If Diana had lived and re-married

[acq80]

As it is coming up to what would have been Diana's 60th birthday, I sometimes wonder if she lived what her life would have turned out like. Obviously its only speculation and we will never know.

If Diana re-married and possibly had more children what effect do you think this would have had on her public image?

Would she still have been a member of the royal family if she re-married and would she still be seen as royal?

Absolutely
Also if my Mother was being dragged through the gossip grabbing vultures rhetoric I would be calling in the lawyers.
The woman has no peace even in death

Aside from being a daughter, sister, and mother, she was one of the most influential and famous people in the world - a rarity for a woman. And definitely a figure of historical interest. She has, sadly, been dead for nearly a quarter of a century. I don’t see posters here leaping on her portrayal in The Crown, or indeed in the upcoming Kristen Stewart movie, as crass. It would be odder surely not to ponder what might have been, given her untimely death?

Sorry that should have been absolutely Rousette

@Port1aCastis

Absolutely Also if my Mother was being dragged through the gossip grabbing vultures rhetoric I would be calling in the lawyers. The woman has no peace even in death

It's awful.

From what I remember, she wasn't particularly popular immediately before her death; however she was constantly in the press, so difficult to avoid (and fascinating, regardless of whether she was liked or not).

I don't think either Dodi or Diana were particularly invested in the relationship - I think it's more likely that Mohammed AF was using both Dodi (who was already in a relationship with another woman) and Diana (who was craving glamour and publicity and up for a freebie holiday) to further his own agenda (whatever that was).

So he dangles his playboy son in front of her, with tragic results.

As far as I remember, it was Blair who styled Diana "The People's Princess" in that interview following her death, and she styled herself Queen of Hearts during the interview with Bashir.

The Queen had to practically be dragged from Balmoral to make that announcement to the nation following Diana's death, and was subject to some pretty strong persuasion by Blair (who judged the mood right - that speech was probably the making of him).

Who knows what the Queen was up to and why did she act as she did? To protect the kids, perhaps, or because, by then, Diana was no longer a member of the family as such and considered an irrelevance by The Firm?

Had she lived, I doubt if she could have tolerated being a royal has -been. She would have moved somewhere where she was revered - America perhaps. She may have continued with her charitable causes and become some kind of ambassador for unpopular causes but she would have wanted to remain in the public eye. I don't think she would have approved of Kate but may have approved of Meghan as they seem to be more similar in personality.

Either way, she'd have wanted to be the top dog and may have struggled with her inevitable diminishing status.

She would have remarried I think - she was in her prime when she died after all, and still of childbearing age - but to someone wealthy with status and position but not someone with a serious and important job (ie not a Hasnat Khan type).

I think she would eventually have become to be viewed as something of an irrelevance. I think Charles would have married Camilla and Diana would have been pushed further and further out of the public eye because of that. I think she would have tried to assert and restyle herself as mother to the eventual heir to the throne ( a bit like the Queen Mother styled herself when George V1 died).

I don't think she IS regarded as a saint, actually - she was a polarising figure when alive and continues to be so now she's dead.

Interesting thread!

*The Queen had to practically be dragged from Balmoral to make that announcement to the nation following Diana's death, and was subject to some pretty strong persuasion by Blair (who judged the mood right - that speech was probably the making of him).

Who knows what the Queen was up to and why did she act as she did? To protect the kids, perhaps, or because, by then, Diana was no longer a member of the family as such and considered an irrelevance by The Firm?*

It's kind of funny, in hindsight. The Queen faced so much criticism for wanting to deal with things privately, and I can only imagine how much it worse it would have been if she'd gotten her way and Diana's funeral had been an entirely private affair on the Spencer estate. I agree with you that Blair got the mood right, but at what cost? I don't normally have much patience for Harry, but I'm sure walking behind the casket in that setting was horribly traumatic for a 12-year-old. I guess they could have done the public aspect without Harry, but that wouldn't necessarily have been better for him. It seems clear, though, that a more private affair would have been best for him.

Dragging a Mother's memory through the dirt must be hugely challenging for her sons

she styled herself Queen of Hearts during the interview with Bashir

Yes - she said, 'I want to be Queen of Hearts' and then clarified this, 'Queen of People's Hearts' - but 'Queen of Hearts' stuck and was next day's newspaper headline.

Purple Okapi, you have a point. If Harry had not gone, or had gone to the funeral in a car, with the women, then there would have been another school of thought that would have wittered on for 25 years and more, saying that he should have been allowed to walk with the men, and blaming "the wicked RF" or a "wicked D of E" for it. The camera was not next to him. It wasn't a film. A long-lens zoom, was used, I expect, to allow us to see him quite closely. I don't think his face would have been any different that day, however he had gone or not gone. Poor lads. I won't forget them walking, but I do get tired of the apparent need in some quarters to blame someone for the fact that they did. Sorry, this isn't a follow on to the OP

In a talk about women who married into the RF, a history man said that the term "people's princess" was used by a paper or a magazine in 1922, to describe George V's daughter Mary on her wedding day. I am not suggesting that Tony Blair stole it from there, just saying that it was apparently used before he used it.

I agree with others upthread that said that Dodi and Diana didn't really seem that into each other. Which makes it so strange that they both split up with their respective partners when they met. If they had stayed platonic then none of this may have played out.

I don’t think she would have remarried. I think the title was too important to her. She was fundamentally a typically conservative member of the aristocracy in my opinion.

I feel quite ill now at the way she was treated when she was alive. As a little girl I had a paper doll book of Diana with various outfits. She didn’t exist as a person to me at all. I think she was a person to very few people in her life. I see the other royals in a similar position but less famous. There are very very few people in their lives who actually have their best interests at heart.

I find that much sadder than the fact that sometimes people say she had affairs when she’s been dead for years.

@upinaballoon

Purple Okapi, you have a point. If Harry had not gone, or had gone to the funeral in a car, with the women, then there would have been another school of thought that would have wittered on for 25 years and more, saying that he should have been allowed to walk with the men, and blaming "the wicked RF" or a "wicked D of E" for it. The camera was not next to him. It wasn't a film. A long-lens zoom, was used, I expect, to allow us to see him quite closely. I don't think his face would have been any different that day, however he had gone or not gone. Poor lads. I won't forget them walking, but I do get tired of the apparent need in some quarters to blame someone for the fact that they did. Sorry, this isn't a follow on to the OP

I think the criticism thrown at the Queen / RF for staying at Balmoral was totally unfair. They were doing what was right for the boys, keeping them out the way.

However I don't think there was a right or wrong answer to them walking at the funeral.
PP appears to have felt strongly that they should but then he was just 15 or 16 when he walked behind his DSis and her family including his young neice /
& nephew. That must have been horrific too.

I think people baby teenagers more now than they did in the past so unfair to judge.
Of Philips generation many teenagers would have left school at 15 and gone to work, faught horrific wars just a couple of years older. Diana herself was just 19 when she was out working as a nursery teacher and got engaged.

I wonder what her "rock" Burrell would be doing now?

“Contrary to accepted narrative she was pretty unpopular with the public immediately before her death.”

Was about to say the same. As someone said upthread, her death turned her into a near Saint. People were getting fed up of her celebrity lifestyle, and there definantly cracks forming in the public opinion of her.

I remember buying copy of the Big Issue in the week before her death. It had a sheet stapled to it apologising for the article within but explaining that they couldn't afford to re-print. It was a small article of the "swanning around with her fancy man" variety.

I thought that myself at the time, I thought oh Diana's got another new boyfriend, but she was still popular with me, and I was fond of, and interested in her.

After her death!

I was only 26 when she died so nothing about her lifestyle was bothering me. I did think she had bad taste in ben but i counted charles on that list. I loved picking up the paper for my journey to work, reading about what she was up to!

People ten years older than her might have disapproved of her that she had the expectation of finding love.

@GloriousMystery

Honestly, I think her importance, such as it is, is largely because of her sudden death at a young age, its circumstances and the public response. Had she lived, I think it’s likely that, given her past, her emotional volatility and problematic taste in men, she’d possibly have continued dating a string of dubious playboys and generally unsuitable/married men and that the media and public attitude to her would have become increasingly critical, especially as she aged.

I'd agree. I don't think she was headed for a happy marriage and more children - more likely dubious liaisons with unsuitable men . Her boys hated her relationship with Dodi - I doubt that things would have improved over time.

She is a saint now because of her early death , not for any other reason.

She was never loved for being a saint. She was loved for being so human

@Labradooodle

She was never loved for being a saint. She was loved for being so human

Well, yes, but the variety of 'humanity' she manifested flaws, emotional vulnerability, self-harm, food issues, a capacity for manipulation, a string of relationships with unsuitable or unavailable men etc is the kind of soap opera the media and the general public tolerate, or enjoy, in a young and beautiful woman, but get increasingly intolerant of as she ages.

I'm fairly sure that if an ageing, post-menopausal Diana, Botoxed and with 'work done', was still dating unsuitable playboys on yachts or sneaking lovers into KP and leaking stories to the media, she would be being viewed as increasingly embarrassing and faintly ridiculous, even if she were also continuing to do charity work.

Especially as her sons became adults -- weren't we told by someone that William watched the (Bashir?) interview in his housemaster's quarters at Eton and was upset? You can imagine how that would have continued.

The tabloids are notoriously cruel to ageing women formerly noted for their beauty and desirability.

Well, what you're saying is basically that no post menopausal woman can ever retain affection!

Maybe you're right.

36 was still young, too young to assume that she wouldnt have settled down.

The press would have kept her humble no doubt.

I think a lot of people would love her despite the fact that she'd dared to age.

I don't think she would have married Dodi. And I think she would have stayed in the limelight.

I agree that press attitudes to older women are unattractive (to put it mildly!) but think Diana could easily have moved into “National Treasure” status as she grew older, @Labradoodle. She might have needed to have a bit more stability in her personal life to achieve that, though aside from her work which definitely qualified her.

Look at Fergie. She has managed to stay on the right side of the press for years. I think she was held in less affection and less respect than Diana but even Fergie is regarded with a vague affection by the public now i think. She had far worse press than anybody and yet she always maintained a good humour. Fergie only 1 year older than Diana.