Why was Princess Diana so famous?

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

So some royal dude is getting married to a half black American chick (I’m waiting for the divorce already). I only know this because my mother and sisters kept going on and on about it. I myself knew no such thing or that such people ever existed before yesterday if I’m being completely honest. It must be a girl thing because my dad doesn’t care and neither does my brother, and they probably wouldn’t know about it either had the others not been gossiping so much.

But anyway, I found out a few years ago that there was a woman named Princess Diana who was apparently ultra famous, and yesterday’s ordeal had me wondering why. Apparently she was even more famous than people like David Beckham, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, John Lennon, and Tim Berners-Lee which is just baffling. According to this poll https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_Britons, only Isimbard Kingdom Brunel (whom honestly I’ve never heard of before this, but I guess he was basically the man who started the Industrial Revolution or helped speed it up and built Britain) and Winston Churchill (not surprised by this really) are ranked higher. Perhaps some of you Britons could explain a little bit?

 

[BeExcellent]

Basically Diana represented the whole fantasy of a commoner marrying into royalty. This is the Disney fantasy that millions of people dream of along the way in life and is a highly romanticized notion. Diana's marriage to Prince Charles was viewed then (and even now, although the realities of the marriage were not the stuff of dreams) as the embodiment of that fantasy come true.

But Diana isn't the only example. The Abdication of the British throne by Edward VIII in 1936 in favor of Wallis Simpson (a twice divorced American woman) was a spectacular scandal in its day. Here's the link. Footnote: He gave up the throne, married Wallis and they were married until death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII_abdication_crisis

But its all rooted in this Snow White type Disney fantasy idea that many people cherish.

In Edward's example it also speaks to love/relationship being of highest value in his case. More important than being King. There are a number of books on his life you can find if you so choose.

 

[TheVirtualMind]

She was also famous for her work.

"As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of the Queen and represented her at functions overseas. She was celebrated for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Diana was involved with dozens of charities including London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, of which she was president from 1989. She also raised awareness and advocated ways to help people affected with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and mental illness."

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Basically Diana represented the whole fantasy of a commoner marrying into royalty. This is the Disney fantasy that millions of people dream of along the way in life and is a highly romanticized notion. Diana's marriage to Prince Charles was viewed then (and even now, although the realities of the marriage were not the stuff of dreams) as the embodiment of that fantasy come true.

But Diana isn't the only example. The Abdication of the British throne by Edward VIII in 1936 in favor of Wallis Simpson (a twice divorced American woman) was a spectacular scandal in its day. Here's the link. Footnote: He gave up the throne, married Wallis and they were married until death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VIII_abdication_crisis

But its all rooted in this Snow White type Disney fantasy idea that many people cherish.

In Edward's example it also speaks to love/relationship being of highest value in his case. More important than being King. There are a number of books on his life you can find if you so choose.

She wasn’t exactly a commoner. I mean she wasn’t pure royalty, but she was born into ‘nobility’ (whatever the hell that means) And was still above the ‘commoner’ caste. The Queen was her brother’s Godmother too if I recall correctly. They were still of the upper echelons of society. TheVirtualMind seemsed to make a little more sense but it still seems like she was just ‘special’ for whatever reason.

 

[TheVirtualMind]

She wasn’t exactly a commoner. I mean she wasn’t pure royalty, but she was born into ‘nobility’ (whatever the hell that means) And was still above the ‘commoner’ caste. The Queen was her brother’s Godmother too if I recall correctly. They were still of the upper echelons of society. TheVirtualMind seemsed to make a little more sense but it still seems like she was just ‘special’ for whatever reason.

You're right about her "nobility." But there is another point that I just realized.

What was still fairly new and gaining popularity during this time?

Television.

Networks were going crazy about the Royal Wedding and broadcast it EVERYWHERE. Suddenly, those two became a common face of news stories. Combine it with her active philanthropy and you have a lot of "feel good" stories and news clips.

 

[BeExcellent]

True she was in the nobility, but she wasn't so high up that she would normally have been considered an appropriate match for the heir to the throne. That's why she was seen as a commoner (she wasn't, actually) and she was the embodiment of this fantasy notion of Prince Charming and living happily ever after.

She was also seen as an innocent. From her age as a virgin bride (18 or 19 I think) and certainly when you consider all the causes she championed and all the good works she did in the world as a representative of the UK, both as the Princess and after her divorce from Charles, she was always viewed (and appropriately so to a degree) as innocent and a woman who made the very best of the opportunities she had to impart positive change in the world.

So she started off as the embodiment of a fantasy and ended up beloved on the merits.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

You're right about her "nobility." But there is another point that I just realized.

What was still fairly new and gaining popularity during this time?

Television.

Networks were going crazy about the Royal Wedding and broadcast it EVERYWHERE. Suddenly, those two became a common face of news stories. Combine it with her active philanthropy and you have a lot of "feel good" stories and news clips.

That’s a great point, I never really thought about it. She was the only one who was really open to all of it as well so that makes sense.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

True she was in the nobility, but she wasn't so high up that she would normally have been considered an appropriate match for the heir to the throne. That's why she was seen as a commoner (she wasn't, actually) and she was the embodiment of this fantasy notion of Prince Charming and living happily ever after.

She was also seen as an innocent. From her age as a virgin bride (18 or 19 I think) and certainly when you consider all the causes she championed and all the good works she did in the world as a representative of the UK, both as the Princess and after her divorce from Charles, she was always viewed (and appropriately so to a degree) as innocent and a woman who made the very best of the opportunities she had to impart positive change in the world.

So she started off as the embodiment of a fantasy and ended up beloved on the merits.

Hmmm, one could make an argument about hypergamy considering that she married into royalty, the highest of the high, as a virgin and with a great
display of ‘love’ and ’virtue’, and then decided to get with some Egyptian dude that was playing with his father’s money. Well now that I look at it, it even furthers the fantasy because they could make it out to be that her ex was some guy who she was forced to be with or whatever but then got free of him. But since that didn’t happen it was kore like Romeo and Juliet where they both died instead. Now that I think about it, she’s basically Rose from Titanic.

 

[derby1]

basically in the UK we have everything that everyone in the world craves if that makes sense especially the above 45 yr olds world wide........we have a monarchy, we have amazing castles with history, we also have a a canal network where you can rent a barge for the week , this is all done by americans and chinese... London is full off americans and chinese people with cameras more expensive than my house

i couldnt think of anything worse than going to london and i only live an hour up the road

Princess Diana was the epitome of Britain, she also shook hands with a chap with aids live on tv, when they knew little about its transmission

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

basically in the UK we have everything that everyone in the world craves if that makes sense especially the above 45 yr olds world wide........we have a monarchy, we have amazing castles with history, we also have a a canal network where you can rent a barge for the week , this is all done by americans and chinese... London is full off americans and chinese people with cameras more expensive than my house

i couldnt think of anything worse than going to london and i only live an hour up the road

Princess Diana was the epitome of Britain, she also shook hands with a chap with aids live on tv, when they knew little about its transmission

Hmmm, so basically it was just because of us stupid Americans overhyping her?

 

[derby1]

suppose you could look at it like we look at things on here, Scarcity creates value etc etc....theres a lot of people who want to live the british way
and yet theres nothing special about the british way, any different than i want to go 120 down route 66 and stop off for a beer at every bar, youll probably tell me its nothing special and prob a bit of a ****e hole road

we also dont speak anything like what you think we speak like,,,,,its all a load of BS ...

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

suppose you could look at it like we look at things on here, Scarcity creates value etc etc....theres a lot of people who want to live the british way
and yet theres nothing special about the british way, any different than i want to go 120 down route 66 and stop off for a beer at every bar, youll probably tell me its nothing special and prob a bit of a ****e hole road

we also dont speak anything like what you think we speak like,,,,,its all a load of BS ...

I figured most of that out a long time ago haha. But Americans do tend to be a little more rough around the edges and are less polite in day-to-day situations. It’s subtle, but it’s still there.

 

[derby1]

yes theres a few differences were all very good drivers in the UK or should i say not desperate to fit our car into a matchbox space "unless in London" haha.....you literally crash into each other in places like spain and no one cares.....you wouldnt dare intentionally bump into anyone in the uk

 

[ChristopherColumbus]

So some royal dude is getting married to a half black American chick (I’m waiting for the divorce already). I only know this because my mother and sisters kept going on and on about it. I myself knew no such thing or that such people ever existed before yesterday if I’m being completely honest. It must be a girl thing because my dad doesn’t care and neither does my brother, and they probably wouldn’t know about it either had the others not been gossiping so much.

But anyway, I found out a few years ago that there was a woman named Princess Diana who was apparently ultra famous, and yesterday’s ordeal had me wondering why. Apparently she was even more famous than people like David Beckham, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, John Lennon, and Tim Berners-Lee which is just baffling. According to this poll https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_Britons, only Isimbard Kingdom Brunel (whom honestly I’ve never heard of before this, but I guess he was basically the man who started the Industrial Revolution or helped speed it up and built Britain) and Winston Churchill (not surprised by this really) are ranked higher. Perhaps some of you Britons could explain a little bit?

I am not a Brit, but a subject of one of the old colonies. The day Diana died, I wore a Queen of hearts on my sleeve. My Professor, with all the coldness of a Bolshevik took offence, asked why I was not grieving for the little old lady hit by a bus the other day.

In the 80s, a royal wedding had a glam and glitter that caught the public's imagination. It was a little bit of history, chivalry and romance that people could glimpse from beyond their own little prosaic lives. And public politics, more than a dry abstraction, touched on people's affections.

 

[Reykhel]

I don't know but it reminds of something from way back when.....

people asked "why did superman not save Princess Diana?



....cause he's in a fvcking wheelchair...." (well he's dead now)

Why do I still find it funny? Christmas at an English girl's family's christmas.......pulling crackers......the atmosphere is dry and boring, I get a
cracker and it's a silly christmas joke......

....I instead give the diana superman joke with a deadpan face.........

....they don't know if it's from the cracker or not......my face is deadpan.....

did they take it well? yes only because it was for my own self amusement because I was bored and I gave a fvck if they took it well...oddly enough they took this is genuine and non ass kissing and loved me from that day on...

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

I don't know but it reminds of something from way back when.....

people asked "why did superman not save Princess Diana?



....cause he's in a fvcking wheelchair...." (well he's dead now)

Why do I still find it funny? Christmas at an English girl's family's christmas.......pulling crackers......the atmosphere is dry and boring, I get a
cracker and it's a silly christmas joke......

....I instead give the diana superman joke with a deadpan face.........

....they don't know if it's from the cracker or not......my face is deadpan.....

did they take it well? yes only because it was for my own self amusement because I was bored and I gave a fvck if they took it well...oddly enough they took this is genuine and non ass kissing and loved me from that day on...

I feel that Princess Diana was glorified by the US more than the UK. It all depends on who you talk to though