Princess Diana Did Not See Herself ‘as a Victim,’ Author Says
Princess Diana died in 1997 at the age of 36. Looking back on her life, many people sympathize with her as she went through a lot of difficulties. However, while some folks often portray her as a victim, a royal author believes Diana had a different mindset about her life.
Princess Diana dealt with many difficulties in her life
When Diana was young, she had a rough childhood. Diana detailed some stories in the biography Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words by Andrew Morton. For example, she constantly felt like she was not good enough because of the fact that her parents had wanted her to be a boy.
Additionally, there was a lot of instability in her life. Her parents separated when she was 6 years old, and she lived with her father. Diana disliked her stepmother, Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, and there was also a frequent change of nannies in their household.
When Diana became an adult, she got married to Prince Charles at the age of 20. Her marriage was quite tumultuous as well. Diana admitted to being emotionally reactive, and she shared that other members of the royal family saw her as “mentally unstable.”
Even before her wedding, Diana was aware that Charles still had feelings for his ex-girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles later had an affair with Camilla, which devastated Diana. The couple officially divorced in 1996.
Royal author says Princess Diana did not see herself ‘as a victim’
Although it has been over 20 years since Diana’s death, many people continue to talk about her life. In a lot of narratives, Diana is seen as a victim of her own childhood, the royal family, or Charles’ infidelity. However, royal author Ingrid Seward believes Diana would not happy with this portrayal of her.
“I don’t think Diana saw herself as a victim at all,” Seward said, according to Express. “She saw herself as a single woman before the end of her marriage.”
Seward also noted, “She would be very sad that people think she and Charles never loved each other; that wasn’t true. She’d be horrified at the way she’s portrayed now.”
Princess Diana used astrology to ‘empower herself’
There are many ways in which a person could rise above their circumstances. For Diana, that meant turning to astrology. According to her long-time astrologer Debbie Frank, astrology was like a form of “therapy” for the princess.
“It was sort of like therapy–that’s what she got from it–as a means of mediating her feelings, understanding why she felt like she did, what she could do about it, what she was supposed to be developing into, how she was supposed to perceive these things, and how could she empower herself,” Frank explained, according to Town & Country.
She added, “We worked a lot more from that premise of ‘what can you learn from this? What choices do you have? This is what you’re supposed to grow into.’ So, gradually she became more empowered.”
