The People's Princess: How Princess Diana Captured The World | The Uncrowned Queen

Few lives were less ordinary than that of Diana, Princess of Wales. Born noble, she became royal but was denied her destiny to be queen. Beautiful but tragically fated, her legacy will prove greater than thrones and crowns. She will be a queen in people's hearts. After her divorce and rejection by the British royal family, Diana discarded the gowns that had once enhanced her position as Princess of Wales and future queen. Unwanted reminders of an unhappy past, their dispersal marked the end of an era for Diana. She was starting a new independent life. Each dress held the aura of her glamour, her allure and her unforgettable style. Diana's magic had a value of its own. Two months before her death, 79 of her dresses were auctioned by Christie's in New York for charity. Each dress tells a story of love and loss. Lot 35, a scarlet lace cocktail dress worn just after her famous television interview in 1995. Lot 66, a glamorous dinner dress worn to a concert at Versailles in 1994, her first official overseas visit after withdrawing from public life the previous year. Lot 55, a midnight blue silk crepe gown worn in New York in 1996 as Diana prepared herself for divorce from Prince Charles. Lot 11, a blue and white satin dress worn in Hong Kong in 1995 when she travelled the globe as a semi-detached royal. The sale raised millions for charity. Disenchanted with the British establishment, Diana increasingly turned to America which serenaded her as did Tony Bennett as its adopted princess. And when chat show host Phil Donahue danced with her in Chicago in 1996, millions of Americans would have stepped into his shoes. With her elegance, grace and charm, Diana had replaced Jackie Kennedy as America's uncrowned queen. And when statesman Henry Kissinger fell under Diana's spell, so did an entire nation. I think she loved the warmth of the Americans, although she also found it sometimes rather overwhelming because perhaps the British reserve, even though everybody adored her here, there was still that sort of sense of decorum perhaps. In America, she was just, you know, stampeded, I think. But she adored them because they were spontaneous like her. In 1995, Kissinger presented Diana with the Humanitarian of the Year award. No other British royal had been so honoured in America. She was tremendously fond of people like Kissinger, adored sitting next to him at dinner. They got on like a house on fire. Ladies such as Elizabeth Dole made a big impression on her. She said she had such a wonderful sense of humour. You see, this is the thing that Diana appreciated. Somebody who could not be so withdrawn with her or shy of her, but somebody who could sort of just connect with her. The Humanitarian Award was a victory for Diana against the British establishment, who considered her a showgirl. I want to say a sincere and heartfelt thank you for this award. It is humbling to receive it and to know that some of you seated here tonight feel that I should be honoured in this way. General Colin Powell and media star Barbara Walters were among America's great and good who recognised Diana's potential as a remarkable envoy for her country. She was both enormously interesting too and a very good ambassador for us to what one might call the glittering world of parts of the United States. She was a very visible representative in the fashion world there, in the theatre, movie world, and also at the higher levels of politics. She obviously connected very well with President and Mrs Clinton. But at the other end of the scale, and perhaps most importantly, she was an extraordinary ambassador for us to the third world, what we used to call the third world, to people in countries who were suffering from one thing or another, which she identified with at home, but which she picked up very strongly when she was abroad, whether, again, it was AIDS in Africa, or the plight of children who she visited with Mother Teresa in India, or the whole landmines issue where she was so important in identifying and drawing attention to something which governments have been talking about for a long time, but no one in general had remote interest in. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was Diana's guiding light through her devotion to the poor, the sick, and the dispossessed. In June 1997, the tall young princess visited the elderly frail nun in New York. Who would have guessed that within three months, they would die within days of each other? Actress Joan Collins said after their deaths, Diana was a true humanitarian. Now that Mother Teresa is gone, who is like that? There is no one. We have lost someone incredibly special. Another continent, a different culture. To support sufferers of a disease that afflicts the whole world, Diana travelled with her friend Jemima Khan to Pakistan to help raise funds for her husband Imran's cancer hospital in Lahore. Against home criticism that such visits had a political edge, Diana displayed the warmth, kindness and compassion that distinguished her from the more aloof and distant royal family. Diana used touch to communicate her empathy with those in pain. She created a rapport wherever she went, giving hope and comfort, especially to sick children. Her fervent speeches brought international recognition to the hospitals and care centres for otherwise forgotten victims. This is the only private cancer hospital in the world that treats 80% of its patients free. Diana once said, nothing gives me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It's a goal and an essential part of my life, a kind of destiny. She had the most incredible level of compassion. And she was not afraid of illness or sickness or death. And the other thing was about Diana was that she felt, particularly with the terminally ill, that it was very honest and that there was nothing left to lose. And so people lost their shyness, so she could really talk to them. And there was this incredible sort of depth and intimacy that perhaps was lacking when she met other people at more formal occasions. But formality and protocol were everything to the House of Windsor. As mother to William and Harry, heirs to the throne, Diana had to prepare her sons for their royal destiny. Victory in Japan was commemorated in August 1995, one of several occasions when her boys had to appear in public and behave like adults. Harry, nearly 10, found it difficult to concentrate, but he looked for guidance to his parents and older brother. William, 13, had already learned to cope with pomp and ceremony. Two years later, he was shattered by the loss of his mother. Her death would change him forever. He has become a very strong young man. He was always strong, much stronger than his father, who is rather weak and who tends to blame other people for things that go wrong in his life. William was strong of mind when he was a boy, perhaps even a bit willful. Since his mother died, and particularly with Harry, to look after, to oversee, he's assumed an importance, which he wears very well. I mean, he happens to be tall, he's a good-looking chap, and he's very bright. But he changed in becoming a more independent boy, in taking control, in a sense, of the situation. And he was crucial, of course, to Harry's stability. Within days of the victory parade, William started senior school at Eton College. His parents chose Eton for its close proximity to London and to Windsor Castle. Charles refused to send him to the Scottish school, Gordonston, where he himself had been very unhappy as a student. Eton had educated generations of Diana's family, including her father and brother, but she still sought William's approval before sending him there. She had treated him like a grown-up, which is what every teenager longs for. She'd ask his advice, saying, well, William, what do you think about this? Should I do this, or shouldn't I? Now, that is very flattering. And she didn't tell him what to do. I mean, Prince Charles is exactly the same. I've heard this for several years now, that whenever they decide that they're going to go somewhere or do something, or there's going to be a photo call, they say, well, we were thinking of doing this, what do you think, William? They also ask Harry, and they ask for their input. Diana identified in William personal qualities that his father lacked. She actively groomed her eldest son to be king. As he grew up, William became a junior confidant to his mother. She did drop an incredible amount of responsibility on William's very slim, young shoulders. He was barely 10 years old when she started revealing how she felt in front of him. And I think, as a result, William's matured very fast. He's much more mature than most boys of 15. But that's also perhaps because of the daunting burden that lies ahead of him, the monarchy. And when you're 15, you might want to be a rock star or a nuclear physicist. You don't want your life mapped out for you. Kids of that age want to feel free. All their school friends are talking about, you know, I'm going to backpack around Africa or something. And he doesn't have that choice. It's very sad. I've heard Prince Charles talk about how awful it is to have your whole life mapped out for you. And I know William's a very sensitive boy, and he'll have absorbed a lot of that and think, well, I've got the same fate awaits me, sitting around waiting for my parent to die so I can become king. The ancient courtyards and playing fields of Eton will shape both of Diana's boys for the challenges of a monarchy in a new millennium. William will be Harry's protector. At Eton, where William is doing very well, William will really look after him and make sure that as a rather frightened newcomer, he'll be well taken care of. Despite the support of royal friends like Lord and Lady Romsey, members of Prince Charles's inner circle, there are still fears that Diana's death could affect William so greatly that he may not want to be king. Whether William, given that all he's been through, might say in the next few years, who needs this? The people don't seem to want us anymore. We're going into Europe. What's the monarchy's role? It would be very human and people would understand if he said, I don't think I want to do this. Diana instilled in her sons an understanding of the traditions into which they were born. Constant examples of duty and dedication were exemplified by the queen and the queen mother. The queen's always played a very important role with William, and Diana told me that William gets on very well with his grandmother and she was delighted about that. And for the past few years, the queen has been having tea with William on a Sunday, because he just has to go across the bridge from Eton. So he'll go around to Windsor Castle with his detective and when he walks in the room, her face lights up and they sit down and they chat about this and that. And she tells him what she's been doing and who she's met. And he tells her, now this is a tradition that the monarch passes down through the generations of her wisdom and there was a time when the queen hardly saw William, so she's delighted to form this bond with him. William's confirmation service in March 1997 was the last time that the four members of the Wales family were all seen together. Diana and Charles had agreed to act in harmony for the sake of their children, who had suffered from their parents' all too public divorce. By this time, Diana had resolved to leave behind the bitterness of the past and had forged a new friendship with her former husband. With her generous divorce settlement, Diana was seeking a new independent life. She felt relaxed enough to kiss Charles goodbye at William's speech day in May 1997. They would never be seen together in public again. South of France, summer 1997, Mohammed Al-Fayed, owner of Harrods in London and the Ritz Hotel in Paris, invited Diana and her boys to holiday at his magnificent mansion. Here, she fell in love with Fayed's handsome son, Dodi. Diana would have never married Dodi without the consent of the two children and Prince William more than that because she always said that Prince William was her anchor and she admired the boy in all the stuff. Diana felt free of the emotional chains of her failed marriage. On a sun-drenched sea with Dodi, her devoted companion, a bright new future beckoned. They cruised the Mediterranean aboard the Fayed's luxurious yacht, the Jonicol. William and Harry witnessed their mother's growing romance. But the children, don't forget, she took them on the boat and they had a wonderful time. Not probably William. William was not so happy but the little one was thrilled, all the games, all the things. And it was probably to accustom them to the situation. And when I asked her, are you going to marry me? And what your children's reaction? She said, Elsa, I rang up William. So it was the answer. And he said, mommy, I want you to be happy. It's been reported that when the first pictures of Diana and Dodi in that sizzling embrace in the Mediterranean were appearing in the press, Diana rang William and warned him, tipped him off that the pictures were about to appear. And his reaction was fine. He just said, look, mom, whatever makes you happy. He was called a mom. And he was fine about it. He knew Dodi, he'd met him on the holiday they all shared in the middle of July. On the last Saturday of August, Diana and Dodi had dinner together at the Paris Ritz. Shortly after midnight, they left to return to Dodi's apartment where he had a diamond ring awaiting his princess. Pursued by paparazzi and driven too fast, they crashed in an underpass. Diana was 36 years old, her work half done and her sons half raised. In the new life she was embracing, she had exorcised her previous one and dismissed its wiser safety precautions. Had she been with the boys, of course, she would have been completely differently protected. She would have had a royal protection driver, very well trained by police methods. She would have had probably a follow-up car, making sure that the paparazzi were at a distance. But of course, one part of her deliberately didn't want that. And she did very much feel liberated from many of those constraints in her private life when she gave up being her royal highness and having the trappings of royalty. So as on many things, she herself was ambivalent. There were moments obviously when it would have been very helpful to have proper police protection, but there were other moments when she really wanted to escape. And I suspect that the second one when she wanted to escape were more important than the first. Prince Charles went to Paris to collect the body of his former wife. Despite her divorce and the loss of the title, her royal highness, Diana's coffin was draped with the royal standard flag. She had died a member of the royal family. Charles, along with Diana's sisters, took her home to a country in shock and grief. In the next week, the royal family were forced to change their behavior as the scale of public mourning overwhelmed them. Charles rose to the occasion, behaving more like a widower than a former husband. Diana had often said, I will always be the mother of your children. Even in death, she was still bound to him. Hillary Clinton joined the famous and the unknown at Diana's funeral. She grieved for a young woman she had known and greatly admired. On behalf of the president and the American people, I came here to express our deep sadness at the loss of Princess Diana. We grieve for her children, her family, and her country. She inspired countless men and women throughout the world with her courage, perseverance, and loving kindness. She did hard work in difficult places, and she softened hearts and lifted spirits. We can honor Diana's memory by continuing her work, by bringing care and comfort to the afflicted, by reaching out to those who are stranded on the outskirts of hope and opportunity, by campaigning against landmines, by treating every child with love and compassion. Today, the shadows are longer because we have lost a light that shined brightly and gently, and we will miss her. Every nation, color, and creed on Earth mourn Diana. In cities throughout the world, commemorative services were held. The soaring notes of opera singer Denise Graves in New York's Central Park carried the sorrow of the American people. Newspapers and magazines all over America reflected the somber mood. Scenes like these were witnessed throughout the country as people said farewell to the world's most popular and celebrated woman. There was a sense of sharing in a tragic and historic event. And in Washington, the National Cathedral congregation prayed with the Reverend Nathan Baxter. It is too easy and too safe to place her on a pious pedestal where we can admire her and fantasize about her. Catherine Graham, one of America's most successful women, praised Diana. She was a star from the beginning. She brought something to royal behavior, touching people and speaking frankly to major contributions. But we all soon learned that the fairy tale had an unhappy ending. The death of Princess Diana, with Mr. Fyod and Mr. Paul, has brought the problems of celebrity culture and its coverage by all of us into sharp relief. We all need to think hard about how to solve them. This tragedy need not and should not have happened. In 16 short years, Lady Diana Spencer had risen from unknown aristocrat to the most famous face on earth, from a kindergarten assistant to the Princess of Wales and uncrowned Queen of Hearts. Before her wedding in 1981, Diana spoke of her work as a part-time nanny. I only worked three days a week at kindergarten and the other two I looked after an American baby boy who was very special to me. The boy's mother, Mary Robertson, wrote a book about Diana. She praised the happy, normal teenager who took loving care of her son, Patrick. In Washington, Mary paid a tribute to her. Attending Diana's funeral last week, the saddest thing I've ever done. As the last hymn ended and I'd heard only the tread of the soldier's boots, so chilling and so final as they carried her through the abbey, my only thought was of the two boys who had lost the mother who adored them. God willing, Diana's spirit will live on in her sons. In Paris, the site of Diana's fatal crash became a place of pilgrimage. A convoy of London taxi cab drivers took a party of sick and handicapped children to pay their respects to the princess who had made them feel valued. Diana had raised the profile of handicapped people everywhere. They remembered her as a friend. Shortly before her own death, Diana comforted Elton John at the funeral of murdered fashion designer, Gianni Versace. A few weeks later, Elton would sing at Diana's funeral. Other artists compiled a musical tribute. They were inspired by Elton's best-selling record of the song, Goodbye England's Rose, which raised millions for the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Michael Jackson and many more donated their songs to raise money for Diana's charities. Diana's final campaign was aimed at governments who spent fortunes on landmines, which injured and killed innocent victims. She visited Angola in January 1997 and was interested in every aspect of the problem. Within the treatment, do you cope with the psychological side of it as well? On behalf of the Red Cross, Diana pledged her support for the campaign. It's an enormous privilege for me to be invited here to Angola in order to assist the Red Cross in its campaign to ban once and for all anti-personal landmines. There couldn't be a more appropriate place to begin this campaign than Angola because this nation has the highest number of amputees per population than anywhere in the world. By visiting Angola, we shall gain an understanding of the plight of the victims of landmines and how survivors are helped to recover from their injuries. We'll also be able to observe the wider implications of these devastating weapons on the life of this country as a whole. It is my sincere hope that by working together in the next few days, we shall focus world attention on this vital, but until now largely neglected issue. Her experiences in Angola turned a campaign into a crusade. I've had hands-on experiences before, but this working trip has been slightly different. I've had more contact with people and there's been less formalities. It's the type of programme I've been looking for for some time and I'm very happy to have done and achieved what we have. Remember that there were very large campaigns, particularly out of Washington and in Switzerland, with various organisations. What she did is give a lead to all of them and they all then fell in line behind Diana with her involvement and with her pictures that were portrayed on the TV and in newspapers across the world. Everyone then joined the campaign to have the band. In 1993, Diana visited Nepal, a desolate region far from the royal court, but one with its own ceremonies to welcome a princess. Baroness Chalker, a British government minister, accompanied her, but Diana's official public role was being scaled down. Always respectful of other cultures and a perfect ambassador for her country, Diana would nevertheless be cast aside by the royal family, in her own words, as a non-starter for Queen. One of Diana's greatest achievements was losing the stigma attached to two major diseases of mankind, AIDS and leprosy. The leprosy mission was one of her most important charities. She had first seen leprosy in Indonesia in 1989. Now she was attracting the attention of the world's media to a centuries-old affliction in another forgotten area. She wanted to make people aware of the plight of the 32 million people directly or indirectly affected by leprosy. Leprosy and AIDS, twin symbols of fear and ignorance, one ancient, one modern, became personal crusades for Diana. In dealing with AIDS and HIV, Diana knew that no amount of words compared with the power of touch. In one handshake, she dispelled the myth that touching transfers the virus. Publicity about HIV seems to veer between sex and death horror stories at one extreme to complacency at the other. But behind this confused picture lies the reality of a growing worldwide affliction, an untold private suffering. HIV does not make people dangerous to know. So you can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it. Among the hundred or so charities Diana was associated with was the Chicken Shed Theatre Group, which welcomed children of all abilities. The group missed her warm support. She was as irreplaceable to them as to many other organizations, causes, and charities that she had helped through her celebrity status. The Chicken Shed Theatre released a special song at Christmas 1997 for Diana's memorial fund. The song, I Am In Love With The World, competed with the best of the pop world for a place in the chart. It was an immediate hit. The Chicken Shed Theatre promoted the song with a video showing Diana surrounded by the children she had lovingly supported. In June 1998, the Chicken Shed children performed their song at an outdoor memorial concert held by Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, at Althorp, her family estate. The concert raised money for her memorial fund to help her charities. Many, many have missed out. We don't yet know which charities are going to benefit because they've only just started distributing the money. If the money continues to come in, as it may well do, then the charities, hopefully in the future, will get the sort of money they'd have expected to with Diana alive. But at the moment, there are a number of charities struggling because that money hasn't come through. Diana was a mother to be proud of. To her boys, she gave her unquestioning love and attention, whatever the problems in her personal life or the demands of her public role. Diana may have told her boys that Leah Rabin, widow of the assassinated Israeli prime minister, once said to her, you and I are the two most tragic figures in the world, except that you have a future and I only have a past. Now Diana has no future. William and Harry are her living legacy. The two brothers, as her only children, have an unbreakable bond, yet they have very different characters. But she always said Prince Harry is like a Spencer and I don't have worries about him. But I think that the future king, Prince William, has the sense and sensibility of Diana. Shortly after Diana's death, Charles took Prince Harry to South Africa. In Johannesburg, they attended a concert at the chart-topping Spice Girls. Harry relished the attention they gave him. It was a time to smile again and to let his father join in the fun. Just 13, Harry looked lost in unfamiliar surroundings. In South Africa, he must have missed the reassuring presence of William studying for his exams at school. But he seemed happy to watch his father show him the way to behave when dealing with unusual customs. And to give him a few stories for his friends back home. Although Harry seems unaffected by the situation, there are moments when the mask slips. He's become far more reflective. There are long periods, I understand, where he is very sort of contemplative in a way that he wasn't before. Well, he's only a young boy. I think all of us who have families and maybe have lost someone close can understand what may be going through his mind, thoughts, disappointments. He must have periods of unhappiness, but he is quieter and more contemplative than he was before she died. South Africa was a long way from Britain in culture and climate. But it had many fascinating sights and sounds for father and son to share. It was a rewarding experience and an opportunity for Charles and Harry to relax in a different atmosphere. The tour helped Harry to create a geographical and an emotional distance from the traumatic events after his mother's death. Like William, Harry can never forget the good times they had with Diana. She introduced them to new people, exciting places and fresh adventures. A visit to a Welsh rugby match and a chance to drive an army tank in Germany were part of Harry's upbringing. Diana never wanted second born to mean second best. In a conversation I had with the princess not long before she died in Kensington Palace, she did bring up the question of her concerns for Harry and that William would always be the one, the centre stage one who was going to be king. She was worried, for instance, rather touchingly, I thought that William would get all the girls, all the girls would go for wills and poor Harry, who's only a couple of years younger, would be left out. And so she was already kind of taking steps to try and make sure that they were treated equally, even though in royal standing terms, William would always be number one. Although she would have loved a daughter, Diana threw herself enthusiastically into the role of mother of two lively boys. She gave them the thrills and spills that other children enjoyed. This was nothing like Charles's upbringing. They raced each other in Colorado in July, 1995 and shot down the slides at Thorpe Park another year. Distant summers of their past with their memories of a gentle and affectionate mother will always be in their hearts, but those happy days can never return. Flowers were left outside Highgrove, the country home Diana shared with Charles until the time when they separated. In Teppery, the village nearest Highgrove, local people mourned the princess they had known since she was a young bride. The sudden and brutal end of such a vibrant and beautiful woman stunned the world into unprecedented grief. With unbelievable bravery, Diana's sons joined Prince Charles, Prince Philip and Earl Spencer in the sad procession to her funeral. Later, Earl Spencer said, it was the most traumatic day of my life. Unknown to the watching world, Diana's will had given the Spencers the moral authority to help guide William and Harry to maturity. At her funeral, Earl Spencer used his position as head of Diana's family to challenge the royal family's ability to raise their heirs according to Diana's wishes. Outside Westminster Abbey, a family united only in grief saw Diana's last journey begin. The outpouring of public grief for Diana forced the royal family to face changes. Earl Spencer's surprising attack on the House of Windsor won public support and Diana's ancestral home became a shrine to the lost princess. Althorp House with its fabled art collection had been her heritage, a potent symbol of dynastic grandeur. Diana was like her grandmother, Cynthia Spencer. Diana and her brother Charles had been very close in childhood. She had mothered him when their parents separated. She was six, he was three. In July, 1981, their father, the eighth Earl had proudly given away his youngest daughter in marriage. A sick man, he was happy to see that day. Diana's father was a great prop in her troubled life. He died in 1992, just as the truth about her unhappy marriage was to be made public. Diana knew then that her secrets would soon be out through her cooperation with a book that would betray the royal world. A longtime courtier, her father would have been torn by divided loyalties. The death of her father was monumental for her. He was a big anchor for her and he died at the wrong time for her, unfortunately, because it was the time she would have needed him more. Her relationship with her sisters was good. With her brother, she had an on and off relationship. Shattered by her death and angry at the press he blamed for hounding her, Earl Spencer spoke at his South African home shortly after receiving the terrible news. It might be a good idea. Good morning, I just need to read this statement. All those who've come into contact with Diana, particularly over the past 17 years, will share my family's grief. She was unique. She understood the most precious needs of human beings, particularly those that suffered and her vibrancy and sparkle combined with a very real sense of duty are now gone forever. It is heartbreaking to lose such a human being, especially when she was only 36. Above all, my thoughts are with William and Harry and with my mother and two sisters who are showing tremendous bravery in the face of senseless tragedy. I would ask you please at this time to respect the fact that Diana was part of a family and amongst the general mourning at her death realise that we too need space to pay our final respects to our own flesh and blood. For that, we will need privacy. Finally, the one consolation is that Diana is now in a place where no human being can ever touch her again. I pray that she rests in peace. At first, Earl Spencer wanted to bury Diana with her father and the Spencer ancestors in the little church at Great Brington near Altham. Within its ornate tombs lies a dynasty that provided soldiers, admirals, Lord Chamberlains, knights, ambassadors, and equids for sovereign and state. The ambitious Lady Fermoy had seen her daughter, Francis, Diana's mother, marry into this noble house and produce the next Spencer generation. Diana's sister, Sarah, had once been courted by Prince Charles but married into the landed gentry. Her other sister, Jane, married the Queen's private secretary. Diana's royal marriage was the Spencer family's brief shining moment. Earl Spencer's remarks about the stripping of Diana's title, Her Royal Highness, and his promise that the blood family would protect her sons sent shockwaves through the royal family. Bearing in mind what Earl Spencer said at the Abbey in that very contentious and rather bitter speech about the blood family looking over for the upbringing of the boys, one would have expected them to see more of William and Harry. They don't, and one of the reasons undoubtedly is that what Earl Spencer said upset Prince Charles because it called into question his abilities as a father. As head of the Spencer family, the angry young Earl lashed out at the royal family for their treatment of his sister. They had embraced her as a young and naive bride but then cast her aside after bearing heirs to the throne. She came from a very, very important and aristocratic family herself. I mean, a family with roots probably far back, further back in the history of this country than the Queen's roots. So that I'm not surprised in a way that they responded in this way. Whether or not what Earl Spencer said at the funeral has lasting impact, I'm not sure. For 77 miles, Diana's flower-strewn hearse was revered along its final journey. It was a triumphal parade worthy of a medieval heroine. She went home to her grieving family and her ancestral estate. To preserve the privacy of her children, she was buried away from the public gaze on an island in a lake. Her brothers scattered her grave with flowers that will re-seed and grow again. On Mother's Day, her son sent flowers to her tranquil resting place. Diana's caring legacy was continued by the memorial fund set up after her death. A major charity event was held for the fund in the famous Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. There was an air of anticipation before the princess ball as many came to see the star guest the man Diana had called My Rock. Her former butler, Paul Burrell, emerged as the keeper of the princess's flame. With his attractive wife who also worked for Diana, Burrell came to salute the memory of the woman he called the boss. He was so close to Diana that he attended her burial with her family. He wanted her good work to continue. This is America's first tribute to Diana Princess of Wales. An auction raised money for her causes. A box that Diana had given to Paul Burrell was sold and then returned to its owner and the Coeur de la Mer, a replica of the necklace worn in the film Titanic, raised over $2 million. As her brother had said at her funeral, Diana needed no royal title to generate her particular brand of magic. For Diana's boys, the spring of 1998 was a time for growth and renewal. William went reluctantly with Charles and Harry to Canada. He was embarrassed by his rock star reception. Harry had grown accustomed to cheering crowds. This first appearance of the Wales trio abroad showed that they had found light after the awful darkness of Diana's untimely death. It was a time for jokes and laughter and a time for relaxation as the three princes skied the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Like Diana, Charles had always enjoyed skiing holidays with his sons, even when they fell down. Charles and his sons were the latest family firm. William once hated photo calls. Now he bantered with reporters. This was Charles's chance to show his easygoing relationship with his sons and prove that he didn't need Earl Spencer's advice. It was also an opportunity for journalists to compare Harry to William. He's got exactly his mother's personality. He's very exuberant, very lively, fun-loving. Nothing fazes Harry. But William is exactly like his father, very reserved, very thoughtful, conscientious. You know, he even sounds like his father now that his voice is broken. You'd swear you're listening to Charles. So, you know, he looks like his mother, but he's his father's son. At Balmoral in August 1997, just days before their mother's death, the difference between the two boys' personalities was quite evident. Harry was the more impulsive. William, already a cautious boy, knows that he is destined to be king. One day he will have to choose a future queen and she will inevitably be compared to Diana. William's got a tough act to follow. I know he likes blondes. He's always only run for blondes, just like his father. So, you know, it's going to be tough, isn't it? I mean, most boys like to get a girl just like their mother was. But for William, is there another girl out there who's, you know, maybe 12 or 13, 14 today, who's going to grow into somebody who's not only as beautiful as Diana, but is compassionate, is warm, have that magic with ordinary people. After Diana's tragedy, can her boys hope for happiness? Let's just hope for both their sakes that those boys are given the freedom to make marriages that really work, find girls that they really care about, who really care about them, who are prepared to put up with all the inconveniences of being royal, as well as the considerable perks and home comforts of being royal. But above all, that these marriages don't end in divorce, like their parents, like so many royal marriages recently, because of the strains, and because of the people in the House of Windsor being so cold to the people that marry into it. I think Diana's left enough with those boys for that not to be true of them. For William, whatever happens to the monarchy, life is always going to be like it is for his mother, hounded, harassed, pursued, privately as well as publicly. His misfortune, as well as his good fortune, being that he looks rather like her, and he's her legacy made flesh. As they watch Diana's sons grow up, the royal family may reflect on what might have been had they kept Diana within their fold. Diana, the uncrowned queen, will always haunt the family that rejected her.