Princess Diana
Last night I watched a documentary on Princess Diana. She was 19 when she married Prince Charles, who was 30. Charles was getting pressures from his family to marry, so that he would have a queen by his side if Queen Elizabeth were to die, and he chose a suitable partner from a handful of prestigious families. Diana was a kindergarten teacher, a virgin, and the daughter of a Lord. It was the 20th century version of an arranged marriage. Charles was in love with Camila Alves, who was 45 and in a marriage.
Just before her wedding, Diana became bulimic and fell into a deep depression. In a private interview she said she was a "lamb ready for the slaughter." Diana was being completely used by society. What was fear and unease was seen as shyness by society.
What is so tragic is that, after her divorce, she was killed by paparazzi who were chasing her down on a date. She was finally free and she was murdered.
So, what does this mean for today's royals?
Diana was the last of the arranged marriages. Both William and Harry married "commoners," strong women who actually loved their partners. And their partners loved them. The royal family was had to adapt to the changing press.
As media becomes more accessible, so has the royal family. And on that note, so has the president, senators, humanitarians, and Supreme Court Justices. It forces these high ranking officials to be real people, not perfectly selected daughters of lords. Because these fake people are, and will be, rejected by society.
Think about it in terms of now a days. If a 19 year old women were to be marrying a 30 year old man (soon to be king), after we knew they had hardly met, it would have so much negative press and controversy that they would be forced out of marrying.
So how does this relate to our class? It'd like to ask you all if having a royal family is ethical? If a royal family has no role except to keep a tradition, and it is not supposed to be helping anyone accept for the people who obtain the roles; but then the people in these roles are in deep depression and suffering because of all the pressures being places on them - in what way does it help a society?
And, how morally can someone support such an establishment?
Just before her wedding, Diana became bulimic and fell into a deep depression. In a private interview she said she was a "lamb ready for the slaughter." Diana was being completely used by society. What was fear and unease was seen as shyness by society.
What is so tragic is that, after her divorce, she was killed by paparazzi who were chasing her down on a date. She was finally free and she was murdered.
So, what does this mean for today's royals?
Diana was the last of the arranged marriages. Both William and Harry married "commoners," strong women who actually loved their partners. And their partners loved them. The royal family was had to adapt to the changing press.
As media becomes more accessible, so has the royal family. And on that note, so has the president, senators, humanitarians, and Supreme Court Justices. It forces these high ranking officials to be real people, not perfectly selected daughters of lords. Because these fake people are, and will be, rejected by society.
Think about it in terms of now a days. If a 19 year old women were to be marrying a 30 year old man (soon to be king), after we knew they had hardly met, it would have so much negative press and controversy that they would be forced out of marrying.
So how does this relate to our class? It'd like to ask you all if having a royal family is ethical? If a royal family has no role except to keep a tradition, and it is not supposed to be helping anyone accept for the people who obtain the roles; but then the people in these roles are in deep depression and suffering because of all the pressures being places on them - in what way does it help a society?
And, how morally can someone support such an establishment?
It is so sad how society pressures people into becoming something that they are not. Through your blog post you evidently explained how these traditions caused her to collapse as a human being and although her death is not related it seems like such a culmination of the events. I also liked how you described how things have changed since her tragic life in a more conservative and traditional time period. Things have become more liberal and these types of traditions have changed. The way you described it makes it seem that maybe her demise has brought some awareness to mental health and the societal pressures that she unfortunately had to deal with.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this post. In todays society if we do something that is against the norm we are often thought of as crazy or looked down upon. I personally think that more people need to be taking action and start doing what feels right to them instead of being pressured into what other people want them to do. I feel that if everyone sticks to their own lane and does not have this anxiety caused by others then more people will be happier as a result.
ReplyDeleteI agree that what Princess Diana went through was so unfair! I had no idea that that is what happened to her. I also think that if royals were forced into marriages today, people would give it a lot of bad press. However, The prince marrying Megan Markle has brought up some controversy today, even though he did have his choice and fell in love with her. Many people say she does not act or dress royal enough. There is a strict set of norms that royals are supposed to follow, and Megan veers from that a little. My Grandma loves Megan Markles style but thinks she should dress differently now that she is a princess. She also is much more affectionate with her husband in public than previous royals, which the media attacks. I think that she should be able to dress however she wants, but I guess being the public eye like that will always come with criticisms.
ReplyDeleteWow this is crazy I had not heard about this story at all. I really don't get the whole idea of having a royal family. It is not like they are actually "ruling" anything at all they are just the faces that people correlate with the country. When I think of England I automatically think about the Queen and then Meghan Markle, neither of who actually make many decisions when it comes to economics and politics of England. They face a lot of pressures because their job is to be a perfect family and be perfect people to represent that country. Especially nowadays with so much social media and press it is almost impossible to leave the house when you are famous without being followed with a camera in your face. As the royal family you can't have a bad hair day, or be in a pissy mood because you will get attacked on the internet. It is just sad what these people have to sacrifice to be such a perfect family when they actually deal with even MORE struggles than any average family
ReplyDeleteI come from a lineage where arranged marriage is common. All of my family except for my parents had an arranged marriage, meaning that I understand where it comes from. There are benifits to arranged marriage in a society where people value strong family ties, and large powerful relationships. However, the issues come when people are forced into these arranged marriages. We are often critical of Middle Eastern societies where women are forced into marriage from a young age. It seems quite hypocritical that Diana was also forced into marriage by a "westernized" nation. While Diana was much older and capable of making her own decisons, it does seem like she did'nt have a choice. It is good to see that the royal family has moved on from this kind of marriage.
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