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in surroundings with unhappy memories or in difficult situations, such as family gatherings at
Sandringham and Balmoral (Bradford, 2007, pp. 111-112).
However, as Diana endeavoured to come to terms with the realities of her marriage and royal life,
there were moments in those early years when Diana sensed that she actually could cope and could
make a positive contribution to the Royal Family and the wider nation (Morton, 2010, p. 142). In
September 1982 Diana went on her first solo engagement as she attended the funeral of Princess
Grace of Monaco (Bradford, 2007, p. 115). Diana was so insistent on attending the funeral that she
appealed to the Queen that she be allowed to go, who decided in the end, since no one else wanted
to go, to let Diana go to the funeral (Brown, 2008, p. 217). She did brilliantly (Bradford, Diana, 2007,
p. 115), although she previously had feared making any public appearances on her own (Smith,
2007, p. 125). According to Brown (2008), Diana’s youthful dignity and poise won her rave reviews
in the press. However, Diana did not receive any recognition from the Palace and she felt crushed,
even though it is rare to receive any praise from the them. To the Royal Family, public appearances
are not personal performances: they are acts of state, symbolic assertions of national identity, ex
officio rituals having nothing to do with individual characteristics and everything to do with
impersonal roles assigned by tradition and birth. They did not offer any feedback on Diana’s
participation, because, as they saw it, those obligations could not be affected by compliments or
criticism or by good or bad reviews. To Diana this may have felt like indifference to her work and
progress, because she had always longed for recognition (pp. 217-218).
On March 20, 1983, Prince Charles, Diana, Prince William, and their entourage left for their first
major royal tour, which included forty-five days in Australia and New Zealand (Smith, 2007, p. 141).
They left Prince William at a sheep station with his nanny during their official appearances, but every
three or four days they would break off and visit him, which gave them a taste of authentic family
life (Brown, 2008, p. 210). During those breaks, they were extremely happy (Bradford, 2007, p. 117).
While on tour, Diana was comforted by having Prince William nearby, and when she and Prince
Charles periodically visited him, it provided a welcome escape (Smith, 2007, p. 143). The excitement
of the tour lifted Diana’s depression and gave the couple’s relationship a renewed chance, and
although the dynamic between them was complicated, their relationship was still alive (Brown,
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2008, p. 220). During the tour, Diana and Prince Charles openly showed affection for each other
(Smith, 2007, p. 143), and Diana relied on Prince Charles to help her get through the tour and he
provided the necessary support (Brown, 2008, p. 220). Prince Charles rarely left Diana on her own
(Smith, 2007, pp. 141-142).
The extraordinary adulation for Diana that the royal couple first experienced in Wales became even
greater at Australia (Smith, 2007, p. 142), and the tour marked the beginning of worldwide “Di-
mania” (Bradford, 2007, p. 116). All eyes were on Diana and she had to watch every word, smile
incessantly, and show excitement for everyone and everything she encountered (Smith, 2007, p.
141). Prince Charles was jealous of Diana’s huge appeal to the crowds, which was to become an
increasingly divisive factor in their relationship, and although he concealed it nobly and even joked
about it, getting upstaged by his wife, a novice on royal occasions, was nonetheless humiliating for
a man who since childhood had been the centre of attention wherever he went (Bradford, 2007, p.
116). However, Prince Charles was smart enough to see what a political asset Diana had become
(Brown, 2008, p. 220), and he took pride in Diana’s performance, although he was mildly disturbed
by her reaction to the crowds (Smith, 2007, p. 143). Nevertheless, Prince Charles was also deeply
disturbed by all the adoration coming his young wife’s way, and its excess frightened and worried
him (Brown, 2008, p. 220). The adulation of the crowds at first terrified and then empowered Diana
and she realized that this was something she could do well (Bradford, 2007, p. 116). Sometimes the
crowds frightened her, but she also found pleasure in the sense of power they gave her (Smith,
2007, p. 143). Diana was excited by the scale of the public’s approval of her and there was no doubt
about her media status (Bradford, 2007, p. 117). Gradually Diana began to relax and concentrate on
her job as a royal representative (Smith, 2007, p. 143).
At the end of the Australian tour, Diana and Prince Charles escaped for a nine-day rest on
Windermere Island (Smith, 2007, p. 144). The photographs taken by reporters during this holiday
show Prince Charles and Diana on a beach happy and playful with each other, walking hand in hand
(Bradford, 2007, p. 119). Afterwards, they went on a seventeen-day visit to Canada, but this time
without Prince William (Smith, 2007, p. 144). Their tour of Canada was also a huge media success,
particularly for Diana (Bradford, 2007, p. 117). Diana again conducted herself well under
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considerable pressure, and broadsheets and tabloids alike hailed Diana’s mastery of her royal role
(Smith, 2007, p. 144). According to Brown (2008), the frostiness from members of the household
towards Diana when she returned was obvious. As per usual, no one at the Palace said a word about
how well she had coped and how superbly she had represented the country. This time, though,
Diana did not care that the Palace were not appreciative. During the tours, Diana had become
fascinated by the development of her own image in the pages of the British tabloids that were sent
to her and she reviewed them daily (pp. 222-224). The consciousness that she was a real success
boosted Diana’s still fragile confidence as worldwide adulation for Diana continued to grow
(Bradford, 2007, p. 118). The immensity of Diana’s star quality was something the Royal Family could
never fully comprehend as it kept increasing every year, rather than winding down as they had
expected, and her impact was confusing even to herself (Brown, 2008, pp. 186-188). However,
excessive press attention was now inevitable as pictures of Diana sold newspapers and magazines
(Bradford, 2007, p. 118).
Back in England for their second wedding anniversary, the couple publicly demonstrated their
affection, but there was a downside to this public success and apparent happiness, which was the
private difficulties (Bradford, 2007, p. 119). In some ways, Diana did seem better that fall, largely
because she was performing her royal duties so reliably, but she still suffered from attacks of
weeping, during which Prince Charles spent hours comforting and reassuring her (Smith, 2007, p.
145). Prince Charles’s friends lined up to denigrate Diana, and leaked stories began to appear in the
press: Diana, according to the stories, was responsible for an exodus of staff, friends, and a dog,
however those stories were greatly exaggerated and partly untrue (Bradford, 2007, p. 119). It is true
that Diana’s erratic behaviour was hard for the royal staff, and in the first four years of marriage,
some forty officials left the employment of Prince Charles and Diana, but some staff members
retired or left for a better job, although quite a few were pushed out by Diana’s displeasure (Smith,
2007, p. 147). In addition, Diana’s unattainable desire to have her husband all to herself, and his
early willingness to do anything to please her and to avoid the constant rows, did result in the
distancing of some of Prince Charles’s closest friends (Bradford, 2007, p. 122).
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