Princess Diana

The TV channels have been running shows about Princess Diana over the last couple of days. I guess that means its been ten years since she passed away.

I remember how terrible I felt about the way she died. Hounded by the media, they never left her alone, followed her everywhere, till she had no escape - except in death. That's what I thought. Of course, life is never that simple. Turns out, Diana wasn't above manipulating the media. Generated a lot of the media attention herself, and used it to draw public sympathy to herself.

Yup, that's life. As somebody once said - the truth is rarely pure and never simple. Have you heard of the British king who abdicated his throne for the woman he loved? Edward the VIII... Oh, when I first heard that, it sounded so incredibly romantic! Just like a fairy tale.
Except that Edward was no handsome young prince. He was a 40 year old man who had several affairs with married women. As for the woman he loved - she was on her second husband, had an unsavoury reputation and was already having an affair with Edward. And the whole thing was mostly stubbornness on Edward's part anyway. He wanted it both ways (the marriage and the throne), triggered a face off with his government, and lost. Oh, and did I mention - they were both big fans of Hitler!

Anyway, my point being - life is seldom what you expect. Princess Diana had a beautiful, magnificent wedding, watched live by millions of people. She went through a fifteen year marriage, outwardly living the perfect life. And all the while, her husband was in love with another woman. A woman he had never stopped loving. A woman he finally married after years of separation.

Hmm, now that sounds like a romance... Not the conventional story book kind, but at least it has a happy ending. Princess Diana had the fairy tale wedding, but I guess it was Camilla who got the fairy tale.