Diana Spencer was born into the British aristocracy as a commoner. A direct descendant of King Charles II, she grew up at Park House next door to the royal family's Sandringham estate . She and Prince Andrew played together as children; however, Charles was 12 years older and she did not know him. Lady Diana was 19 years old and had only dated the Prince for six months before her wedding. None of this prepared her for the challenges that lay ahead.
Education
Lady Diana's education was spotty at best. She was home schooled until age nine until she moved on to Riddlesworth Hall where she studied for the next three years. She then attended the West Heath School until she reached age 16, lost interest in her own education and dropped out. Finally she attended a finishing school in Chateau d'Oex in Switzerland where she learned refined etiquette, the proper personal behavior in marriage and social arenas including civility, adaptability, persuasiveness, and leadership. Diana grew bored once more and left after only a few months, moving to London where she was working as a housekeeper, nanny and kindergarten teacher's aide when she met Prince Charles.
Charles' Other Woman
As Charles grew older, there was a growing concern that the bachelor Prince should get married and produce an heir, and if possible, a spare. The pressure was on but Charles was interested only in one woman, Camilla Parker Bowles, who unfortunately was already married. She was an outdoorsy, down-to-earth, educated woman; whereas Diana was relatively ignorant and her only common interest with Charles was the children. She refused to read books on history, architecture or literature in an effort to self-educate herself but could converse for hours on fashion and design. However Camilla matched Charles on his intellectual level and he refused to terminate their relationship.
Diana was painfully aware of the situation. Her discomfort and sadness grew until she commented to Martin Bashir in a BBC1 Panorama interview in November, 1995 that "there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
Depression, Bulimia and Self-Mutilation
The Princess gained weight after giving birth to her sons. The resulting post-partum depression after Wiliam's birth and the increasing magnitude of the marital problems she experienced complicated matters. This caused her to take refuge in comfort eating. When the media reported on her weight gain, she tried several diet regimes. The extra weight fell off but she could not stop dieting and became dangerously thin. The world came to understand that bulimia is a response to great pressures in one's life and is a cry for help and attention.
There were also concerns that as she became more unstable, she took overdoses of sleeping pills, cut herself, and had accidents falling down stairs. As her mental condition degraded further, she developed an adulterous affair with James Hewitt, her sons' riding instructor.
The Royal Family
Queen Elizabeth was outspoken in her opinion that both Charles and Diana acted in a disgraceful manner when they revealed sensitive details of their marital discord to the press, especially in Diana's interview with Martin Bashir. She felt that it was a mistake to talk about intimate details in any marriage.
However the Queen came to realize that Diana was indeed the "Queen of Hearts" of the British people after her tragic death, and made an address to the nation saying that the world had lost an "exceptional and gifted human being" and that the royal family would forever miss her.
Sources:
- Diana: in Her Own Words by Andrew Morton; Pocket, 1998
- Mirror-Mirror: Bulimia: The Princess Diana Eating Disorder http://www.mirror-mirror.org/princess-diana-eating-disorder.htm
- CNN: Queen: Princess Diana was "exceptional" http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9709/05/queen.address.2p/
- BBC News: The Panorama Interview http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/diana/panorama.html
Diane Evans - I am a retired civil engineer as well as a member of Sisters in Crime and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
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