20151115

DIANA

Since 827, ten Royal families had represented the British Constitutional Monarchy. 2015 marked their 1188th year serving the British people. "The British are a very monarchical people," Vernon Bogdanor of Oxford University explained. Diana: Princess of Wales, who was "the most photographed, the most talked-about woman in the world" in the 20th century was 90.6% British and 9.4% American. "The most important prerequisite for a future Princess of Wales was that she was a virgin; secondly that she was of aristocratic or Royal blood; and thirdly that she has got a face that could look well on a stamp or a coin," Christopher Wilson clarified. 

In July 2015, the famous Gianni Versace's dress with gold studs and colorful glass beads Diana had previously worn got auctioned for $200,000, reportedly more than double the estimated range of $60,000 to $80,000 with bidding starting at $30,000. Back in June 1997, Diana also auctioned 79 of her favorite gowns at Christie's in New York City. The 79 dresses sold for $3,250,000 which Diana donated to charities. Amongst the gowns included the Catherine Walker's dress Diana worn to the 14th Annual Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards Gala at the Lincoln Center in New York City in 1995. At that dinner to give an award to Liz Tilberis, the editor of 'Harper’s Bazaar', Diana made the headlines when she wore a sleeked-back hairstyle created for Diana by Sam McKnight. 

Although King John in 1215 was considered the "worst King England ever had", he left the country with the most famous document of British constitutional history, the Magna Carta. In his inaugural address in 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared, "The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in human history . . . It was written in Magna Carta." On June 15 1215, some 40 rebellious barons who wanted to protect their rights and property under the feudal system, under which they lived at the time, confronted the tyrannical King John at Runnymede. The King was said agreed to their demands (to avoid civil war) and "affixed his seal to Magna Carta." 

The Royal family had long been regarded the symbol of British unity, stability, continuity and survival, a valuable commodity in troubled times. Anthony Holden added, "Royalty's main function has come to be as a source of good news in our lives. They are there to show us how Christian family is lived." The grandson of Alfred the Great, King Athelstan (925), requested Jews who had converted to Christianity to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew into Anglo-Saxon. As an institution, the British Monarchy remained a non-political, non-controversial symbol of the power and majesty of the State, a symbol of the nation survived as a Constitutional Monarchy, as well as acted as a disinterested but sympathetic counselor to the Prime Minister. 

The period 1558 to 1603 was regarded "an era of power and glory for England." David Cannadine pointed out, "In every generation, the British have projected on the person of their sovereign their own collective hopes, anxieties, speculations. In so doing, they have created and re-created their Monarchy in their own self-image." David Starkey observed, "The past is on their side. The reason that the English Monarchy survived is, it changed, and changed repeatedly . . . We want a Monarchy that has got the wit, the courage and strength to reinvent itself as it's so often done in the past." 

Harold Brooks-Baker believed Alfred the Great (871) "was probably our greatest King, the ruler who defeated the Danesand so enabled his son to rule a united England, the man who established our legal system, founded our navy and, after astonishing achievements as warrior and administrator, gave his people the latest philosophical and religious thoughts, translated by himself, had ever lived." 

In November 1995, Diana did the 'Panorama' interview on the BBC. James Whitaker recalled, "The damage being done to the Royal family was immense. The country was divided. You cannot have that if you're the sovereign, the Head of State which is what the Queen, you cannot have the country divided, you've got to try to have unity. But in the end the Queen wrote to both of them saying, get on, go and have a divorce which was the last thing (she wanted). She is deeply religious person, the Queen. She believes in the sanctity of marriage. She does not believe in divorce, certainly not one involves her son. He's going to be King one day. But the damage being done to the Crown was so great, she wrote this letter and said, do it. I think Diana bitterly regretted the divorce. I think she fought until the last minute to prevent the divorce, she didn't want one . . . I don't think Diana wanted it at any stage." Tina Brown concurred, "I think she was feeling the regret at the loss of her role." 

In November 1996, Diana flew to New York City again to attend "America's party of the year", the Annual Costume Institute Benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Some 900 guests were attending the dinner, with another 2000 allowed in to dance to Maxi Priest's music. The 900 guests included Madame Jacques Chirac, Bill Blass, Calvin Klein, Isaac Mizrahi, Isabella Rossellini, Linda Evangelista, and Martha Stewart. Liz Tilberis was the chairperson of the Costume Institute. The gala was to pay tribute to Christian Dior. Diana wore John Galliano's first-ever creation for Christian Dior - a lingerie-inflected, sapphire blue gown. Before coming to Christian Dior, John Galliano spent a year at Givenchy. Bernard Arnault told 'The Sunday Times', "I looked at every single designer in the world and decided that Galliano was the only one." 

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