I cried a river ten years ago watching the CNN coverage of Diana's funeral.  Come to think of it, I can recall a few times in my life when I cried so hard and one of them was during this occasion.  I guess it came from feeling for the two boys named William and Henry.  Everything Henry (or Harry) said today in his speech at the memorial service of Diana's 10th Anniversary was so true.  Quoting Harry, "she never once allowed her unfaltering love for us to go unspoken or go undemonstrated".  Diana, would always be the boys' pillar of strength as she would often display her ebullient affection for William and Harry in full view of the British media.

I saw it first hand.  And more than that, there were all these simple notes from her royal notepad to serve as proof.  One of those notes simply read:

Dear Harry, 

How was fencing yesterday?  I missed hugging you at breakfast today.

Love,

Mummy


Quite a simple note.  Yet in all its simplicity, it displays however in lucid terms all the love and affection Diana had for her boys.  By stating this, one may ask how in the world did I get an up close glimpse of Her Royal Highness' intimate postings.

Flashback to 1991 and 1992.  I was studying in London and my landlady then was Araceli Piccio.  For those who don't know who she is, Tita Lili, as I fondly call her, is the only Filipina employed in the Royal Household.  Perhaps the only Filipino who had the freedom of roaming the halls of Kensington Palace (with a minor perk of being invited to the annual Queen's ball at Buckingham Palace).  Faithfully, Tita Lili would travel to work at nearby Kensington Palace and by the end of each day, come home with a new anecdote or pleasant encounter with the Royal Family.  She had a drawer full of notes and scribblings in Diana's handwriting containing messages as the one above.  Notes picked out from the boys' rubbish bin (hey, it ain't no crime to clear out someone else's thrash especially if it's in your job description!) all pointing to a gentle and super-caring mom (or should that be Mum?).

I suppose it was all this privileged insight I had into the royal lives of Diana and the boys which spurred me to cry the way I did ten years ago.

There are more stories to tell and yet through it all, one thing is for sure.  In more than the million ways she showed her care for her own, for victims of AIDS, for victims of landmines, Diana will forever remain The People's Princess.



photo credit : Patrick Demarchelier