The secrets of Lady Di that have come to light after her death
Phone calls, famous lovers, gifts for their children ... 22 years after her death, a review of some of the most striking moments in the history of the popular princess
Like every year when August comes to an end, the Pont du Alma, in Paris, will once again be filled with flowers. Two decades and two years have passed since the death of Diana of Wales, the now eternal princess of the people, in a car accident in the French capital. The then ex-wife of Prince Charles of England, heir to the British throne, died a few hours after crashing against the pillar number 13 of the tunnel because of a small but located injury in the worst place. That revelation, among many others, has been one of the issues surrounding the aristocrat that has come to light after her death at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris.
It's not the only one. Questions about her honeymoon, how was her last conversation with her children or what she gave them, impressions of her friends, her lovers or about them, revelations about her marriage ... These are some of the secrets revealed posthumously about Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, who would be 58 years old today.
ON DIANA'S DEATH
The death of the village princess sent conspiracies and theories soaring. Finally, and after a decade of investigations, at the beginning of 2008 the London Supreme Court ruled that it had been an accident. The lawsuits of Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of the Harrod's department store and father of Dodi, then the princess's partner and also deceased, did not bear fruit and the jury rejected the theory confirming the accident.
What has become known more recently is the way in which Diana passed away. In 2004 the London police chief asked a doctor named Richard Sheperd to review the evidence to see if it was, as he finally decided, an accident. In addition to Diana and Dodi, the driver of the car, Henri Paul, died in the crash. None were wearing seat belts; the only one who had it fastened was Fayed's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, sitting in the passenger seat and who survived.
Dr. Sheperd investigated and, in a book that went on sale last April, explained that Paul and Fayed died immediately, but not the princess. She - sitting behind the passenger, who did not move when wearing a belt - broke several bones and suffered a small but fatal wound on the chest, "in the worst place." "That wound was a small scratch in a vein in one of her lungs," she explained. The Princess of Wales appeared "hurt but stable, especially as she was able to maintain communication. While everyone was focused on Rees-Jones, the vein was slowly bleeding in her chest." When they found out, Diana was losing consciousness, suffered a cardiac arrest, and it was too late.
YOUR FRIENDS AND LOVERS
Throughout her life, despite the difficulties she experienced in the palace, the princess knew how to surround herself with people who loved her and appreciated her for her personality and her solidarity work. Also because of his coexistence with her, as was the case with his stepmother, with whom he had so many encounters, that he finally confessed that both ended up becoming "good friends." "Diana was a lovable person under enormous pressure who would end up on my couch to tell me about her problems," Raine McCorquoadale recounted in British magazine The Gentlewoman in September 2015.
One of her main supporters among the Windsors was Sarah Ferguson. The former Duchess of York and wife of Prince Andrew recently claimed about Diana that "she was a best friend, a sister." "I miss her every day," explained the mother of the princesses Eugenia and Beatriz de York. Of course, without ceasing to give his version: "We were two women who had fallen in love with two wonderful princes, they called her a saint, me a sinner."
Diana's enormous exposure made her rub shoulders with stars who went through similar situations, of enormous public fame but with an intimate side that dazzled her more than the stages and the spotlights. Thus, a comic actress named Cleo Rocos revealed in 2013 a curious anecdote about the princess of the late eighties, when she was still married to Prince Charles: she had gone out on a night out in a pub with Freddie Mercury. After spending the night drinking champagne and laughing watching The Golden Girls, she came out dressed as a man, camouflaged under a jacket, her hair hidden by a cap and sunglasses.
An ex-girlfriend of fellow singer Bryan Adams said in 2003 that he had a relationship with the aristocrat in 1996, when she was already divorced from Prince Charles. In the summer of 2018 he decided to bring it up, claiming that they were "just good friends" and that he often visited her at Kensington Palace. In fact, in 1984 she composed a song called Diana that she used to sing at all concerts and that she stopped performing since the death of the princess. The event affected him deeply, as did former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who called it "the fall of a star", as he wrote to Bill Clinton in a letter.
Another curious detail of the princess was revealed by Kevin Costner. A few months ago, the actor revealed that in Hollywood they wanted Diana of Wales to be the protagonist of the second part of The Bodyguard, but her death truncated the project. "" I remember being incredibly sweet on the phone when I asked the questions, "said the Dancing with Wolves actor." She said, 'Are we going to have a kiss scene?' But she said it in a very respectful way: she was a little nervous because I think her life was very controlled at the time. And I said, 'Yes, there is going to be a little bit of that, but we will negotiate it well. "
Her lovers, of course, also had something to say. One of the most famous was James Hewitt, who was credited with the paternity of Prince Henry. He, despite wanting to get a slice of the stardom of Diana, whom he has described as "a beautiful and charming person who was lacking in love", has denied it. The art expert Oliver Hoare passed away a year ago and it was learned that he adored Diana (who thought about eloping with him) although later he resumed his long friendship with Prince Charles.
GUILLERMO AND ENRIQUE
Much of the revelations since the death of the princess have been related to her sons, princes William and Henry. They themselves have spoken of their mother, although it took years to do so. The first time was in 2007, with the 10th anniversary of Diana's death
"It was an event that changed our lives forever," Enrique confessed then. "But what matters most to us now, looking to the future, is that we remember our mother as she would have liked and how she really was: funny, generous, ordinary, completely genuine. Let the princess rest in peace." she recounted, describing her as "our guardian, friend, and protector," who behind the media spotlight "was simply the best mother in the world."
Ten years later, when the 20th anniversary of the princess's death approached, they gave details about how it was the last time they spoke with her, on the phone and when they were spending the summer in Balmoral (Scotland) with her grandmother, Elizabeth II. They say that they dispatched her quickly, that they wanted to go play. "As children we spent too much time talking to our parents on the phone, instead of seeing each other. I didn't like it, but that's the way it was," Guillermo said. "I think Enrique and I were in a hurry to say goodbye and get on with our business." "I will regret it the rest of my life," confessed her brother, who has also praised the role of Prince Charles: "One of the most difficult things a father can do is tell her children that their mother has died."
Enrique himself had to go through therapy to overcome it, and he explained that his time in Afghanistan helped him to go through it: "If you lose your mother at age 12 you have to get used to the idea that she will no longer be there. your side, but 15 or 17 years later I still did not assume that she was no longer with me and it was in Afghanistan where I said: 'Come on, it's time to face her.'
The young man has also spoken about the persecution of Diana by the paparazzi, constant and overwhelming throughout her life. "One of the hardest things to accept is the fact that the people who chased her in the tunnel were the same people who took pictures of her while she was still dying in the back seat of the car," Enrique said. In fact, both he and his brother Guillermo revealed that they had seen their mother "deeply anguished" in the years before her death by the harassment of the photographers who waited for her "as if it were a package every time she went out." "A pack of dogs, who followed her, chased her, harassed her, called her, spat on her and tried to get an angry reaction to get a photograph," Guillermo harshly narrated in a documentary.
On a more curious plane lies the confession made by Paul Burrell, who was the princess's personal butler. In the documentary Serving the Royals: Inside the Firm (At the service of the Royal Family: inside 'The Firm'). In it, Burrell recounted: "Diana used to ask me to buy erotic magazines for her children." His intention came because the princess "thought it was good for her children to see other ladies." "She wanted her children to grow up with a positive view of the opposite sex, which is why she usually asked me to go to the newsstand to make this type of purchase," she said.
YOUR OWN CONFESSIONS
After Diana's death and beyond her controversial biography, details of her life and the hell that Windsor became have become known through letters, writings and tapes. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of her death, a controversial documentary was released in the United Kingdom in which recordings of the princess were known. In them, for example, she spoke of her wedding day, in 1981: "It was one of the worst of my life," she confessed. He also said that Prince Charles only went to the matrimonial bed "once every three weeks"; in fact, they had not had any more sexual relations since she became pregnant with Enrique (which was a disappointment for the prince, who wanted to have a daughter).
"At first she called me every day, but then she did not say anything to me for three weeks," she said about the start of their relationship. The Daily Mail also published a transcript of some recordings made by the princess in 1991 where she spoke of how the pressure of that romance caused bulimia and anxiety. "I remember the first time I caused that bad thing to me. I was excited because I thought it was a way to relieve tension," she said. The bulimia started a week before the engagement. My husband put a hand on my waist and said, 'A little chubby around here right?' That triggered something in me, ”Diana is heard on the tapes. "The first time they measured me for the wedding dress, I had a 73-centimeter waist. The day I got married, I was 60 centimeters long," she says. She also tells how during the wedding she was looking for Camilla Parker-Bowles among the guests and about how she felt "the luckiest girl in the world". An impression that changed quickly, on her honeymoon in Balmoral: "I was very depressed, and I tried to cut my veins with razor blades. It rained, it rained and it rained."
In a series of letters that went up for auction in 2016, the princess spoke of what she loved most in the world: her children. "The boys are fine, they are enjoying boarding school although Enrique does not stop getting into trouble," he said. In others, earlier, she also spoke of the relationship of the little ones: "Guillermo adores her younger brother and spends all her time on top of Enrique with endless hugs and kisses, and hardly lets the parents get close." "The reaction that has been produced by the birth of Enrique and the expressions of affection that we have received have overwhelmed me and Carlos," he explained.
A love that lasted beyond death and was reflected in her will, which can be consulted on a website authorized by the British Government. Her legacy, with a heritage valued at 19 million euros and which has been revalued until she was 34, went to her children. Guillermo received his share in June 2007, when he turned 25. Later, in 2014, when Enrique turned 30, they received his personal items, including his wedding dress. A gesture that says more than all words.
