Why Diana's death moved Brits' stiff upper lips

Dr. Gail Saltz TODAY Contributor • Profile • E-mail

A decade has gone by since the death of Princess Diana, and many Brits — and quite a few Americans — still mourn her death.

That sadness, though, has been tempered by time, and pales in comparison with the outpouring of grief that erupted after her demise in a Paris road tunnel.

The reaction was truly surprising, shocking even, especially in a nation noted for its “stiff upper lip” and stoicism in the face of tragedy and adversity.

So what was it about this woman — and the state of her country and its culture — that made her loss so particularly devastating? New York City-based psychiatrist and author Gail Saltz, a regular contributor to the TODAY show, looks back at the events of those incredible late-summer days of 1997, and offers insights into why England and the world were so moved by the princess’s passing.

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Young Diana Spencer was the embodiment of every girl's fantasy. Even though in reality she came from the kind of aristocratic, “proper” family that made her an appropriate choice for the Princess of Wales, for the women of England she seemed to be every girl, any girl.

She was the girl in the fairy tale where the prince comes along, falls in love with her beauty and charm and makes her a princess.

Fairy tale wedding
The pleasure in identifying with Diana's rise to a royal lifestyle made many a woman enjoy imagining being her. And as she went from girlfriend to fiancée to wife to mother, people felt they knew her as they lapped up every detail of her fairy-tale wedding, her pregnancies and the births of her "heir and spare."

They grew even closer as they watched her successfully mother her boys — another process that every parent could identify with. At the same time she set herself apart from the royal family in her glamour and beauty, all the while retaining an aura of modesty and dignity.

In other words, Diana had become the ideal fantasy figure. People, women especially, had become invested in her. So, when trouble appeared in her marriage — and the bubble of the perfect family was burst — the public was rooting for her, come what may.

Adding to her allure, Diana was the woman scorned. The country watched as her Prince wronged her by taking up again with his former flame, Camilla Parker Bowles. The drama only made her more compelling, more riveting, more the person who everyone hoped would triumph.

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