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Sad end to a Grimm fairy tale grips the Asia-Pacific
10th September 1997
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Hans Christian Anderson or the Brothers Grimm could not have written a more
fantastic fairy tale. Aesop could never have crafted a better fable. ..But
this one was real, and played out minute by minute courtesy of CNN, ITV,
and BBC, on our newly cabled idiot boxes throughout the region.
Seemingly so much like us commoners for her very insecurity, shyness and innocence mirrored by those shy smiles and awkwardness, we watched as Diana Spencer joined arguably the world's most famous family many years ago, shared her personal pain, and watched her blossom to become perhaps Britains most successful ambassador. Then we saw her unexpectedly cut down at a time when a liason with a prominent Muslim playboy was to begin to further ruffle the feathers of a beseiged Royal Family. The eulogies have all been delivered, and there is no doubt that the simple, straight forward, and non-pretencious character of the Princess of Wales endeared her to many in the region. Though Britain has increasingly become an irrelevance to the Asia Pacific, which has been looking East and to the US for several decades now, it has been these personal qualities that has been to Britain's advantage while visiting temples in Indo-China, the sick in Australia, or the dispossessed throughout Asia. Princess Diana had survived her royal experience, turned trials into tribulations, and had come out the other end triumphant, confident, and seemingly more relevant than any "real" royalty from the UK. Many in the Asia Pacific mourned the passing of the "People's Princess". But unlike tragic Fairy stories ala Bothers Grimm, Anderson, and Aesop, this one has no ending in sight. The British, in what seems like mass idolatory, are looking for scapegoats for a tragedy they cant explain, and are targeting their own Royal Family and the Press. A moment's reflection would however indicate that the Princess owes her present adulation to both, without which she would still be as unknown as her fellow aristocrat family were before their minutes of fame at the world's most watched funeral last week. The British Royal Family were always going to be in a lose-lose situation with Princess Diana, right from the ill advised union based more on urgency to get the Prince of Wales heirs to the throne, to today when, in death, she is more of a threat to the Royal Family than she ever was in life. For the contrast between the informality and openess of the Princess and that of the Royal Family has been brought into stark relief. Contrast the British Royalty in its death throes to that of the Thai Royal Family, perhaps the most popular Royals on earth today. The enormous popularity of the Thai King is less a result of tradition than what has been earned by good works. Of course, the Thai press would never criticise, but this is due mainly to his earned image as a "People's King" Go to any movie theatre in the Kingdom, and the audience first of all stand to attention while viewing clips of the King engaged in a bit of carpentary or metal work, turning the first sod on a new development project, or blasting a tortured riff out of his beloved saxaphone. In the UK, the Royals stick to Polo, game hunting, and a range of pursuits of the aristocracy. That the English Royals should show more emotion and sympathy and depart from Royal Reticence and formality is not really the point. It is still possible like the Thai Royal Family, to attract the greatest respect and dignity, but still have the common touch. The Princess, with a pragmatism and "street smarts" betraying her looks and upbringing, took on the Royals at their own game, and swept the floor with them. It seems that in the Britain of today, unlike yesterday, privelage and birthright is not enough. The Press also are blamed.. but it is the Press by which the Princess gained her image. It was the fourth estate that the Princess groomed as her own PR machine. The Princess owed the Press an enormous debt, the public responded by buying the results, and in the end, the piper was paid for his tune. In Asia, the Japanese Prime Minister commented on the role of the Press in Diana's demise; in most Asian countries, the Press has nowhere the freedom of the British Press; they wouldn't have had a role in her demise; then again they wouldnt have created her as well. In Singapore, comments were made wondering why the Princess and Prince hadnt tried harder to save their ailing marriage, from a country where such behaviour is seen as delinquent, or at least, to be kept to oneself. In Australia, opinion polls showed an increase in support for a Republic. It is surely a tragic fairy tale of a princess adopted, spurned, rising triumphant, and finally cut down by the very forces that made her. It is just as appropriate to blame the Press and the Royal family for their patronage, as it is to blame them her demise. On one level she represents a world gone mad, where "celebrity" makes of entertainers and public figures idols whose adulation is finally very empty, far in excess of their actual contribution. At another level, she will be remembered as a modest individual, who took on two of the world's most powerful institutions, and in death became the far more powerful vehicle of change. As emotions and idolatory start to subside, Britons and those in the Asia-Pacific who were touched by her life will find more practical ways to learn from this modern fairy tale, and honour the life of the English Princess without a title.
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