Grace and Diana

Two Princesses and a First Lady Royal

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:23:50 GMT

I've always been very interested in JFK. I even wrote a term paper on him my freshmen year in H.S. I just finished reading, Jack and Jackie, by Christopher Anderson. A fabulous book that I highly recommend.

At the beginning of my lectures on Grace and Diana, I always include Jacqueline Kennedy, who undoubtedly was right up with Grace and Diana among the most popular women of the twentieth century. And, there is no doubt that President and Mrs. Kennedy were the most popular and glamorous couple of the twentieth or any other century. However, there is no question that Diana was the most popular women of the twentieth century.

There is a book similar to mine called, Diana and Jackie: Maidens, Mothers, Myths, which is also a good read. However, I think there are more similarities for Grace and Jackie. Being from the same era, they were both born in 1929 and were good friends. When JFK was barely holding on to life after his first critical back surgery, Jackie asked Grace to dress up like a nurse to cheer him up. He was so bad when she went to his bedside that he did not recognize her. John Kennedy's battle for his health were his own, "Profiles In Courage." Grace kidded Jackie that, "I must be losing it."

Both Grace Kelly and Jacqueline Kennedy were very devout to their Catholicism. They each made sure their children were brought up as Catholics and took an active role in their children's religious education.

But as much suffering as Grace and Diana saw in their journeys through life, Jacqueline Kennedy's suffering was even more horrible.

I'll be including Jacqueline Kennedy along with Grace and Diana in the next few entries.

Precious New Home Movies

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:09:56 GMT

The concert for Diana was for me what I expected. Let me say right now the media's coverage was excellent. The concert was covered as a celebration of Diana's life on what would have been her forty-sixth birthday. There was no controversy what so ever and everything went very smoothly. William and Harry can be proud of the success this performance achieved.

For me, the performances were fine. What I was really taken by and pleasantly surprised is what NBC showed at the end of their coverage. This was the never seen home movies of Diana as a child. It was apparent of how close the entire family was before Diana's parents divorce. You could clearly see the affection and love Diana showed both her parents and siblings from early on. It was clear from the movies that the love and compassion she gave the world was in her heart at a very early age. But also, there was another aspect of Diana's life evident in her childhood. And that being how well coordinated she was. The home movies not only showed her strong swimming skills as a child, but a few turns and poses from her talent in ballet.

The attentiveness she showed to her little brother Charles was evident too. It reminds me of my own grandchildrens' love and affection. These home movies showed a side of Diana that was already known by everyone; that is why it was such a pleasant surprise from the talented little girl with a heart of gold, who was to experience many of life's cruelties, only to realize her dreams and hopes and move the world in the final years of the twentieth century. Had her life not ended so tragically, I'm sure the beautiful woman we remember would still have the world wanting her more than ever.

Anna, Marilyn and Two Princesses

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 23:52:44 GMT

With the death of Anna Nicole Smith recently and the immediate comparisons to the tragic life of Marilyn Monroe are running rampant. One of the very striking things I found both bizzare and sad was what I learned about Marilyn Monroe while researching, Two Princesses.

The key interview I did on Grace was that of her best friend Judith Balaban Quine. In her book, The Bridesmaids, Judith tells of her friendship with Marilyn Monroe and how troubled she was. Married to Grace's agent Jay Kanter, Judith wrote of Marilyn not even being able to hold Judith and Jay's first child. While Grace's maternal insticts were impecable, Marilyn Monroe's anxiety and phobia made me feel so sad for something so extraordinary. Whatever happen to Norma Jean while she was a child, must have been absolutely tramatic. And as everyone knows this was just another astonishing sadness in the beautiful but so vulnerable star whose death will never be completely solved. However, I remember vividly walking with my day camp peers as the story of Marilyn's death bounced around our conversations. I was around ten years old.

Fast foward over forty years later to the tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. With all the twists and turns zig zagging from her soap opera life, it is safe to say she will also become just as if not more notorious in death than she was in life in the weeks and months to come.

With mystery and tragedy selling like leamonaide during a summer heat wave, the stories of not only the two blonde bombshells and the, two princesses brings immortality to all four. But in the achives of history to be written, the two girls from Philadelphia and London left much more to our world than mere legend. Their legacies of service to mankind will never be forgotten.

Hopefully, The Last Witness

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:29:59 GMT

Well, I knew the media would want their take as we approach Diana's tenth anniversary. The fact of the matter is that excuse my language, they suck. However, all in all, the reviews from the program, Diana:Witness In Tunnel, came to these conclusions.

The program was put on by channel 4 in London to try to explain things from the paparazzis' perspective. After reading the various reviews, my opinion of the paparazzis who chased the Mercedes remain the same. Although I pin most of the blame that night on Henri Paul and Dodi Al-Fayed, the paparazzi still played a role in Diana's death.

All the controversy of the pictures that were shown, and Princes William and Harry asking not to show the pictures, in the end pictures of a dying Diana were not shown.

We are now three weeks from the the first celebration that will take place in London on what would have been Diana's forty-sixth birthday on July first. One thing I bring up from time to time with my audiences is that Diana will always be remembered as a beautiful young woman when she was tragically killed ten years ago I am hoping beyond hope that when the concert happens on that day that only the sweet and happy memories of Diana will be reported. The world that she gave so much to with the love she displayed, and to leave her many trials and her death alone. However, when August 31st. rolls around, you know the conspiracies and everything to do with the accident will once again resurface.

Love of Children

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 04:00:15 GMT

As I age I seem to feel a deeper and deeper empathy towards the children I work with in my chosen profession of teaching. A poignant documentary I watched last week on ABC's Primetime Live showed the horrors of poverty in the American city of Camden, New Jersey. Although I've never actually been in Camden, I was very close as it lies just on the other side of the Delaware River from Philadelphia. While doing my research on Princess Grace, I saw its outskirts from the riverbank.

The picture Diane Sawyer portrayed so vividly of the suffering and squalor the innocent children live in is heartbreaking, as well it should be. It clearly shows the short comings of American society and where its priorities lie.

The one thing I will always stress in my love of , The Two Princesses, was their dedication to service. Yes their beauty, charm, fashion and all the other attributes that made the world love them so much is important; for that gave them their power to do what was most important, service to mankind. And for each of them, the innocence and vulnerabilities of children was paramount.

Each and every time Diana went out in public and a child approached her, she not only beamed with delight, but exhibited a genuine sincerity I have never seen duplicated. Alec Baldwin's sister Beth once told me that when she met Princess Diana, and children gathered around her, any schedule or protocol stopped until she had finished with each child. And as we all know this went well beyond when the cameras were not clicking.

This was true with Grace too. When she became Princess of Monaco, she immediately became a surrogate parent to all of Monaco's orphans. The Catholic nuns who cared for them knew Grace would visit them often and see to their well being with anything they needed.

I don't know if the dire problems of poverty throughout the world will ever be solved or even brought under control. But I do know each of us can do our part to reach out our hands to the children that cross our paths. And follow the examples of not only two mentors, but also, Two Princesses.

Pressing The Flesh

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:54:40 GMT

While rewriting and updating some of the chapters of, Two Princesses, I came across something notable and amusing about Grace and Diana.

In Paul Burrell's last book, The Way We Were, he talks about how Diana never wore the royal gloves, like the Queen, when she met people. For anyone familiar with Princess Diana at all, no other conclusion could be drawn. Diana was a people person through and through. She would never consider not having the tactile exchange in her greetings with those she served. Her emotions ran deep in everyone and everywhere she saw need. Nothing would ever have changed that in the, "People's Princess."

Princess Grace and her glove wearing were a matter of how she grew up. Not so much a tradition as in respect. The devout Catholic, who wore white gloves with folded hands as she entered the sanctuary of the chapel where she knelt for prayer as a girl. Of course this carried over to her various fashion statements and the allure of gloves in the 1950's. But gloves were a part of Grace Kelly that she grew up with and became part of her entire composition.

The humor comes from a royal forum I found on line. It seems on Grace's trip to Madrid the matador tossed her the ears of the bull after it had been killed. Wearing her white gloves Princess Grace was able to catch the ears without missing a beat. Olay!

These acts of kindness and love both these women showed are unparalleled. They were each filled with the endless giving each one of them showered on each live they touched. And in their own moments of despair that were numerous indeed, they extended both hands, whether gloved or not, in sacrifice and caring to all in need.

The Correct Decision

Sat, 19 May 2007 13:16:04 GMT

This past week the decision to not let Prince Harry go to Iraq became final. As with everything in our world today it flashed across the media and Internet quickly. AOL had discussions about it immediately, which I took part in.

In posting their opinions, some people were critical of not only the powers that be that made this decision, but took a direct shot at the power of the Royal Family and all people of privilege. I cannot blame them for feeling this way, however, in this case, they are wrong.

The type of war in which the United States and Great Britain are engaged in Iraq shows a set of circumstances that would not only put Prince Harry in harm's way, but all of his comrades in arms too. All the soldiers fighting this war are dealing with a fanatical enemy that has absolutely no regard for human life. I'm sure suicide bombers would have volunteered in droves for the chance to take Prince Harry with them in their maniacal beliefs.

Had this been during World War II, when Harry's grandfather Prince Phillip served with distinction, I'm sure Harry would have been allowed to join his fellow soldiers. But this is a completely different manner. One that I am afraid that had Harry been allowed to go, and God forbid something had happened to him, the escalation of the conflict might have risen into something that would take even more lives. This is something neither America or Great Britain needs. There are enough problems in the stagnation that I feel has become another Vietnam. One thing that is a given in this decision is that the lady whose grave I visited in 1999, can remain in the tranquility of serenity and peace she is surrounded by and deserves.

In The Stars

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 23:36:45 GMT

Of all the themes and discoveries I made of the parallels I drew between Princesses Grace and Diana, their intrigues in astrology I feel was one of the obscure ones. Not that neither one of them wasn't serious about their astrological predictions, for they both were. Diana even had her own astrologer, Penny Thornton. It's just that I feel, especially in the the case of Grace, that her faith journey, which was her life long devotion to Catholicism, played a more important role.

The one thing I always stress is that both princesses were very unhappy during the first years of their reigns. This carries for each of them five years or more. In all the presentations I give on the, Two Princesses, I always say that it always seemed that Diana eclipsed Grace in every theme just a bit; and it is no different with respect to their unhappiness. However, the gap was hair thin. Diana was miserable with Charles never pledging his heart to his young wife. Depression, bulimia, suicide attempts and self mutilation were Diana's MO of suffering. However, Grace was only one step behind. So miserable was the Princess of Monaco, that she actually had thoughts of leaving Monaco. The two things that kept her there were her children, which she would have had to give up, and her deep devotion to her faith.

I knew Grace was unhappy with the radical change in her life when she became Princess of Monaco. But I think the author and book that really hit the bullseye was Randy Taraborelli's book, Once Upon A Time, which was published about a year after, Two Princesses. Any of your admirers out their of Grace Kelly, should read this book.

Incognito Like Mum

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 20:23:27 GMT

Prince Harry is once again seeing the results of being not only royalty, but one of the sons of the woman who rewrote popularity. The war in Iraq is not like other conventional wars in which other royalty served. With the cruel and deadly consequences of fanatic suicide bombers, who would be lined up to go to Ala if they could take a member of the British Royal Family with them.

Diana's various roles of incognito were part of her survival skills she had to employ just to have some peace in her life. Whether this was pulling a hooded sweatshirt around her face to go out for a jog at night or dawning her blond wig to go to a jazz club with Hasnat Khan, the walls of her world had very few hiding places.

As far as Harry is concerned to try the same incognito would be difficult for not only himself, but to the men he served with also. Although it will be disappointing, I believe it would be in the best interests of all concerned to have Harry serve in some other capacity.

What would Diana say? That's a tough one. Although very brave, like any mother, her anxiety would be high.

Grace use to dream about anonymity too. When she visited New York City during her years as princess, she became great friends with Vera Maxwell. Vera would let Grace stay in a private area of her apartment to give her some privacy while visiting. The torment and restrictions of fame and popularity caused Grace to admire the homeless like one of her bridesmaids Carolyn Reybold, who had fallen on hard times. And who Grace still visited, never abandoning those she loved.

There are positives and negatives no matter where each of us end up on the totem pole of life. Along with popularity and fame comes the loss of freedom and privacy. And so, if Harry's wishes aren't granted and he is kept behind from his unit, he will suffer the similar fate of his mother, who as Dr. Tony Lloyd told me in his interview. "I use to feel so bad when leaving Kensington Palace that the princess was confined in." It will never be that bad for Harry."

Tasteless

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 23:44:43 GMT

Will Diana ever rest in peace? I doubt it. On Friday January fifth, ABC's news magazine 20/20 showed a story on a British photographer, Alison Jackson, who takes celebrity look-alikes and photographs them in everyday private moments. Some are fun and funny, but others are really bad.

The one I took the most offense to was a picture of Diana and Dodi looking like they had a child together. Like I said, obviously these pictures are fictitious, but they look very real. She is a very talented photographer, but her excuses for why she goes so overboard are poor. The reason she takes pictures of a double of Queen Elizabeth sitting on a toilet, is because of the money she makes. And in the world we live in today, with any sense morality being thrown out faster than spoiled food, she has a huge audience that thinks these pictures are just hilarious.

She is now coming to America to search for new look alikes from our world of stars. Do you think she'll have any success? We all know the answer to that.

Anyone wanting to see the segment can go to ABC 20/20 on line.