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10 Things Millennials Need to Know About Princess Diana
The original Queen Bee.
Princess Diana would’ve been 54 today, and in her honor, we’re going to educate you on why this icon, arguably one of the world’s greatest public figures, was also the world’s most beloved. Before she was taken too soon in a 1997 Paris car crash at just 36, she was globally adored for her charisma, relentless charity efforts, and really, for just being the downright coolest. We know you’re bowing down to current royalty like Kate Middleton and Queen Bey, but never forget the princess who paved the way of the slay.
Her wedding with Prince Charles pulled in more than double the viewers of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials.
GettyWe thought the world stopped to watch Kate Middleton and Prince William’s fairy tale wedding in 2011, which had about 300 million viewers. But when Princess Diana married the Prince of Wales in 1981, the universe actually froze in time and 750 million people around the world tuned in, mesmerized by their royal glory.She was the absolute cutest with her sons.
GettyWilliam and Harry, you know the ones.In fact, look familiar?
GettyDi did it first, Kate. And the whole global fashion icon thing? Yeah, Diana did that, too. Case in point.Although a royal, she wasn’t shy about stripping down.
GettyPropriety be damned, she lived that bikini life like that rest of us.She slayed the charity game.
GettyPrincess Diana was known for her undying passion for helping others. She was involved in organizations helping AIDS awareness, the homeless, youths, drug addicts, the elderly, children’s hospitals, and cancer. She once beautifully described her work with a hospital like this: “[I spend] time with patients holding their hands and talking to them. Some of them will live and some will die, but they all need to be loved while they are here. I try to be there for them.” Can you even? At Diana’s funeral, multiple charities she worked with were asked to walk behind her coffin. Safe to say she even put Angelina to shame.She was actually the realest.
GettyDiana is still referred to by many as Princess Di because she was basically everyone’s best friend. She admitted the struggles of being a public figure, once saying: “I am finding it very difficult to cope with the pressures of being Princess of Wales, but I am learning to cope with it.” She exuded compassion and got the same from others for being open about her personal problems, like depression, self-harm, and bulimia. She wasn’t above average person problems, which is why so many people related to and fell in love with her.She handled her public breakup with Prince Charles like a GD champion.
GettyBeing royal didn’t mean her relationship was perfect; she and Charles publicly dealt with relationship struggles that many of us experience. Charles had an affair with former girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles and Diana began seeing Major James Hewitt. Amidst the widely scrutinized scandal, Princess Diana spoke to her husband’s cheating, saying: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded…. I’d like to be a queen of people’s hearts.” SLAY DIANA, SLAY. To make it even better, a year after her divorce, her brother, Lord Spencer, spoke out: “She proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.”If you don’t own this Beanie Baby made in her honor, you are not a child of the ’90s.
eBayIt’s just fact. This item is so valuable, it’s said to be worth ridiculous amounts of money now.Elton John rewrote “Candle in the Wind” as a tribute to her.
Elton was good friends with Diana and hit hard by her death. He and his collaborator Bernie Taupin reworked their 1973 tribute to deceased Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe and released it a couple weeks after Diana’s death in 1997. Still brings all the tears.The Earth still mourns her death.
GettyFor obvious reasons stated above, the world as a whole was devastated by Diana’s death, and to this day, no one is over it. Her funeral was watched by millions around the world and brought in a peak audience of over 32 million viewers in Britain alone. Public figures including Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton spoke to her untimely death, and there were even postage stamps with her face created in her honor. Oddly enough, she passed away the same week as Mother Teresa, and had her hands wrapped in the rosary beads she received from her as a gift. Ask any adult you know about Princess Di and they’ll probably get teary-eyed on the spot. She just does that to people.
In short, there will never be another Princess Diana.
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Bow down.
