Perhaps it's a reminder of how powerful and influential women and mums can be.
A reminder of how powerful and influential any of us can be, but we choose whether to use that to support others, or crush them.
Privilege provided Diana with a wide audience and the means to tackle some huge topics quickly and efficiently, but that doesn't mean we can't all have a profound positive influence in our own way.
Diana lived, she did some stuff and then she died.
Some of that stuff she did had a profund impact upon some people on an individual level and some of it had a profound collective impact.
She changed me on an individual level, if for no other reason than I became aware of Angola and landmines.
She changed the world, if for no other reason than she supported the Red Cross' campaign, she provoked international debate and the United Nations banned the use of landmines 12 months later.
I think she was quite canny about the things she thought, or agreed to do. Hugging AIDS patients, walking alongside a minefield all geared up, or visiting people in their council flats offering to match funds raised for a sick child were simple acts with complex effects.
Imagine if she had just paid for those sick children to access treatment it would have been 'Diana saved this child', rather a mother being able to say 'I saved my child's life and my friend/colleague Diana was a part of the team; she unburdened me and spurred me on in a profound way'.
She used her power and influence cleverly, as much as possible without eclipsing the power and value of other people. That methodolgy increased her power and influence as more and more people were affected by her actions.
If Diana said, or did, people listened. She was very socially skilled both face to face and at a distance. She could inhabit elite and non-elite environments within different cultures. That's a personal skill, not just about privilege.
If Diana had lived, particularly with Dodi, would she have remained silent about wars, refugees and Christian/Muslim conflicts and prejudices?
Would people have held on to any of their prejudices if Diana had challenged them in her simple, but profound way?
Personally, I think we might be living in quite a different political environment and culture had she lived.
There is no question, whatever our personal opinions of Diana, that she was adored by many and influential as a result.
Some may question the the manner of her death, whether it was accidental, a consequence of recklessness, or even murder, but let's work from what we know for sure: Diana died on the 31st August 1997.
Had the trajectory of her life continued, had she lived and maintained a relationship with Dodi Fayed, would the world be the same as it is today?
I take D3 for it's anti-inflammatory properties, but not that much. I'll consider a higher dose, thankyou.
If I go to the local Co-op at abut 7pm they reduce the veg down to pennies...and then I get a 20% discount because I have my daughter's staff discount partner card.
I also forage a little.
Fresh veg is my cheapest option as well as being my favourite food group and suitable for an anti-inflammatory protcol diet.
I've never really been into cats, but for some reason, even cats that cat lovers can't get near foist themseves on me and start making unreasonable demands.
As a collective they appear to have insisted I adore them, learn their language and obey their every command even at my own expense.
jac_the_gripper Forum Posts (5,363)
Diana's Impact
His father owning Harrods was hardly conventional whichever way you look at it.Dodi allegedly had a 'secret' child, who was 9 months old when he died.