Notes and Letters from Diana

[TLLK]

Letters from Princess Diana reveal how Prince William 'adored' Harry | Daily Mail Online

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

These are a great example of her "bread and butter" letters, which her father instilled in her writing promptly and to ppl grand and modest to thank them, its an old school practice that served her well as by the 80s most ppl didnt do it, so it was a nice touch that as the bar of expectations of manners got smaller, she set herself apart by keeping with it.

Although I think the DM gets it a bit wrong, and its kind of a fluff piece, which im not going to say is a wrong thing to do, but in the interests of expanding our knowledge of Diana, lets look at a few things in the letters.

She has mastered the art of saying things while at the same time not really, for example she mentions Harry's constantly in trouble, well boys are going to do that at boarding school but she doesnt give any specifics. A very good example in the written word how she could make you feel like you were behind the curtain, without giving away anything.

I thought with hindsight how ironic that the trip to Korea was described as a good place to go xmas shopping, while she mentions it matter of factly, she was dreading the trip, and it turned out to be anything but a fun shopping trip.

The second letter was after the birth of Harry, and it sounds like all is well, yet we know that Charles was most disappointed about having a red haired boy, and not a girl with a different hair color.

The third letter is very touching wishing him a speedy recovery, complete with her little smiling man she put into some notes, one could say she was ahead of the times on emoji's.

The last letter is billed as her confiding in him about her grandmothers death, but he had written her first about it as she mentions in the letter, again she gives really nothing away, its not unusual to say a persons death is a great shock, but she has this way of making you feel closer in than you are, and it was part of her charm.

Some may take it that im criticizing the article or the letters, im not. I do think that where the letters are up for auction, it might be thinly veiled promo for them to try and maximize the price for them.

While some commenters had unkind words about her script, I LOVE it, although at times you have to read it a few times for some words, it just seems like it totally suits her, sweet, unassuming, and feminine. My heart always warms and melts seeing it.

Its very nice that she remembers a long term staffer like that, considering how some like PM would bark their last names and be very gruff with staff, I think part of the so called "unusualness" of her charm was that the bar was so low considering the behavior of the royals with people of lower stations. Not to take away from her sweetness and thoughtfulness, even as a teachers assistant she was doing sweet things for ppl, just that because of her station in life people did not expect it, so it was seen as all the more special.

[TLLK]

Handwritten Diana letters sell for £15,100 at auction - BBC News

The letters fetched over 15,000 pounds at auction.

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

Nice to see they beat estimates, i guess. Also any increase in the body of knowledge we have on our lovely Diana is a plus. Hard as it is sometimes to read, I do so love to see her handwriting.

[SophieChloe]

Shame on him for selling the notes   

However, I find it strange that some are up in arms of the pics of Kate naked as a jay bird? 

IMO they both allowed the same to happen.

[TLLK]

^^^Mr. Dickman died a few years ago so it's his grandson who is selling the notes but I agree @SophieChloe that it is a shame that they're being sold. IMO they should have been returned to her family.

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

It would have been better if they were sold to assist Mr. Dickman in his illness, of course since he chose not to sell them at so grave a time, speaks volumes about if they should be sold or not, they could have been displayed or digitally copied and then returned, that way everyones happy, or unhappy depending on the viewpoint.

As for Kate and her jaybird pics, also speaks about the clout/goodwill/regard whatever you want to call it that Dianas pics got destroyed but Kates did not LOLZ.

[TLLK]

It would be nice to think that the letters were copied and sent to her family members. I wonder if she had ever considered that the recipients or their families would ultimately sell them? Yes Diana was fortunate that her photos were purchased and destroyed. Besides Kate there have been photos of Sophie, Charles and others that were published. , The late Angus Ogilvy and his wife Princess Alexandra were photographed on their honeymoon during a private moment in what they'd assumed was a secluded spot. Fortunately for them those photos were also never published.

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

Yes, according to some, she got stung twice, that time, which while shes an adult and should have known better, I put the blame also on Catherine Soames (well different last name by then) and her other friend, bad influences on her sometimes in situations like that, the PoW just cant be like them and tan topless. Not much situational awareness from any of them on that one.

Another, with a certain King of Spain, only described as her in "various states of undress" that were also secured before any scandal could ensue.

The fact that both were scotched from getting published shows the regard Diana was held.

[TLLK]

Regarding the photos, at the time when Diana's were taken if the negatives and copies were handed over that would be the end of the story. In today's digital age that isn't as real a prospect as it was decades ago.
Double post auto-merged: January 06, 2017, 12:41:21 AM

Yes, according to some, she got stung twice, that time, which while shes an adult and should have known better, I put the blame also on Catherine Soames (well different last name by then) and her other friend, bad influences on her sometimes in situations like that, the PoW just cant be like them and tan topless. Not much situational awareness from any of them on that one.

Another, with a certain King of Spain, only described as her in "various states of undress" that were also secured before any scandal could ensue.

HHHHMMM I'm guessing it wasn't the current King of Spain but his padre. <_<

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

you would be correct  :thumbsup: I'm going to get letters on this, but the body language between those two does not lie.....also the look she has on her face while crouching on the steps in Majorca, that cat that ate the canary look.

[TLLK]

Yes but I'm not sure that Sofia would have let anyone too close to her hijo Felipe then! Su esposo ...no problemo. :wink:

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

If you mean Juan Carlos's wife Sofia, he slept with hundreds of women over decades, so she didnt do a good job of keeping him away from women, but its the continent, so that stuff is more allowed, so to speak.

It will always be speculation due to those pics not being published, or being caught red-handed by the other spouses, etc.

On the fringe, some have claimed William is Juan Carlos' due to similar ear and hair patterns and his resemblance to William when younger. Given that the king boycotted the wedding, I doubt things got patched over in time to have William, however Diana at her most charming would be a powerful inducement to mend fences :)

But those are also the same that trot out that James Goldsmith is her father, forgetting that her similarity to his family is due to her mom's Roche genes. But she does look like she could be Zac's sister, and some of personality traits of James and Diana overlap.

Theres too much of Johnny in her face sometimes to rule him out as her dad, although the other kids have a much bigger "amount" of resemblance to Johnny than Diana does, shes a Spencer through and through. :flower:

[Jennifer]

King Juan Carlos was definitely a major philanderer. He didn't just cheat with 1, 50 or even 100 women, but more than that! I heard it was 1,000! I just can't imagine being in Queen Sofia's position. She is a gracious woman and has mercy on him for the sake of the children and grandchildren. I don't think King Felipe would ever do the scandalous things his father did. He is completely faithful and committed to his wife, Queen Letizia.

Handwritten letters by Diana sell for over £15,000

Six handwritten letters from the desk of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, sold at auction for £15,100 – thousands more than estimated.

The letters were written to Cyril Dickman, a former Buckingham Palace steward who worked there for over 50 years.

In one letter dated 20 September 1984, Diana talks about how her eldest son, Prince William, quickly took to his new brother, Prince Harry.

Read more:
Handwritten letters by Diana sell for over £15,000 – Royal Central

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

Saw this and couldnt resist....Remember Diana

Now imagine the dialogue from Empire Strikes Back...I am your father...Noooooo thats not true, thats impossible....search your feelings you know it to be true, together we can rule as father and son....LOL

[TLLK]

If you mean Juan Carlos's wife Sofia, he slept with hundreds of women over decades, so she didnt do a good job of keeping him away from women, but its the continent, so that stuff is more allowed, so to speak.

It will always be speculation due to those pics not being published, or being caught red-handed by the other spouses, etc.

On the fringe, some have claimed William is Juan Carlos' due to similar ear and hair patterns and his resemblance to William when younger. Given that the king boycotted the wedding, I doubt things got patched over in time to have William, however Diana at her most charming would be a powerful inducement to mend fences :)

But those are also the same that trot out that James Goldsmith is her father, forgetting that her similarity to his family is due to her mom's Roche genes. But she does look like she could be Zac's sister, and some of personality traits of James and Diana overlap.

Theres too much of Johnny in her face sometimes to rule him out as her dad, although the other kids have a much bigger "amount" of resemblance to Johnny than Diana does, shes a Spencer through and through. :flower:

From what I've read in the past, Sofia had a crush on Norway's Harald, but he was already smitten with Sonja. Juan Carlos was in need of a royal bride and at the time the Greeks were a reigning house but the Spanish were not. IMHO they were more of a "royal blood line" match rather than true love.  Prior to their courtship  Sofia's  mother Frederika organized a special royal cruise of the Greek Islands to showcase the scenery to potential tourists and to encourage a bit of royal matchmaking. JC got the bride with the right lineage and Sofia was going to be a future consort. On paper it likely looked very, very good. From what I have read the marriage was over by the early-mid seventies, but because JC was very popular and Sofia was respected the media kept quiet about his dalliances.

As for the resemblance...well the Windsors, the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas etc.. and the Borbons are related but I agree that William does seem to have strong Spencer genes. IMHO William has  the male version of Diana's face. :shrug:

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

Yeah, I just posted that for fun, I think that because until the boys hit their 30s, there was very little of Charles in the  boys faces. In Williams late teens and early 20s, he did resemble his mother very much, in fact a lot of women were drawn to him as they felt it was like seeing Diana again after she passed, which I think is awful for William, but ppl had kinda lost their mind in the late 90s over her death.

Interesting info on JC and Sofia, didnt know that. I wonder how much JC lived like no tomorrow cause of the fascist govt in Spain till Franco died?

To be sure theres a lot of familial overlap in the great families with their interbreeding over the years. I think after the royal scandals, everyones always looking for more and more. Some may be there but some are just speculation, but thats what makes things fun.

[TLLK]

Hard to tell with JC because Franco was playing to both sides when it came to the future of the Spanish throne. He was making overtures to JC's cousin as well. Things became more secure when Sofia gave birth to Felipe in 1968. JC was prematurely titled "Juan Carlos the Brief" as it was expected that he'd be overthrown soon after he ascended. Everyone expected him to continue Franco's fascist policies, but JC reached out to all parties to unite the nation and would not join the coup in the early 1980's. I believe it is for those early actions that JC did get a pass from the nation's press when it came to his extra marital affairs.

Sorry to go off topic.

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

No worries, its good context thats helps flesh out the events, the bigger why questions really itch at me sometimes. Also im a Spanish Civil War buff.

[Jennifer]

Diana, Princess of Wales felt "extremely isolated", a new letter reveals

A previously unseen letter written by Diana, Princess of Wales has revealed that the late Princess felt "continuously misunderstood" and "extremely isolated" in the final years of her marriage.

The letter was written to the Princess's friend Dudley Poplak, an interior designer who the royal couple had first met in 1981, when he worked at Highgrove House, their residence in Gloucestershire. Diana, whose marriage was already beyond repair, wrote about how she felt excluded from the Royal Family and claimed that she could see what was "coming to this country and this family".

The letter was hand-written on a Kensington Palace letterhead and dated 3 December 1991 – just one year before The Prince and Princess of Wales announced their separation. It read:

Read more:
Diana, Princess of Wales felt “extremely isolated”, a new letter reveals – Royal Central

[Jennifer]

Letter written by Diana and signed by her sons to go up for auction

A letter written by the late Diana, Princess of Wales on 21 June 1989 and signed by Princes William and Harry is to go up for auction next week. The letter was to retired Sergeant George Plum of the London Metropolitan Police for putting on a motorbike display for then seven-year-old William's birthday party held on the grounds of Kensington Palace.

The letter is written on paper with the Kensington Palace header. After 28 years, the retired officer believes it's time to put it up for auction, and according to the Daily Express, it could go for £2,500.

The warm letter reads: "Dear Sgt Plumb, It was so very kind of you and your team to have come here today on William's birthday – I cannot begin to tell you what pleasure the display gave to all those little people and their mothers!

Read more:
Letter written by Diana and signed by her sons to go up for auction – Royal Central

[LouisFerdinand]

Princess Diana took the time to write personally to thank David and Elizabeth Emanuel for the album they had made for her to commemorate the making of her wedding dress.

[TLLK]

Princess Diana?s private letters going up for auction | Daily Mail Online

Another batch of letters go up for auction. It seems many that she wrote to are selling their collection. I wonder it they ever considered returning them to her children?

[Curryong]

^ I often think that myself, TLLK, when I read of personal letters and momentos being sold at auction. It's not just Diana but other Royal family members.

Some loyal old servant at one of the estates treasures a bundle of letters and Xmas cards from Diana, the Queen or Queen Mother, dies without sending them back or ordering them to be burned, and immediately the executors, grandchildren or other relatives leap on the collection as a money earner. The book that came out after his death about Billy the Page's time with the Queen Mother is a case in point.

These sort of letters etc are usually innocuous but some are very personal, dealing with commiserations after a death for example. I wish people who worked for decades for the royal family would hold a bonfire when they get very old. It's seems to be mostly letters to ex staff that come onto the market now but what about friends etc?

I dread what will happen when people (friends) that Charles and or Camilla wrote to during the wars of the Wales's get very old and start dying off without leaving instructions. They are not all as wealthy as Croesus with consciencious relatives I'm sure.

Does this happen to Continental royalty, I wonder?

[TLLK]

^^^Good question but unless we're reading sites or publications in Dutch, French, Danish etc...we'll likely never know.