Afflictions of. . .
From Sally Bedell Smith Sir: I am fascinated that in her review of my book (11 December), Diana: The Life of a Troubled Princess, Julie Burchill resorted to a hackneyed stunt by pulling pejorative cita- tions about Diana, Princess of Wales out of the index ('bitterness of', 'immaturity of', 'instability of', 'interests lacked by'). Two can play this game, so let the record show that the index also includes the following entries, which evidently were uncongenial to Burchlll's tendentious thesis: 'beauty of', .`charisma of', 'charity work of', 'compas- sion and empathy of', 'energy of', 'helpful- ness of ' , 'humour of', 'intelligence of'.
Burchill is, to put it mildly, a writer with an agenda (quite apart from a book of her own she'd like to keep afloat). Years ago she hijacked Diana as a feminist icon — a notion difficult to sustain when Diana began adult- hood wanting a husband who would (in Diana's words) 'look after me . . be a father figure'. Unencumbered by the facts, Burchill cranked out a paean to the Princess on the first anniversary of Diana's death, which was enthusiastically dismissed by the critics as 'schoolgirl crush gush', 'self-aggrandising opinion masquerading as journalism', 'hagiography which in its hysterical adulation and partisan vulgarity is an insult to its beloved subject'.
One crucial aspect of the Diana phe- nomenon is the deep emotional investment of women like Burchill in the mythology of Diana. These are the women who fulminate in Internet chat rooms and continue to put Diana on a pedestal. But behind this idola- try lies prejudice as well: an unwillingness to acknowledge, despite Diana's own state- ments and actions, that she suffered from persistent and severe symptoms of mental illness including depression, self-mutilation, bulimia, suicide attempts and fear of aban- donment. If Burchill really wanted to serve Diana's memory, she would try to under- stand her illness and use it as an example to help the similarly afflicted.
Sally Bedell Smith
Washington, DC, USA
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