People followed life of late Princess Diana with ''absolute fascination'' - biographer Andrew Morton

Record ID: 1686815

  • Title: People followed life of late Princess Diana with ''absolute fascination'' - biographer Andrew Morton
  • Date: 24th August 2022
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 16, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROYAL BIOGRAPHER AND JOURNALIST, ANDREW MORTON, SAYING: ''After Diana's death, the queen said that there were lessons to be learnt and she became more responsive, less less inflexible. And there's a sense today that the royal family themselves are more relaxed, are more intimate and more open than they ever were in the past.''
  • Embargoed: 7th September 2022 10:10
  • Keywords: Charles Diana Princess Diana PrincessDiana Queen Elizabeth II royals
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Royals,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA00L017523082022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Britain's late Princess Diana "was probably the most famous face on the planet, along with the Queen (Elizabeth)" with people following the "narrative arc" of her life with "an absolute fascination", according royal biographer Andrew Morton.
    Speaking to Reuters ahead of the 25th anniversary of her death on August 31, 1997, Morton said Diana "was tremendously popular. She had a kind of charisma that drew people in."
    Diana was thrust into the global spotlight in 1981 when the then 20-year-old married Queen Elizabeth II's eldest son and heir to the throne, Prince Charles. They had two sons together, William and Harry, before separating in 1992 and divorcing in 1996.
    "Diana entered a family... where she ended up marrying someone who loved somebody else. So that was… the fundamental tragedy. Kind of on an operatic scale,'' Morton said.
    Details of Diana’s life, were described to Morton for his 1992 biography "Diana: Her True Story". Diana helped, through an intermediary, in the writing of the book which depicted her as trapped in a loveless marriage and attempting suicide to attract Charles’s attention.
    The first reports of difficulties in the royal marriage came in 1985. Later, Charles renewed his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, a woman he subsequently referred to as the love of his life.
    Away from her private life, Diana was known for her charity work, particularly in the fight on behalf of people with AIDS or landmine victims.
    "Diana's unique qualities were very much a humanitarian mission, a tactile nature, a care and constant consideration for others," Morton said.
    "At the same time, a kind of recklessness...overlaid with a delightful and delicious sense of humour. No matter how bad things were, she could always make a joke out of it."
    According to Morton, Elizabeth held "an olive branch out for Diana" even after her separation from Charles, with the relationship only souring, he said, after Diana said she would like to be a "queen of people’s hearts" in a now discredited 1995 Panorama interview.
    Today, Charles is married to Camilla, and Elizabeth has said she wants Camilla to be styled queen consort when he becomes king, cementing her place at the heart of the royal family after once being judged an outsider.
    "Before she died, Diana was reconciled to the fact that Prince Charles and Camilla were an item. It made her anxious," Morton said, but by now he feels Diana ''would have accepted that she was going to be queen.''
    Diana was 36 when she was killed in Paris car crash alongside Dodi al-Fayed, who she was reportedly involved with romantically.
    ''Diana still has an impact,’’ said Morton.
    ‘’People are still intrigued by this woman...she had an appeal which went beyond her royal moniker. It was of a, of an extraordinary human being.''
    (Production: Sarah Mills, Gerry Mey)
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