Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 4 Num 175 Wed. November 19, 2003  
   
Letters to Editor


A princess betrayed


This is in response to a letter titled 'A princess betrayed by her butler' by Prof. M. Zahidul Haque published on Nov 10.

Well, like many other people around the world, Prof. Haque seems to be a fan of the late Princess Diana and an enthusiastic supporter of all her deeds. Acknowledging the fact that the butler (of Diana) Mr. Burell might have tried to manipulate the name and image of Diana for gaining name, fame and money, all the facts that were written in that much publicised book 'The Royal Duty' are not lies.

In fact, my personal point of view is that Diana was not a woman of unquestionable character. Being a princess of a kingdom that ruled more than half of this world only a few decades ago, it was perhaps not decent for her to be engaged with so many men, especially when she was married with two grown-up boys. It simply tarnished the image of the British royal family.

In her lifetime, she was engaged with many persons, for example, with a Pakistani heart surgeon, a multi-millionaire named James Hewitt (and many more whose names I don't know) and the last one being an Egyptian millionaire.

True, she was a campaigner for human rights, but did not pay attention to the fact that some of her activities caused much embarrassment to the royal family. Why people all around the world especially the Britons (and those like Prof. Haque) love and respect her is what I do not understand. Maybe, they don't know about certain aspects of her life, or simply don't care about them. But if you want to become the queen of people's hearts, and want to retain the position for long, you have to steer clear of controversies.

I know that it's not decent to criticise or be sceptical about a dead person, but the fact is that the truth should be unveiled. Princess Diana had certain weaknesses as a human being which cannot be blotted out by misrepresentation of history. Her fans should present themselves as truth seekers, not merely worshippers of beauty and glamour.