It was a late night in 1997 as a Mercedes drove along the empty streets of Paris. The car picked up speed as it approached the tunnel under the Pont D'Alma. As the car accelerated, the tragedy yet to come loomed over that August night. At 12:35, the driver lost control and rammed the car into the side of the tunnel. There were four people in the car on that dreadful night in Paris; the driver Paul, the bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, the lover Dodi Fayed, and the beloved Princess Diana. Only one person survived the accident, and to the people's grief and disbelief, it was not Diana. After the tragic passing of the Princess, the controversy surrounding the circumstances of her death began to be plastered on every tabloid cover and was the word on everyone's lips. Why was it the talk of the town, or actually the world, one may ask? The paparazzi may have driven too fast, but did they deserve as much scrutiny as they received? The Royal family may have not bonded with their people in the grief of Diana’s passing, but were they painted in too far of a negative light? Ultimately, it was the Royal family who not only betrayed Di and the nation in her death, but also the paparazzi, who chased her throughout her life and on that deadly night. 

Although many attempted to display Diana as a victim of the press, it was actually quite the opposite. Just like any other celebrity, the press and Diana had a “give and give” relationship. The press and media gave Diana the fame and spotlight while Diana gave them the story, that story being herself. Who would not want to know what exciting escapades the former Princess were up to? Throughout her life, “there was one constant in Diana's life: she was rarely out of camera range. Her fame was her most valuable possession” (Kantrowitz). With this power the media gave Diana, she could spread any message and gain endless amounts of admiration. It is easy to victimize someone when they are being used for a cover story, especially when that cover story turns into a memorial. She fed into the media frenzy and “The reporters and photographers who made Diana their career did the same, and more efficiently. She mostly smiled at their dog-like attention and occasionally threw them a bone that would turn up in a tabloid the next day as a “‘world exclusive”’ (“Obituary”). Diana, like many other public figures, fell into the hole of feeding the press stories and tomorrow's big headline. 

Diana’s death became yet another headline when it came down to its effect on the paparazzi and media overall. Many people began to despise “the paparazzi who were pursuing the car before it crashed,” pegging them as murderers and villains of their Princess’s fairytale (Scardino). The paparazzi had turned from those who gave the people what they desired to know about Diana, to criminals. People bought into these ideas that the paparazzi were to blame for Diana’s death, even though they were guilty of buying the headline the next morning. The media and fame that chased Diana would ultimately be her fate, and what would turn the people against the sources they used to peer into Diana’s life. The backlash against the paparazzi began to intensify not only in Britain, but also all over the world. “Didn't you do enough, killing someone yesterday?” one of the workers said, according to the Christchurch Press. The unidentified photographer was knocked to the ground, and the camera shoved in her face” ("Photographers feel backlash”). The controversy with paparazzi surrounding Diana’s death led photographers and media outlets to be targeted all over the globe. The loss of Diana left people wanting someone to blame, and to many, that was the headline and fame-thirsty paparazzi. 

Scardino states that after Diana’s death there was a push for change when it came to celebrities and their private lives “So when the hostility against the paparazzi and the tabloids and the non-believers washes across the Atlantic, it will search for new targets. The private lives of public officials may be one of the first subjects to become taboo” (Scardino). The public, while showing hostility towards the media, fed into this power trip they received from knowing the intricacies and dramas of Diana’s life. The consumer is what gave the media the motivation to pursue Diana and her privacy. After her death, a boundary was pushed to protect the private lives of celebrities from the public. People turned to the paparazzi as someone to blame for Diana’s death, even though the people were complicit story-hungry hypocrites that were their intended audience. 

Diana’s relationship with the Royal family was nowhere near perfect, especially after her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996. Although at the beginning of Charles and Diana’s fairytale romance, they seemed to be a perfect fit, and the people began to fall in love with the couple. The people not only loved Diana, but also the Royal family did too. She came from an established aristocratic family and “Diana was a virgin; no old lovers would show up to sell their stories to the tabloids” (Kantrowitz). After fifteen years of marriage, an array of rumors, and cheating scandals, they separated. It was clear the people had picked Diana over Charles in the divorce. In fact, “She was more popular than her husband” (Elliot and Pedersen). This became obvious when people started to side with Diana and in return steered away from the Royal family. “The number of Britons who believed Charles would be a good king…  plummeted to just 41 percent” (Kantrowitz). The relationship between the Royals and Diana only became more tense as she became more prevalent in the public eye. 

Both the Royal family and Diana became guilty of using the media as a back and forth, “After a week of making dark threats against the BBC for (the nerve of it) granting Diana an interview without seeking permission from the royal household, the palace did a smart 180. “‘On the Princess of Wales' public duties, “‘said a statement, “‘we will, of course, be talking again to the princess to see how we can help her define her future role and continue to support her as a member of the royal family”’(Elliot and Pedersen). Diana participated in so many interviews which were bothersome to the Royal family, especially since they strived to keep their private lives and matters out of the press. Needless to say, Diana won the hearts of the people, but in that process, the people’s respect for the Royal family diminished.

The Royal family’s lack of empathy after the death of Diana led many people to believe she had fallen victim to the Royal family, creating great controversy around her death. With the Royal family's uncaring response to Diana’s death, a divide was created between the Royal family and their people. It was known that the Royal family and Diana did not have the most ideal relationship, especially since their occasional feuding and disagreements were so publicized. The people of Britain who had adored Diana still expected some type of reaction and were especially upset when it came down to the Queen not speaking up, or showing any emotion after her death. A family that had been looked upon favorably for generations began to lose the respect of their people, all due to their love for Diana. There was no announcement of grief of any sort from the Royal family, but instead, “One of the Queen’s first actions was the call the Paris hospital not to inquire about her treatment or whether she suffered, but to inquire whether Diana was wearing any of the royal jewels and if so, to return them immediately” (Daymon). The Queen treated Diana’s death cold-heartedly and entirely lacked the emotion the people were craving to see. It seemed as if they did not care much for Diana, not even enough to slap on a facade, and gain the affections of the British people. 

Not only did the Queen show such little respect to Diana in her death, but she also tried to interfere with Charles actions, “Charles, the forty-eight-year-old future King of England, had to argue with his mother, the Queen, to gain permission to go to France to escort the body of Diana, his children's mother, back to England. It was not appropriate she argued” (Daymon). The Queen attempted to use her immense amount of power to display blatant disrespect towards Diana, and the world took that personally. Diana’s death created a divide within the nation, pinning the Royal family against their people, and the beloved Diana (Watson). A divide was set in between the Royal family and the rest of the nation, due to their poor reactions to their icon's death. “The criticisms of the Monarchs actions following Diana's death and of the remarks attributed to her in relation to Diana manifestly echoed popular dissatisfaction with the Queen’s behavior” (Watson). The British people wanted someone to comfort them during their time of grief, so they turned to their leader yet received no such thing. To the people, her silence spoke words of disrespect about the woman they had begun to cherish more than their own monarchy. The Royal family’s, especially the Queen’s response, or lack of response, caused people to turn their backs on the Royal family, and create a divide between the monarchy and their people. 

That late night in Paris changed Britain, and even the world forever. From the death of their icon, to the betrayal of the Royal family, and the wrongful accusations against the paparazzi, the nation would never be the same. Di was the golden apple of the public eye, always in the spotlight and always in people’s hearts. Her power, her impact, and her relatable yet caring persona will never be forgotten, and neither will the circumstances of her controversial death. 

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Bibliography

 

Daymon, Jones. Princess Diana a Lamb to the Slaughter. iUniverse Inc, 2002. 

 

"Diana, Princess of Wales, Is Killed in a Car Crash, August 31, 1997." Historic World Events, Gale, 2004. Gale In Context: High School. Accessed 10 Sept. 2021.

 

Elliott, Michael, and Daniel Pedersen. "'I won't go quietly.' (analysis of interview with Diana, Princess of Wales)(Cover Story)." Newsweek, vol. 126, no. 23, 4 Dec. 1995, pp. 62+. Gale In Context: High School. Accessed 10 Sept. 2021.

 

Kantrowitz, Barbara. "The woman we loved." Newsweek, vol. 130, no. 10, 8 Sept. 1997, pp. 40+. Gale In Context: High School. Accessed 10 Sept. 2021.

 

"Obituary: Diana, Princess of Wales." The Economist, vol. 344, no. 8033, 06 Sep 1997, pp. 90. eLibrary. Accessed 12 Sept 2021. 

 

"Photographers feel backlash." Editor & Publisher, vol. 130, no. 39, 27 Sept. 1997, p. 18. Gale In Context: High School. Accessed 12 Sept. 2021.

 

Scardino, Albert. "Sunset over Britain." The Nation, vol. 265, no. 9, 29 Sept. 1997, p. 10. Gale In Context: High School. Accessed 12 Sept. 2021.

 

Watson, C.W. “'Born a Lady, Became a Princess, Died a Saint': The Reaction to the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales.” Anthropology Today, vol. 13, no. 6, 1997, pp. 3–7. JSTOR. Accessed 13 Sept. 2021.

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