31st August : 23rd Death Anniversary of the Princess Diana: A Tragedy in the history of British Imperialism

Royal Assassinations are an integral part of our nation and abroad as well. The history of our culture and civilization has always borne a tough testimony to the brutal killings of the royal figures over the passage of time. Be it Indira Gandhi, John F Kennedy, The Nepal Royal massacre or the Princess Diana’s premature death, the tragic overtones still manage to sweep the globe with touch of aplomb! However, the reasons are still in shadow and the assumptions simply continue even after so many years of their traumatic demise!
Princess Diana, the epitome of beauty and brain was born in 1961. She walked on the earth till 1997. A royal lady of 36 years bade us au revoir on that fateful day of 31st August, 1997. As the Princess and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed were travelling in a car towards Paris, a terrible crash took place as there was an attempt to escape Paparazzi. Fayed and the driver died at the spot. Though Diana survived, later she succumbed to injuries in a hospital in Paris. She was merely 36 years old.
The tragic tidings of her death spread like a wild fire in the whole world. Queen Elizabeth || was criticised for not displaying her emotions against this severe royal setback! But later she made an address from the Buckingham Palace, 5 September. She said,” No one who knew Diana will ever forget her. I share in your determination to cherish her memory”.
With the passage of time, investigation began, a report published in 1999 stated that a very high car velocity accompanied by alcohol and antidepressants led to the crash! Noticeably, charges against the photographers causing the ‘accident’ were dropped. On the other hand, a conspiracy theory was of the view that Diana’s death was a royal assassination arranged by the royal family. But there was no adequate evidence to support the theory! On September 6, her funeral procession began from Kensington Palace where her sons William(15) and Harry(12) travelled four miles to reach the gravesite where her body was laid on a small island at her family’s estate, Althrop. Nearly 2.5 billion people watched the ‘whole episode’ on television. Posthumously Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was founded which was incorporated into the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
The world is still in a maze whether the Princess died in that car accident or she was hounded to death for some envious, malignant reasons. But it can be asserted with a firm conviction that the truth will surely come to the limelight one day. A beautiful lady who was a spouse, a mother and above all a symbol of true humanism who always desired to serve the poor, the destitute of the world. Her good memories will continue to remind us of our duties towards the society at large. Her eyes will always keep a strong vigilance on us as she never failed to teach us the lesson on ‘humanity’, the greatest of all the teachers. A couple of lines are really apt to quote:
“Type of the wise who soar but never roam
True to the kindred points of heaven and home”.
‘To the Skylark’, William Wordsworth.

Kunal Roy