Why Diana's death moved Brits' stiff upper lips

The nurturing woman
Her acts of good will shored up this image — the good princess, the resilient woman, the nurturing woman. The divorcee doing her utmost to protect her boys and keep her dignity.

More than that, her story was both familiar and so much larger than life. It contained equal amounts of compelling detail beyond the imaginings of most people and down-to-earth elements recognizable to all. Almost every woman could fantasize about being her while at the same time relate to her — a phenomenon completely unparalleled in Britons’ relationships with the stiff and distant members of the royal family who had come before her.

Attitudes to marital strife, too, had changed in Britain. Instead of being swept under the carpet, couples were more willing to face up to the realities of relationships gone wrong. The national divorce rate was such that everyone knew something of the heartache of splitting up — and Diana became the sympathetic representative of this change.

Along with all this, of course, came the stories of her own infidelities, as well as bouts with bulimia and depression. But these only served to make her an even more sympathetic figure, especially in light of Prince Charles’ prior philandering and apparent coldness.

Sudden, wrong, unfair
When she died, it was with the same drama and tragedy that her life seemed to be full of. Sudden, wrong, unfair. And just as she seemed to pulling her life together and finding happiness again.

The country was robbed of its fairy tale and grieved with the same intensity with which they followed her life. They wanted her to triumph and, instead, she lost.

The combination of anger at this injustice along with sadness at the loss of that little bit in everyone that could have been Diana created a tremendous outpouring of emotion.

The country with the "stiff upper lip" mentality, wept and mourned for all the little princesses, all the women cheated on, all the mothers who try their hardest to raise good children, make a happy marriage and live the best life they can.

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