The royals - Kitty Kelley [266]
Prime Minister Blair publicly criticized the Arab tycoon for “sensational speculation” and labeled the Diana death industry of memorial stamps, mugs, coins, books, and films as “tasteless and inappropriate.” The Queen and Prince Charles let it be known that they “enthusiastically endorsed” the Prime Minister. Diana’s family and friends went even further; they said al-Fayed’s claims were irresponsible and reprehensible, and they tried to refute them in published articles. But even without evidence of any plot to kill the Princess, the scary scenarios grew, especially in Egypt. “Conspiracy theories are a stock in trade here,” Tim Sullivan, a political science professor at American University in Cairo, told Newsweek. “When you think you don’t have control over your life and over events, then conspiracy theories explain what is happening.”
Preposterous tales were posted on the Internet about small bombs hidden on the roof of the Mercedes S-280 in which Diana and Dodi were traveling; these bombs were supposedly triggered by a remote-control device that locked the wheels and steering column at the flick of a switch from some far-off location like, say, Buckingham Palace.
The conspiracy theories were posted by people who saw a twisted connection between the royal family’s disdain toward the Princess and her horrible death.
Ironically, it was Diana’s death that breathed life into the moribund British monarchy. Her inexplicable magic seemed to enfold her son William like a giant halo. People gulped as the young man, who looked so much like his mother, was seen walking into church with his head bowed on the day she was buried. Touched by his sadness, people recalled her desire to see him become king. Nothing seemed more important on the day of her funeral than to make that dream come true for the beautiful princess who had bestowed so much kindness on her country’s dispossessed. As Shakespeare said, “Beauty lives with kindness.”
More than any other member of the royal family, Diana had understood what it meant to be a princess in the twentieth century. She had reached out to those who needed help most. What she always extended to the poor and the sick was a golden hand—without the white gloves of royalty. Despite her position of privilege, she did not condescend or patronize. She shared her vulnerabilities and in doing so, she gave people a measure of hope in coping with their own unhappiness. By allowing people to see her personal failures and successes, she gave them reason to believe that they, too, could rise above rejection, and survive, even triumph over misfortune. She did not dash dreams but rather she did what royalty was supposed to do: she made people feel better about themselves.
The Princess of Wales brought light into every room she entered, which is why people around the world suddenly felt so desolate when she was gone. They realized that they had lost someone who was truly irreplaceable.
Afterword
The Monarchy and the Millennium
Without the sparkling Princess, the royal family looked as paltry as pensioners doddering into the new century on creaky old bones. The ravages of Diana’s death had left the monarchy moribund, and the Queen’s subjects were reeling with conspiracy theories. Spider webs of foul plots flashed across the internet, darkly suggesting that the Windsors had finally gotten rid of their troublesome Princess so their donkey-eared Prince could marry his mistress. The sinister conjectures, fanned by Mohamed al-Fayed, persisted even after extensive inquests and multimillion-dollar investigations undertaken by France and England ruled out any such possibility.
Still some who had watched the unraveling of Diana’s marriage over Charles’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles continued to harbor dark suspicions. They either couldn’t accept the chaotic disaster that had taken the Princess’s life or else they blamed the royal family for depriving her of Scotland Yard’s protection upon her divorce. Evil imaginings were further inflamed when Diana’s butler, Paul Burrell,