People loved her for herself

[LouisFerdinand]

Do you believe Diana found it hard to believe people loved her for herself and therefore came to distrust their motives?       
:crazylove: :crazylove: :crazylove: :crazylove: :vday4: :vday4: :vday4: :vday4:

[Trudie]

I remember reading I can't remember that Charles not long after the wedding told Diana to be suspicious of those wishing to befriend her as it could be due to her position as being The POW and yes to a point it became a reality as those friends turned out to be Charles friends Emilie VanCutsem immediately comes to mind as the rest of the Highgrove Set. Then later friendships also enforced that.

[michelle0187]

I believe that she was very cautious about who she trusted. she wanted 110% loyalty from her friends but sometimes she'd drop a friend for one reason or another. if they talked to the press or do anything that could portray her in a bad light. after the engagement announcement she started to entertain charles' friends, who didn't have anything in common with her. out of all the "close lady friends" he introduced to her, why did he pick camilla is beyond me. maybe c wanted to meet the girl who they thought was very easy to control and make a fool of behind closed doors. I think the state of her marriage and the pain, had a  lot to do with who she befriended.

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

Interesting thread, I think she had a two fold issue, she craved love and affection from her childhood divorce, and as she became a royal, she had isolation and people trying to curry favor, either her or Charles's. So im sure she must have always wondered what every persons angle was when they appeared to be nice and kind, while at the same time desperately wanting it to be true.

That probably led her to both rush into horrible liaisons for her emotionally, and to cut ties with people, thinking that they had ulterior motives, leading to the dramas she had in her life.

Towards the end she was left with few choices of people that could move in her circle and didnt require things from her either in terms of money or status. It must have been a very lonely existence.  :no:

[amabel]

I believe that she was very cautious about who she trusted. she wanted 110% loyalty from her friends but sometimes she'd drop a friend for one reason or another. if they talked to the press or do anything that could portray her in a bad light. after the engagement announcement she started to entertain charles' friends, who didn't have anything in common with her. out

I dont believe she was cautious at all. She poured out her heart, as lonely people often to, to all sorts of people, and told them things that she later regretted.  She confided too much in staff, or people who worked for her and then felt worried that she had said too much.    And I think that if Charles warned to be wary of people he was wise.  he had had time to acquire  a set of close friends who were very discreet, she was youg and had her few girlfirends  but didn't have as yet a large solid circle of friends.

[TLLK]

Interesting thread, I think she had a two fold issue, she craved love and affection from her childhood divorce, and as she became a royal, she had isolation and people trying to curry favor, either her or Charles's. So im sure she must have always wondered what every persons angle was when they appeared to be nice and kind, while at the same time desperately wanting it to be true.

That probably led her to both rush into horrible liaisons for her emotionally, and to cut ties with people, thinking that they had ulterior motives, leading to the dramas she had in her life.

Towards the end she was left with few choices of people that could move in her circle and didnt require things from her either in terms of money or status. It must have been a very lonely existence.  :no:

I agree @Duch_Luver_4ever. She appears to have been trusting at the beginning of her royal life, but later developed some mistrust when it came to her personal and professional relationships.

[LouisFerdinand]

Hopefully Diana realized she had a natural flair with people. Her facial expressions did not have to be rehearsed. She did not have to pay an acting coach.

[amabel]

so why did she pay people to teach her to speak in public?  And how can you rehearse facial expressions for her kidn of work?   A pleasant smile or a serious expression is mainly what you need...

[TLLK]

She did not have to pay an acting coach

She did hire Peter Settlen though and he is a voice/acting coach for public figures. He specializes in preparing them with their phrasing, accent, body language, facial expressions...in other words-acting.
Press

What we should be asking is who coaches the Princess of Wales in the art of Public Speaking?
Who gives her acting lessons? For never can a public figure have been more astonishingly transformed.
Daily Express (UK)   

Certainly he has succeeded where other coaches, notably the film director Sir Richard Attenborough and her former press secretary Dickie Arbiter, failed. Diana, desperate to overcome her shyness, was introduced to Settelen by her fitness trainer Carolan Brown, who had worked with him on her exercise videos. What he discovered was a woman suffering from low self esteem, bursting with ideas about her public duties but unable to marshal them. Julia Williams, a friend and colleague, told of his 'stunning' presence. She said: 'He is alive, he is alert. He helped me to speak and be genuine and to say what I really wanted to say, rather than what I thought I should be saying. I was able to relax very easily. Since his arrival in Diana's circle friends have noticed how she has learned to breathe properly, to appear more conversational and relax. Thanks to him she conquered her tendency to blush and incline her head which often combined to spoil the message she was trying to deliver. 'He has given her a new assertiveness', says a friend. 'You can trace it from the moment he arrived.'

But it was in April with her astonishing speech on Bulimia that his training really shone through. It was a tour de force. For here Diana reached into her own unhappiness to spell out the misery of the eating disorders that plagued her for 11 years. Friends detected his influence behind her memorable introduction....'I have it on very good authority' and believe he encouraged her to have the confidence to talk openly about herself.
Daily Mail (UK)

Stunning SKY News presenter Linda Duberley, who has had regular speech sessions with Peter, said: "He is the perfect person for Diana." Linda, 32, added: "He is not just a voice coach, but looks at every aspect of your personality like a psychologist - examining your body language, your demeanor and how you behave. He's trying to find the real you."
The Sun (UK)

Blonde beauty Julia Carling has recruited Princess Diana's voice coach to help boost her telly career. The estranged wife of rugby ace Will Carling  - their marriage broke down over the England captain's friendship with the princess - has signed up with former Coronation Street actor Peter Settelen.  He helped transform shy Di into a confident public speaker. And he's now giving Julia tips for her new life as a television star. A friend said: "She wanted help to improve her public speaking and went to the best in the business."

Peter has helped many top telly people brush up their skills and has published a best selling book
Just Talk To Me... After being introduced in 1992, Diana had  50 three hour sessions with the ex-actor for 18 months. He also wrote her speeches. She learned to breathe properly, to appear more conversational and to relax. Thanks to him, she conquered her tendency to blush and incline her head when speaking in public. The lessons were used to devastating effect in her BBC Panorama interview......
Daily Mirror (UK)

[amabel]

True, I think that her various coaches DID give her an ability to project, and to overcome her "shy" personality and to come across as confident in her speaking.

[FanDianaFancy]

so why did she pay people to teach her to speak in public?  And how can you rehearse facial expressions for her kidn of work?   A pleasant smile or a serious expression is mainly what you need...

No. One needs to LEARN  public speaking There is  an art to  it. There is  a  way  to do and not to do it.  It has be  learned  by the student  and taught by  those  who specialize  in various fields  of speech,  ummm posture/body language ..I cannot think of  a better word,  style.... and so much more..... and practiced.

[LouisFerdinand]

Patrick Jephson recalled that Princess Diana took a professional pride in giving her public full value, which was one reason why they were ready to wait for her in vast numbers in any weather for even a fleeting glimpse of her.

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

That, and she would really connect with people in a way the RF didnt or couldnt back then. So she had the benefit of being someone that really made you glad she was around, then throw in the "low expectations" ppl had of the RF in terms of being warm and friendly that they loved to see her.

[LouisFerdinand]

Did some people love Diana because she had the title of Princess of Wales?

[Duch_Luver_4ever]

likely some royalphiles or maybe ppl from Wales, theres a lovely doc done about her after her passing from ppl from Wales recounting her many visits and what it was like having her put Wales on the map.

But most ppl couldnt care less about what title she had, they liked and loved her for what was in her heart, not what came after her name. She worried a lot more about that that we did.

[Curryong]

I suppose some were infected with the glamour of royalty. I've seen, over the course of my life, a lot of people become gibbering idiots in the presence of royals, so that was certainly a bit of it.

However, Diana would smile and joke with people, make them feel comfortable when she met them, there was no stiffness or awkwardness, and yet a very real persona of someone who was different to most that I just think people responded to that special aura she had. I don't know how else to describe it.

I know people who met Diana only once and then for only a short time, who can remember every detail of what she said, how she looked, what she wore, her eyes, her smile, her hair, now, decades later. I think that's a very special quality and the word charisma is inadequate to explain it, but I guess it will have to do.

[TLLK]

^^^The eighties certainly had its share of very charismatic individuals who could relate easily to people ie John Paul II and of course Diana.

[royalanthropologist]

Diana had a positive personal affect. That is a very complex term but it describes her effect on people. These are the people that make you feel at ease. You either have it or you don't. For example, Mary of Teck came across as being cold and snobbish when in fact she was a very shy woman. Her affect was very different from Diana who seemed to be able to connect with people who were outside her social class. That is why she was good with children.

[Trudie]

People loved Diana for the very reason she wore her heart on her sleeve. Diana was very open allowing her kind, giving and compassionate nature to shine vs. the cold almost closed off feelings projected by other royals.