Pritha R. & Anisha Jasti, Grade 12
Source: The Telegraph
The late Diana, Princess of Wales was known and loved as a queen of hearts. But her relationship with the media while alive begs the question - was she their queen or did they lord over her? The answer lies somewhere in between. Throughout her public life, Diana and the media were involved in a mutually beneficial tug of war, with the advantage going from one side to another, right till her violent end, when both lost the game.
Let’s step back to 1980s Britain where common citizens were tired and increasingly vocal of the endless privilege held by the British royalty. The state of tension and anger in the country was heightening until one day every major newspaper and tabloid seemed to hold the picture of a young girl in her 20s who reportedly was going to marry Prince Charles. The wave of tension thrumming in the country at that point seemed to shift immediately almost as if it had never existed. The popular consensus shifted from feelings of anger and hate to those of affection and admiration for the new princess all because of one piece of print media. These feelings wouldn't die down for years to come.
That one picture of Diana staring intently at the camera seemed to appear at the time long lens cameras were being popularised so the press thought what better way to test it then use it to take pictures of the future princess. Was Diana at a cafe, drinking coffee? The photographers were there clicking pictures of her. Was she in her car getting ready to go to a dress fitting? The photographers would be there ahead of time setting up their camera. Every moment of her life was recorded and scrutinized by every major publication in Britain. Her pictures were published on the front pages of every newspaper in the country and would be sold as soon as they hit the stands. The people of Britain seemed to live through her buying any form of print-related to her and the media were only too happy to use their growing obsession with her for profit. By the time her wedding came, every person in the country was rapt with her. Her wedding broadcast documented a record high of 75 million people worldwide, which no other broadcast on television was able to beat. In a short while, the media had transformed her from an ordinary girl to a global icon.
However, the media’s frenzy with Diana reached a fever pitch after her marriage to Prince Charles. Every visit of theirs to another country was characterized by the flocks of paparazzi waiting to get pictures of them. While virtually none of the press were covering Charles almost all of them would crowd around Diana waiting to get a picture of her. While before the media had at least a sense of decency while taking pictures of her and often stopped when she asked them too, now they would swarm around her despite her protests, constantly clicking pictures of her. Pictures of her would sell for $50,000 a piece. The media no longer thought of her as a person, but as a commodity, they could profit from. When Princess Diana had her children, they would follow her and her children to their school, often taunting them just so they could get a reaction from them. Several publications like The Sun had built empires out of her suffering.
To the world, Diana was the people’s princess but at home, she was always alone since her husband was nearly never at home. She knew that he was cheating on her and this only increased her feeling of isolation. Therefore to comfort herself she pursued several other relationships. Unbeknownst to her, the photographers of ‘The Sun’ had illegally tapped both her and Charles’ phone lines and soon acquired this information. Not a day later the news of their adultery hit the papers. It was a catalyst for the end of the already crumbling relationship between Prince Charles and Diana. This news shocked the people of Britain and stirred feelings of bitterness against Princess Diana in them. The media further played on these feelings by villainizing her.
Despite all the times the media mistreated and used her, Princess Diana knew how to manipulate it to her advantage as well. When the whole world was against her for her adultery and her failed relationship with Prince Charles she wanted to put forth her narrative. On November 20th 1992 Panorama aired a two hour sit down interview with her where she explained her part of the story confessing everything from her real relationship with Prince Charles to her lifelong struggle with Bulimia. This interview garnered the sympathy of many women in the United Kingdom who were going through similar things in their life. She would tip off the paparazzi as to where she would be and then would spend hours inside to make herself presentable for the camera’s but when she was in their gaze, she made herself look effortless. She slowly and surely regained the respect of the people of Britain and used this respect to bring attention to several causes such as the de-stigmatization of AIDS. She regained media attention as well but this time she was presented in a positive light.
She’d thought that with this she’d managed to control the power the media had over her. But she had no idea about what was to come. The media was a powerful force which could not be tamed and was only fed by its hunger for money and power. They continued pursuing her with increased fervour even going as far to pay her cooks and servants for any pictures of her.
In the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana, the Princess of Wales was reported dead after being injured in a car crash in Paris while escaping the paparazzi, and even then, the media’s immediate reaction was to click pictures of the dying woman. This was a shock and a great loss for the British and ended up sowing a deep well of mistrust in them against the media which lasted the entire year. Newspapers like ‘The Sun’ and ‘The Daily Mail’ recorded their lowest sales since the ’80s. But the most powerful impact her death made to the media was the introduction of the ‘Protection from Harassment Act’ which protected against stalking and enforced the toughest set of press regulations anywhere in Europe.
Charles Spencer, Princess Diana’s brother and closest confidante once said, “Of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this: a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age.”
True as it may be, what this statement does not reveal is this - in her relationship with the media, Diana was frequently the hunter when she wanted it and consequently, in the end, the hunted.
Most of the reasons why she courted the media were not immoral (like drawing attention to her social causes) but in the end, the courtship came at a great cost. The media became the wild beast which she spotted, brought home as a pet and tried to teach tricks to, but finally fell prey to.
References –
https://time.com/4914324/princess-diana-anniversary-paparazzi-tabloid-media/
Documentary – Diana: In her own words.
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