The Real Reason Princess Diana Had a Tendency to Constantly Smile
Princess Diana was known for her shining smile on most occasions. It may surprise royal fans to know that Diana didn’t always have a reason to smile. The constant smiling appears to have been a familial trait that her mother also had. Read on to learn why Princess Diana always smiled so much when she had no reason to.
Princess Diana was known for her smile
Princess Diana quickly became the most photographed woman in the world virtually overnight. From the moment Prince Charles was courting her, she was seen as a beautiful and shy girl who had no idea what she was getting into. She was known for her constant and radiant smile that seemed to hide any pain she was feeling. She used it like armor and learned to smile through the pain.
The media loved Diana’s constant look of happiness
In Andrew Morton’s biography on the Princess called Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words, he talks about her dazzling smile and why it became like a shield of armor for her. “However nervous she may have felt inside, her warm smile and unaffected manner were a photographer’s delight,” Morton wrote.
Where did Princess Diana get her need to smile from?
Princess Diana believed she inherited her knack for smiling from her mother, Frances Shand Kydd. “She believed that she was able to smile through the pain thanks to qualities she inherited from her mother,” Morton continued. “When friends asked how she was able to display such a sunny public countenance she said: ‘I’ve got what my mother has got. However bloody you are feeling you can put on the most amazing show of happiness. My mother is an expert at that and I’ve picked it up. It kept the wolves from the door.’”
Did she have a reason to smile?
Princess Diana’s marriage was far from happy. It seems she didn’t really have a reason to smile most of the time. She was obviously a people pleaser and she did her best as the Princess of Wales to perform the way the people expected her to at engagements. She even kept up appearances with Prince Charles when they weren’t getting along.
Prince Charles was jealous of his wife’s popularity
Prince Charles was actually quite jealous of Diana’s fame. She was wildly popular with the people, and it was almost like they turned out to see her alone. On Fatal Voyage: Diana Case Solved, the evidence is presented of Charles’ clear frustration about his wife’s obvious preference over himself when it came to the public. People loved Princess Diana and he couldn’t understand why they favored her over him.
“When the royal couple were doing engagements all around the world, the crowds wanted to see Diana,” Diana’s personal butler, Paul Burrell, said. “And they would chant Diana’s name. And of course, Charles would come back from the engagement and be furious. ‘Why do they want to see you? I married you and made you royal, you weren’t born royal. Why do they want to see you? I can’t understand it.’”
Princess Diana was a cultural icon that changed the Royal Family forever. She was immensely liked by her people who wanted nothing more than to see her smile in their direction.
