She was nicknamed the People's Princess early on in her public life. She was the late Princess Diana.
She was the embodiment of a girl in a fairy tale who marries her Prince Charming. She was quite young, quite pretty with big innocent eyes, and seemed truly quite innocent as well. Young, - she was a teenager. Young, fresh, her big eyes lit up with what seemed sincere and very girlish enthusiasm for her Prince and the fairy tale life she seemed to believe lay ahead of her.
Every woman watching - young and old - could vicariously live their own fairy tale life through her. And the British royals still play the part - the uniforms dripping with medals, the carriages pulled by white horses.
If Diana had come off as cold and standoffish the public's bubble would have burst but she didn't. She smiled at children, hugged them - the fairy tale princess was a good princess. She didn't ride... She wasn't always on the back on a finely bred horse - an in-your-face statement of upper class status.
She seemed genuine - no fancy degree, she'd worked as an au pair, she was slightly chubby in the beginning. That wedding dress with the 20 foot train was the only poor fashion choice she ever made but it fit the part. More fairy tale.
Then the clothes- she lost weight, lightened her hair and dressed beautifully and kept smiling while her 12 years older husband frowned a bit at the attention she got. She remained girlish in her manner, seemingly sweet and innocent. She never came off as sophisticated, snooty, or soured by wealth and fame and loved her children walking them to preschool herself in the morning.
I loved having a friendly pretty girl princess who became one because she caught herself a Prince and even more so when he seemed to prove to be not a prince of a guy.
