Diana’s common touch changed the monarchy forever
LONDON — It was so human. So accessible. So very Diana: Prince William, the heir to the British throne, sprinting down the track at London’s Olympic Park with his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, and his brother, Prince Harry, in a relay race this year promoting mental health.
There was a time when such a scene would not have happened.
Princess Diana, a preschool teacher thrust into the glare of celebrity by her marriage to Prince Charles, dragged Britain’s ribbon-cutting royals into the modern world. She made a direct connection with the public —once running her own race in a flowing white skirt and baggy sweater — and promoted causes far from the mainstream at the time, like land mine removal and AIDS research.
That link lives on through her sons, who have adopted their mother’s more personal approach to monarchy and in the process reinvigorated the institution.