James 1:17a (NIV)‘

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights….

No public event on the date that marked the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, but the anniversary was not muted. Weeks before apart from newspaper headlines and TV tributes, a brand new documentary ‘Diana, In Her Own Words’ (1) was on the Tube. It said that it was at her most candid, and original interview which revealed the profound insights into one of the most iconic women of our time.

All of us, being as women, including those who had never cared for her; or had a mixed feeling of admiration and resentment toward her or disliked her, even, could be able to reflect on ramifications of our own emotional life, via the lens of Diana’s life, one way or another. That’s why we found many of her devotees were young women in their early twenties. It means that some of them were not born 20 years ago.

The documentary was like ‘keeping up with Diana (1981-1997),’ but not at all like what with the ‘Kardashians.’ As it may bring out old controversies, and it bared Diana’s hurts beyond belief and her pain. Furthermore, Prince William and Prince Harry decided were the appropriate time, 20-years on for them to openly articulate their griefs of loss. I was trying to catch keywords from her ‘Tell All” and see if I could get a Christian perspective on her life and death.

With father absence and mother always distraught marked Diana’s unhappy childhood. According to the Windsor, a virgin with no romantic history was considered a most ideal match for the Prince, the future king. The Royal wedding 1981 with over 750 thousand viewers around the world. It was none of any version of the Cinderella as we had known of before because it was done with God’s favor on the Royal couple.

It is written, in the Book of Genesis 2:28 (NIV), that the Lord, God said,” It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Also, it says (Proverbs 18:22-NIV) that “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”

Why ‘In Her Own Words,’ Diana calls the wedding to Charles the “worst day of my life?” And the whole world knew that Prince Charles had a married lover, Camilla, all along. Diana had her first nightmare as Prince Charles brought along a stack of books to read on their honeymoon. Didn’t he realize that he just married the most admired woman in the world?

No wonder she kept using words of ‘sacrificial lamb‘ to describe herself in the Royal marriage. I believe that Prince Charles would want to love her, would grow to love her but the big gap in ages and the lack of compatibility between them, he probably let her feeling rejected and discarded, without knowing it. So she was miserable and unhappy.

“Under three things the earth trembles….., under four it cannot bear up….’an unloved woman who is married” (Proverbs 30:21, 23- NIV). 

Was Diana hysterical wanting attention? But the whole world was madly in love with her; paparazzi never let loose on chasing after her every move. It was a loveless marriage the cause of her unhappiness. As a result, she openly talked about her Bulimia; her seeking help from doctors; her suicidal attempts, cutting herself up with knives. Finally, she rejoiced with a thankful heart when she gave birth of her two sons.

And it was admirable and courageous that Diana was resolute to impact her kids out of her awareness of life beyond the Palace wall. It was said by the young Prince: “She was one of the naughtiest parents.” “And of course, as a son, I would say this, she was the best mum in the world. She mothered us with love, that’s for sure.” Diana adored her sons and loved them deeply and dearly. 

Why she still suffered from her emotional disorder? Why at the end the divorce was inevitable?  Naturally, emotionally the big void in her heart was always in her intense longing for the love of her husband, but in vain. Can we say that the supernatural reality was that what God’s curse (due to Adam’s sin against God in the Garden – Genesis 3) upon all women in the world, which we live in today?And Diana was without exception.

“.…..Yet your desire (passionate or intense longing) will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”- Genesis 3:16b (NASV).

Immediately I was reminded of an unloved woman, “Leah” who was married that occurred in the book of Genesis.  In life, Diana had mirrored Leah’s life to some extent. But unlike Leah, Diana had no problem with her eyesight. The story of Leah would be just a ‘click’ away on Google search. It is naive for any woman to believe that giving birth a child would resuscitate a loveless marriage, but the worst is still, plus a child.

God is LOVE, HE loves the world so much and sent his only son, Jesus ‘to have a human nature as sinners have and to pay for sin. That way God condemned sin in our corrupt nature (Romans 8:3- God’s Word Translation).’ So all men and women would be able to have a curse-free life. And for women, we need the power of God’s perfect love to strip off our weakness in our emotions so we will not look for love in all the wrong places.

‘Diana devotees’ were in their infatuations on what they saw of her in public. After her ‘tell-all,’ people, especially women could easily relate to her brokenness and to feel for her severe emotional disorder that plagued her life. Women were hurt for her when finding out that she had everything on earth but not true love and happiness. That’s probably why when her love life after being single-again was tainted with a fair share of gossips and scandals, and yet she was still people’s Princess in their hearts.

1. channel.nationalgeographic.com/diana-in=her-own-wordss/
2. ‘theGuardian’ – Diana, Princess of Wales Opinion – Editorial

I don’t know when my next posting on Diana will be up again, but I hope to be able to expand on how her divorce and her single-again life in tune with apostle Paul’s teaching

Kay