Skip to content

featuring historical research, writing, and media at st. mary's university

  • World History

    World History

    Menu
    • World History
    • Pre-Classical History (to 600 BCE)
    • Classical History (600 BCE-600 CE)
    • Post-Classical History (600 CE-1492 CE)
    • Early Modern History (1492-1789)
    • Modern History (1789-1914)
    • Global History (1900-present)

    From the Ancient World

    The Battle of Zama: Rome's Vengeance

    Posted by Davis Nickle12/01/2020

    From the Modern World

    The Holy See Takes On The Fight Against Climate Change

    Posted by Victor Rodriguez11/30/2020

    Regional Histories

    Menu
    • African and African American Studies
    • Latin American Studies
  • US History

    Early America

    Menu
    • US-Three Worlds Meet (to 1620)
    • US-Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
    • US-Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)
    • US-Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
    • US-Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877)

    Feeding Students' Mind and Body: When Education Means Providing Meals

    Posted by Yamel Herrera10/30/2020

    Claudette Colvin: The Woman Who Wasn’t Rosa Parks

    Posted by Abilene Solano10/27/2020

    Elizabeth Taylor the Vixen Savior

    Posted by Micheala Whitfield05/04/2020

    Plague! Plague! Plague!

    Posted by Jacqueline Mendez12/10/2019

    Tyson McGuffin: US Open Pickleball Champion

    Posted by Jake Faryniarz11/13/2020

    Where Will it Lead (Pb) Us from Here: A Global Necessity or a Disaster Waiting to Happen?

    Posted by Midori Flores11/18/2020

    The Aaron Hernandez Story: Football is More Than Just a Game

    Posted by Luis Arroyos11/13/2019

    Upton Sinclair: His Rise to Fame

    Posted by Gabriella Urrutia11/10/2019

    La práctica hace al maestro: Lo difícil que es mantener ser bilingüe

    Posted by Alexandra Cantu11/24/2020

    Behind The Tapes: The Actions Taken Towards Impeaching Nixon

    Posted by Thalia Romo11/15/2019

    A Forgotten Finals: Bill Russell, and the 1966 NBA Finals

    Posted by Kaleb Werku11/12/2019

    The Untold Fight of Muhammad Ali: The Strength Behind Each Punch

    Posted by Audrey Uribe12/13/2019

    The Warren Commission Report: Conspiracy Theories Addressed on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

    Posted by Samuel Vega04/11/2020

    BLACK LIVES MATTER- A Change in America

    Posted by Jakob Trevino11/05/2020

    Innovations From NASA's X-15 Program

    Posted by Nathaniel Bielawski04/21/2020

    When An Invisible Threat Took Over the World: COVID-19

    Posted by Aracely Beltran05/27/2020

    Martín de Alarcón: The Forgotten Founder of San Antonio

    Posted by Danielle A. Garza05/13/2019

    Like a Virgin: Madonna's Road to Success

    Posted by Andrea Degollado11/14/2019

    Cicada 3301 - An Epic Mystery

    Posted by Stephen Talik11/06/2020

    Code Breakers Ride the Wave to the Midway

    Posted by Samuel Vega03/11/2020

    Excelsior!!! To The King of Comic Books

    Posted by Eliezer Leal10/25/2019

    A Hero’s Burden: COVID-19, Mental Health, and the life of Dr. Lorna Breen

    Posted by Jarred Deptawa11/09/2020

    Creating a Monster: Richard Ramirez, The Night Stalker

    Posted by Claudia Sanchez05/08/2019

    The Waco Tragedy: David Koresh and The Branch Davidians

    Posted by Victoria Davis12/14/2019

    The Wet Railing that Solved the Clarence Hiller Murder Case

    Posted by Diamond Davidson04/07/2019

    Bilingual Education in the Edgewood District for the Past 50 Years

    Posted by Danielle A. Garza05/13/2019

    Murder or “Justifiable Homicide”?: The Death of the Revolutionary Fred Hampton

    Posted by Natalie Thamm04/07/2019

    Chadwick Boseman: A King On And Off The Throne

    Posted by Donte Joseph11/07/2020

    Jonas Salk: Discovering The Shot that Saved the World - 20th century Polio Virus Epidemic

    Posted by Jeremiah Durand11/13/2019

    The First Social Distancing: Examining the 1995 Heat Wave of Chicago From a Social Perspective

    Posted by Tavion Varela11/09/2020

    Contemporary America

    Menu
    • US-Industrial United States (1870-1900)
    • US-Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
    • US-Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945)
    • US-Postwar United States (1945-early 1970s)
    • US-Contemporary United States (1968-present)
  • Themes

    SPICE Categories

    Specialty Categories

    Special Themes

    Menu
    • Social History
    • Political History
    • Environmental History
    • Cultural History
    • Economic History
    Menu
    • Art History
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Gender Studies
    • Human Rights
    • Public Health and Medicine
    • International Relations
    • Linguistics
    Menu
    • Military History
    • Music
    • People
    • Psychology
    • Religion
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    Menu
    • Catholic Heritage
    • The Year 1968
    • COVID-19
    • Social Justice
    • Spanish Language
  • Showcase

    Showcase Editions

    • Vol 1 – 2016
      • Vol 1 No 1 Aug-Sep 2016
      • Vol 1 No 2 Oct-Nov 2016
    • Vol 2 – 2017
      • Vol 2 No 1 Jan-Feb 2017
      • Vol 2 No 2 Mar-Apr 2017
      • Vol 2 No 3 Aug-Sep 2017
      • Vol 2 No 4 Oct-Nov 2017
    • Vol 3 – 2018
      • Vol 3 No 1 Jan-Feb 2018
      • Vol 3 No 2 Mar-Apr 2018
      • Vol 3 No 3 Aug-Sep 2018
      • Vol 3 No 4 Oct-Nov 2018
    • Vol 4 – 2019
      • Vol 4 No 1 Jan-Feb 2019
      • Vol 4 No 2 Mar-Apr 2019
      • Vol 4 No 3 Aug-Sep 2019
      • Vol 4 No 4 Oct-Nov 2019
    • Vol 5 – 2020
      • Vol 5 No 1 Jan-Feb 2020
      • Vol 5 No 2 Mar-Apr 2020
      • Vol 5 No 3 Aug-Sep 2020
    Menu
    • Vol 1 – 2016
      • Vol 1 No 1 Aug-Sep 2016
      • Vol 1 No 2 Oct-Nov 2016
    • Vol 2 – 2017
      • Vol 2 No 1 Jan-Feb 2017
      • Vol 2 No 2 Mar-Apr 2017
      • Vol 2 No 3 Aug-Sep 2017
      • Vol 2 No 4 Oct-Nov 2017
    • Vol 3 – 2018
      • Vol 3 No 1 Jan-Feb 2018
      • Vol 3 No 2 Mar-Apr 2018
      • Vol 3 No 3 Aug-Sep 2018
      • Vol 3 No 4 Oct-Nov 2018
    • Vol 4 – 2019
      • Vol 4 No 1 Jan-Feb 2019
      • Vol 4 No 2 Mar-Apr 2019
      • Vol 4 No 3 Aug-Sep 2019
      • Vol 4 No 4 Oct-Nov 2019
    • Vol 5 – 2020
      • Vol 5 No 1 Jan-Feb 2020
      • Vol 5 No 2 Mar-Apr 2020
      • Vol 5 No 3 Aug-Sep 2020
  • About

    Course Readings

    Article Indexes

    About Us

    Menu
    • Course Readings – SC 3300 – Nash
    • Course Readings – SMC 1301 – Wieck
    • Course Readings – PO 4334 – Dr Celine
    Menu
    • Course Readings – HS 2321 – Whitener
    • Course Readings – HS 2322 – Whitener
    • Course Readings – SMC 1301 – Whitener
    Menu
    • Our Article/Author Index
    • Award Winning Articles
    Menu
    • Our StMU History Media Project
    • Our Faculty Consultants
    • Our Writers
    • Contact Us
  • Cultural History, Descriptive Article, Gender Studies, Global History (1900-present), People, Psychology, World History
  • October 2, 2019

Diana Princess of Wales: A Fairy Tale Life that Quickly Became Grim

Princess Diana Featured Image
Vanessa Quetzeri

Vanessa Quetzeri

Winner of the Fall 2019 StMU History Media Award for

Best Article in the Category of “People”

Two million people are cheering her name, 750 million eyes are upon her. She’s smoothing out her silk, ivory colored wedding dress embroidered with pearls and mother-of-pearl sequins. She is being transported to St. Paul’s Cathedral by five military police officers in a fairytale-like coach. Keeping her composure, she steps out of the stagecoach in her Cinderella-like wedding slippers. She walks up the steps of the Cathedral, head held high, the Spencer family tiara decorating her gorgeous short, blonde hair. As she enters the dome, all eyes are drawn to her glowing, innocent features and the twenty-five-foot train trailing behind; the opening song is played by one of the three orchestras that her fiancé has chosen. The date is July 29, 1981, marking the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana. Diana knew that becoming Princess of Wales was going to be a great responsibility, one that couldn’t be taken lightly. She strongly believed it was either going to be a fairy-tale dream come true or a total nightmare; either way, it was too late that day for her to change her mind.1

The Wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles | Photograph at Buckingham Palace, July 29, 1981 | Courtesy of Flickr
Prince Charles and Diana had a rocky start to their marriage. Charles grew up with Royal ideals ever since he was born; duty comes before anything else, even if that means sacrificing his marriage. Diana wanted the love that she read about in her romance novels; she often daydreamed about finding her tall, handsome prince charming as a child. Diana came from a broken home; her parent’s divorce was publicized; she grew up being taken care of by several nannies. This left her with a sense of longing for affection and stability in her adult life. She expected her significant other to tend to her emotional needs the way her parents never could.2

Charles was absent for a lot of the first year of their marriage: he tended to his royal duties, participated in shooting, polo, and painting pictures. He lived a comfortable, no strings attached life with Diana that first year. Once, he even admitted to his past liaisons with some married women. They were deemed a “safer choice” because they would keep quiet—due to having families and husbands. Charles assumed Diana would fit perfectly into his lifestyle like a missing puzzle piece. This was not the case, as Diana and he had very different forms of entertainment and pastimes; there was also a rather large age gap of fourteen years.3 During their engagement, when Diana was nineteen and Charles was thirty-three, Prince Charles received a package. Diana, already suspecting Charles was hiding something, found a gold bracelet addressed to ex-lover Camila Parker-Bowles with the initials “F” and “G” intertwined; the initials were of the nicknames they had given to each other.4 “This was about two weeks before we got married…. So rage, rage, rage! ‘Why can’t you be honest with me?’ But, no, [Prince Charles] cut me absolutely dead.”5 Charles denied the accusations, making her feel paranoid and leaving her with second thoughts about marriage. Diana claimed she had considered canceling the wedding, discussing the situation with her two sisters, both responding with “your face is on the tea-towels so you’re too late to chicken out now.”6

Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Sovereign Series Royal Wedding 1981, No. 10| Portrait by Lord Snowdown| Courtesy of Flickr

The public viewed the wedding with a lot of admiration, so much that it blindsided them. The public was completely unaware that Diana could not handle the public scrutiny; her face was on every magazine cover and she was all the media talked about. Princess Diana was portrayed as calm and very put-together; she carried herself in a way that didn’t expose her weaknesses. This was the very mindset of the royal family, any form of unwanted exposure was immediately hidden or covered up, and she learned this a little too late. The wedding that was perceived as “a ceremony that bore the weight of centuries of national tradition” had a tragic story behind it.7

Diana would frequently visit the kitchen where she would participate in binge eating behaviors, such as eating endless bowls of ice cream and special snacks at request. Staff and friends were concerned about Diana’s dietary habits; she was so thin despite consistently raiding the fridge and eating excessive amounts of food in one sitting. Although they would frequently see her overindulge in food, Diana would make herself throw up five to six times a day. Diana claimed that her disorder was first triggered because of a comment Prince Charles made.8 “My husband put his hand on my waistline and said, ‘Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?’ and that triggered off something in me—and the Camilla thing, I was desperate…. I remember the first time I made myself sick.”9

Princess Diana At the Barbican Centre, Sovereign Series Royal Family 1982, No. 4| Published by the Prescott-Pickup Co. Ltd| Courtesy of Flickr

Diana started slipping into the deep end; her first pregnancy was tough on her body. Apart from morning sickness, Diana suffered from bulimia. Bulimia nervosa is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain by self-induced vomiting, fasting, or excessive exercise. The onset of bulimia nervosa can be due to stressful life events and usually develops between adolescence and early adulthood. There is an increase in depressive symptoms and depressive disorders in affected individuals as well as a higher suicide risk. Mood disturbance begins at the same time or during the development of the eating disorder, but in other individuals, predates the illness.10

Diana became desperate; she would run around with a lemon knife. Diana knew something was wrong with her but didn’t know how else to ask for help. When she did reach out for help, Charles thought Diana was crying wolf and dismissed her threats. Charles became alarmed and overwhelmed by Diana’s frequent mood swings, her consistent crying, and obsession with his old mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles. He believed that she was being immature and seeking attention, so instead of helping his wife, he went riding on the Sandringham estate. Diana almost felt challenged by his response, so at two months pregnant, Diana placed herself at the top of a wooden staircase in Sandringham and threw herself down the stairs.11 “Very, very difficult pregnancy indeed. Sick the whole time, bulimia and morning sickness…. I didn’t know which way to turn at all…. Charles said I was crying wolf and I said I felt so desperate, and I was crying my eyes out, and he said, ‘I’m not going to listen. You’re always doing this to me. I’m going riding now.’ So I threw myself down the stairs.”12

Some could claim that Diana was immature and naive and in reality, she was just a child. Diana had just become a young adult when they were married; she still had an illusion of a perfect marriage, one that wouldn’t suffer from difficulties. Her mindset was heavily influenced by her childhood; Diana’s parents’ troubled marriage and their frequent fights, even after their divorce. She didn’t want her marriage to end up like her parents. Diana believed that a Royal marriage would complete the pretty picture she painted in her head, it couldn’t possibly be any less than perfect—after all, that is what she had read in novels.13

At this point, Diana knew that she wasn’t going to get what she wanted or what she needed: stability and compassion. Instead, she was being scorned and her feelings were minimized. “I was thrown into the deep end,” she said of royal life. “Nobody ever helped me at all.” This incident was one of many cries for help during their first year of marriage.14

Diana made several other threats to her life; she began engaging in self-mutilation. In one incident Diana threw herself against a glass display cabinet at Kensington Palace and shortly after, slashed her wrists with a razor blade. Even during an argument with Prince Charles, she picked up a penknife and cut her chest and thighs.15 Still, Diana kept up a happy-go-lucky persona for the public and continued her duties as Princess of Wales. In the midst of a troubled time, she grew and matured; she found herself. Even if Charles solely wanted to please his parents by marrying Diana when his heart belonged to someone else, she was beloved by so many and the public saw her as one of their own. Diana was one of the only Royals that didn’t make the masses feel like less than they are.16 She was able to find herself through the volunteer work she engaged with and by connecting to the public.17

Diana was perceived as having it all, being the “It Girl” only to be revealed that within those palace walls, she was living a nightmare.

  1. Anne Matheson, “A Day of Splendour and Romance,” Australian Women’s Weekly (2018): 48. ↵
  2. Barbara Cartland, “Royal Marriage: When Life isn’t a Romantic Novel,” Newsweek 120 (1992): 72. ↵
  3. A Biographical Encyclopedia, 2002, s.v. “Women in World History,” 591. ↵
  4. Andrew Morton, Diana: Her True Story (New York: Pocket Books, 1992), 90. ↵
  5. Andrew Morton, “Diana’s Secret Tapes,” People 88 (2017): 88. ↵
  6. Andrew Morton, Diana: Her True Story (New York: Pocket Books, 1992), 91. ↵
  7. Barbara Cartland, “Royal Marriage: When Life isn’t a Romantic Novel,” Newsweek 120 (1992): 72. ↵
  8. Andrew Morton,Diana: Her True Story (New York: Pocket Books, 1992), 96. ↵
  9. Andrew Morton, “Diana’s Secret Tapes,” People 88 (2017): 88. ↵
  10. American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association, 2013), 345-347. ↵
  11. Andrew Morton, Diana: Her True Story (New York: Pocket Books, 1992), 104-105. ↵
  12. Andrew Morton, “Diana’s Secret Tapes,” People 88 (2017): 88. ↵
  13. Barbara Cartland, “Royal Marriage: When Life isn’t a Romantic Novel,” Newsweek 120 (1992): 72. ↵
  14. Andrew Morton, “Diana’s Secret Tapes,” People 88 (2017): 88. ↵
  15. Andrew Morton, Diana: Her True Story (New York: Pocket Books, 1992), 105. ↵
  16. Martha Duffy, “Fractured Fairy Tale,” Time Magazine 147 (1996): 60. ↵
  17. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004, s.v. “Diana Princess of Whales,” 531. ↵

Tags from the story

  • eating disorders, Princess Diana

Share this post

Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
Share on print
Share on email
Vanessa Quetzeri

Vanessa Quetzeri

Author Portfolio Page

Health at Every Size As a Means to Approach Obesity and Improve a Fat-phobic Society

Obesity. This word is associated with the words unhealthy, fat, and overweight. Obesity has become

Read More »

This Post Has 85 Comments

  1. Adrianna Hernandez
    Adrianna Hernandez 27 Oct 2020 Reply

    This article was very sad and interesting. It’s crazy to believe that behind closed doors she was suffering but when she would be in public she showed her happiness. This article was written really well in giving detail about her marriage to Prince Charles and her having bulimia. When all she ever wanted was to receive love and affection from Prince Charles since her parents didn’t give her love or affection.

  2. Avatar
    Franchesca Baldwin 26 Oct 2020 Reply

    I’m researching Princess Diana right now and this article was vey helpful. She had the “fairytale” life as someone beautiful, wealthy, and popular but behind it she was treated wrongly pretty much her entire life. She has major issues as well, as stated, but she was young and it could be debated she didn’t know any better given a combination of many things. Her ending is tragic and I think if she had lived longer she could’ve done a lot of good for the world.

  3. Avatar
    Maria Obregon 6 Oct 2020 Reply

    Before reading this article, I had no idea that Princess Diana went through these things during her lifetime. It is so sad and so heartbreaking thinking of how she would hide all of this in the public eye, but would suffer in private. It is also so heartbreaking knowing what went on during her marriage and inside the palace. I knew things were not good for her in her marriage, but I did not imagine it was this bad. She just wanted the perfect marriage, but what she received was far from that.

  4. Mia Hernandez
    Mia Hernandez 19 Sep 2020 Reply

    This article was very sad and interesting. Princess Diana is my favorite historical figure and I actually did not know about Diana’s bulimia and depressive tendencies, but I did know about Charles’ affair. Someone as inspiring and helpful as her did not deserve a toxic relationship in which she got treated horribly. I liked how the article illustrated a story with great detail. It was a great article.

  5. Avatar
    Yaniev Ibarra 19 Sep 2020 Reply

    Very sad to hear that even though Princess Diana had everything and appeared to be perfect was actually going through a rough time. Mental health issues are no joke, I feel for her for having to deal with these things while all eyes were on her. This article does a great job at really going into detail on the toxic marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Crazy to think that money really does not buy happiness, all she wanted was love and affection.

Comments navigation

Previous commentPrevious

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

StMU History Media

A Student Organization of St. Mary's University of San Antonio Texas

Sponsors

  • College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, St. Mary's University
  • Department of History, St. Mary's University
  • Department of Political Science, St. Mary's University
  • Center for Catholic Studies, St. Mary's University

Support Services

  • The Learning Assistance Center, St. Mary's University
  • Louis J. Blume Library Services, St. Mary's University
  • STRIVE Career Center, St. Mary's University
  • Academic Technology Services, St. Mary's University

About

  • About Us
  • Our Authors
  • Our Archive
  • Contacts

© All rights reserved

Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest