the end and did it all with a straight face - which is more than Diana would have given her.
The question is less "Do I think the Queen acted appropriately" to which the answer is, as based above, "yes". The real question should be "Did the Commonwealth people act appropriately towards the Queen when Diana died?" to which the answer, as based above, is "no". Shame on us all. We forgot who stood by us and who didn't. We forgot who always did her duty and who didn't. We forgot who is noble and who wasn't. We forgot who walked the walk and who just talked the talk. Shame on us.
My initial reaction, at the time of Diana's death, was rather alike to the reported response of Mother Theresa's (who was also on her own deathbed) when being told Diana died - she responded, if I recall correctly, (and I cannot provide a citation) along the lines of it was very sad but maybe it was for the best. These were not her exact words - I forget how they were formed - but the context was that if she was going to die, it was best that she died before she could have become ... unhappier / unwiser.
I've read it several times but cannot find it at the moment as I forget the actual wording and cannot remember the person quoted. It was not mean or vindictive at all - but I remember it summing up my feelings exactly.
I was astounded and disgusted by the outpouring of grief from newspapers/people that had been calling her names and casting aspersions on her character. I was disgusted that Mother's Teresa's death went virtually unnoticed because of Diana's death. I was profoundly sad that the English people chose to call out the Monarch on her response to it. My response, in a nutshell: How DARE they!
Did she handle it "appropriately"? I don't have a clue what "appropriate" might mean in this context. I do know that I think she handled it as *she* thought was appropriate - which was sufficient for me.
I am not a Diana fan, never was, and came to nearly "hate" her towards the end of her life. I saw her as a manipulative, petulant "me generation" selfish individual who brought a quality to the monarchy that made me less respectful of it. I mourned the loss of the "nobility" in the "royalty" and wished she would just shut the hell up with all her boo-hoo self pity and start acting, as one reporter so famously put it, "like a princess!". I was tired of her crap already.
So, I assumed that the Queen was similarly tired of her and angry at her for the damage done. Given this thought mode, the public baying at her door for a more overt show of grief, made me angry at the public and I just always assumed the Queen was exerting a sort of royal authority and dignity as a matter of setting precedents and establishing a cause and effect pattern, which I consider a smart move. The lesson: The Sovereign will do what the subjects need and the Sovereign will consider their needs, but the Sovereign is not a wind up doll that cries and laughs on demand. Even for Diana. Maybe even especially for Diana. Diana caused a lot of damage to the institution the Queen had spent all of her considerable life protecting.
I consider it a proof of her great strength of character that she stayed her course as long as she did, did was that necessary in the end and did it all with a straight face - which is more than Diana would have given her.
The question is less "Do I think the Queen acted appropriately" to which the answer is, as based above, "yes". The real question should be "Did the Commonwealth people act appropriately towards the Queen when Diana died?" to which the answer, as based above, is "no". Shame on us all. We forgot who stood by us and who didn't. We forgot who always did her duty and who didn't. We forgot who is noble and who wasn't. We forgot who walked the walk and who just talked the talk. Shame on us.
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