February 10, 2013
The Diana Effect In the early hours of August 31, 1997 a princess hurries into her car and is whisked away so as to escape the paparazzi's eye. The car sped through the streets of Paris tailed by the paparazzi. In attempt to lose those in pursuit the driver sped up and lost control of the vehicle traveling 30-50 mph over the speed limit in the Place de l'Alma underpass. The black Mercedes wrapped around a column, flipped a few times and then landed in the middle of the road. Two of the four died on impact, one received major injuries but lived, the princess, however, died four hours later from cardiac arrest due her heart moving from the left to the right side of her body upon impact. Grief filled the country and most of the modern world, thousands of bouquets of flowers were piled up at her families residence. An estimated 2.5 billion people around the world tuned in to the broadcast of her funeral, over a million people lined the streets in silence. Princess Diana was the “People’s Princess,” and her death was the first public event that I remember and had impact on my family. Diana Spencer was born in July of 1961, near Sandringham, England. Diana didn’t come into the public eye until she began her courtship with the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, who was 13 years older. Millions watched the broadcast of their wedding in July of 1981, and, prior to her death, was one of the largest audiences of a British event. The couple would have two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry in 82’ and 84’ respectively. Unfortunately the ‘fairy tail’ wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles didn’t go as it seemed. Wether it was the reports of infidelities from both parties or the depression and bulimia that diana struggled with, the two eventually would split in 1992. Much to the surprise of the royal family, Diana maintained a high level of popularity, and used her public attention to help the charities she promoted.