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KATHMANDU, JUNE 07
Twenty-four years after her fatal car accident, Diana is once more in the news. The BBC has publicly apologised for unethical journalism. The apology relates to the infamous interview in which Diana revealed her personal story. She looked so naive and vulnerable in that interview with journalist Martin Bashir.
Now investigation has revealed that the manipulative interviewer had breached journalistic protocols to coax, deceive and almost pressurise Diana into revealing intimate secrets about the Royal family.
Diana is an example of how vulnerable lady aristocrats can be. Too much free media attention, too much public expectations, too much free wealth, too much free time – all a recipe for disaster!
The problem is the public's high expectations of their Royalty.
They expect Royal family members to be flawless and perfect. Always belonging to the racially pure lineage of a high class family. Always maintaining protocols while meeting with the public by not revealing anything personal in public. In a way, many royals become "victims of high expectations".
Diana was not an exceptional case. The accusation made by Meghan Markle that the British Royal family refused to accept her mixed racial lineage exemplifies how outdated the monarchy has become in today's world. Nepal's Royal family massacre was also directly or indirectly linked to the Shah family's inability to become flexible on personal matters. If the royal family had been more flexible towards Crown Prince Dipendra's personal life, according to the requirements of modern times, the tragedy could have been avoided.
The late princess of England was both controversial and charismatic. Conservative Britons like Queen Elizabeth loath her for her "betrayal". Conservative Christians never forgave her for the divorce with Prince Charles. Proud Englishmen, always mindful of their global image, hated her for embarrassing England's reputation.
Nevertheless, she is beloved by millions of people. Millions of Nepali people may remember her visit to Nepal in 1993.
That year floods in the Bagmati River had devastated our country.
She visited the flood-affected farmers who had lost everything.
Her grace and humility seemed to intoxicate the victims as they gazed at her, all speechless. Soon after, the UK sent huge humanitarian relief materials via Russian cargo jets.
I remember those huge cargo jets when they landed at Tribhuvan airport, packed with Diana's gifts from England. Diana may have made some mistakes in her life, but she was good at heart. She was not perfect, but many people relate to her because of her imperfections.
