To find the royal family fascinating?

[MagicKingdomDizzy]

Don't want to make this a TAAT, so I'll just say I have enjoyed everyone's observations on the royal family and it's made a boring weekend go much quicker

Please continue if you wish to......

Yes @AuldJosey I think the rumours pre her death is because she (allegedly) knew and so other people like doctors would have known.

Margaret could have married Peter Townsend, but she would have had to become plain old Mrs Townsend, would have lost her civil list payment and would have likely had to live abroad (probably on a (relatively) small income similar to the duke of Windsor)... so she chose duty over —loss of title— over self

Yes, I get a feeling the papers had a sniff of a pregnancy story at the time.

And in case anyone cares , I’m not sure I buy the rumours she was bumped off. I do however believe she was pregnant.

Oh they definitely did Auld that’s mainly why the conspiracy theories started.

It's all come flooding back to me. But now I'm remembering a lot more about the time. If I recall correctly, there was a rather random article in the Sunday World or some such musing where a baby born out of wedlock would be in line to the throne maybe the Sunday before she died. Given that I was young, I wouldn't have read between the lines at the suggestion that it might be that she was. I read it as a face value hypothetical question.

Such a tragic loss - both her and Dodi. I know his father grieved deeply for him.

Let's hope our lovely Duchesses don't end up leading similarly miserable lives. I know I'd love to see more photos of them, but I suppose their instinct is to protect them from the media.

I genuinely know how desperately Diana struggled in her life. I struggle with similar issues to hers (fame not being one of them). It's not a life I'd wish on anyone really.

There's a lovely quote that I'll try to find.

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. Khalil Gibran

There is a MNer who was well known on here in the early days when the site was smaller who said she had known from a reliable source that Diana had her period directly before the Paris incident so would have been unlikely to be pregnant.

But who knows?

Rosa Monckton said the same in evidence to the Inquiry.

That is beautiful quote @auldjosey. I have copied and kept.

It's my favourite quote. It just resonates with me.

Any baby that Diana had would not have been in line to the throne as it wouldn't have been fathered by Charles.

Who is Rosa Monckton?

I think the speculation was more around how such a baby would fit in with the royals (i.e. William and Harry). It was odd timing, but I seem to recall it being the weekend before her death where there were photos of her on a yacht with Dodi in the papers and a discussion around a non-royal sibling of the heir to the throne type thing.

Ross Monckton was a friend of Diana’s

I often wonder how Diana would have coped with being a MIL. How she would have felt about Kate and Meghan and their superstardom. I think being her DIL might not have been an easy ride.

I think Dodi was probably a rebound fling from Hasnat Khan, the heart surgeon, who many sources say that she was desperately in love with. I think he said he finished with her because it just wasn't going to work as he was Pakistani and Muslim, and the boys wouldn't have been allowed to live out of the UK.

Rosa Monkton was one of her close friends whom she was on holiday with just before the Paris trip, hence her knowledge that Diana wasn't pregnant. Diana was godmother to her daughter.

The blonde girls are likely to be the Phillips girls, Anne's oldest granddaughters, Savannah and Isla, as the two Tindall girls are younger. I think Mia Tindall's first outing as a royal bridesmaid was for Eugenie though the others have been at weddings and other occasions.

Prince Michael is the spitting image of both George V and the last Tsar - their mothers were sisters, Princesses Alexandra and Dagmar of Denmark. The Dowager Tsarina did make it out of Russia to England where she was housed by her nephew. Michael probably has a few extra Danish genes to add to the resemblance as his mother was Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, who was also some sort of cousin of Prince Philip (also P of Greece and Denmark)! 😁

Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, who was also some sort of cousin of Prince Philip (also P of Greece and Denmark)!

They were first cousins. Their fathers Prince Andrew and Prince Nicholas were brothers.

Best Mumsnet thread ever

Prince Michael has the genes left, right and centre as George V’s grandson on his father’s side and Princess Marina’s mother was Russian and a first cousin to the Tsar. Her father also being a first cousin to the Tsar. Her father was known as ‘Greek Nicky’ to differentiate him from the Tsar.

So interlinked!

Who the heck is Prince Michael?

I think Diana would have been a fabulous MIL, just fascinated with the grandkids. I think she would have liked both Duchesses. I think she would still be leading a very full and active life if alive now. She'd still be quite young. That said, I think both of the Duchesses would probably have been more in awe/fear of meeting/impressing Diana than the Queen.

@auldjosey Prince Michael of Kent. Cousin to Her Maj. younger brother of the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra.

He’s the double of the Tsar, and his grandfather George V.

I think Diana would have been quite a challenging mother-in-law. She did not do well with female competition. It would have been hard for her to accept that her sons had more important women in their lives and I suspect she would have done a few passive aggressive moves to wrongfoot and upstage the Duchesses.

Her revenge dress is so beautiful and iconic.

People always say she'd have been a difficult MIL but I think she might have made a nice contrast to the stuffy royal in-laws.

'Come over to my house, darlings, it will be so much more fun than lunch at Sandringham sitting beside handsy Prince Andrew'.