Diana Princess of Wales: The Drama Triangle part 1

Live Holistically is a multi-author site.
This post was written by: Carol Webb

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts

Wm. Shakespeare…”As You Like It”

The Drama Triangle
In my article: “7 Ways to Create Your Emotional Freedom“, I refer to a Transactional Analysis technique known as “The Drama Triangle.” In these posts I’m looking at Diana’s life from each angle of the triangle, this post is analysing her life as the ‘Victim’.

Anniversary of Diana’s Death
On the 31st August 2007 it will be 10 years since the death of Princess Diana, and yes, I remember it well. Like millions of others, I was devastated, the whole family shed tears, and I laid a bouquet of Rosemary at St. Philip’s Cathedral in Birmingham UK. The queue was hushed and tearful, we smiled wanly at each other, as we took it in turn to lay our tribute, and walking away, along with the lump in my throat, I felt great pride, because she belonged to ‘us’, she was English. England’s Rose.

England’s Rose
I’ve learned many things about Diana in the last 10 years, and all the while her life has been written about, filmed, analysed and dramatised ad nauseam, but to the best of my knowledge no-one has looked with the objective eyes of an outsider. Most have some agenda. They want to prove that she was wrong, unstable, right or wronged.

A Tragic End
I don’t have any qualifications to sit in judgement on her life, or the people around her that contributed to this monumental tragedy, and any loss of life at only 36 years of age must be called a tragedy, if not for the person who dies, then for the ones left behind who are still asking why. I’m just using a tool to sift the evidence.

England Expects
As the 3rd girl born into an aristocratic family, marriage to another member of the aristocracy was a desirable outcome. In these more enlightened times it is no longer a foregone conclusion, but Diana being born in 1961 as the 16th cousin of Prince Charles, heir to the throne of England, was expected to do her duty. England was even more of class ridden society then than it is today, and as Diana showed no particular talents she was considered to be suitable to bear Charles’ children and un-intelligent enough to be biddable.

From birth then, she is being set up to live the life of a victim.

The Writing on the Walls
What I call, ‘the writing on her walls’, that is the family expectations and indoctrination to which a child is subjected to and believes as truth, moved Diana into the life that she believed was her destiny.

In the 1700s a former Lady Diana Spencer had nearly married a Prince of Wales, and the family believed that this Lady Diana would fulfil the family dream. She was sleep walking into a married life that was to follow the pattern of all the previous Princesses of Wales. Adulterous affairs and a cold and calculating Prince, who knew no better, because he too had been damaged as a child. In fact they both came from similar backgrounds, both took their public role seriously and both devoted much of their time to charity work.

The Brood Mare Syndrome
There are horrific tales of Diana being subjected to a virginity test and a fertility test before the marriage plans were finalised, and the first person that Charles confided his marriage plans to was his long time mistress, Camilla Parker-Bowles. She knew what was to happen before Lady Diana did. Not a good start in developing the intimacy that a steady marriage relies on.

Charles did his duty by siring an heir and a spare, Diana did her duty by giving birth to them, and everything, as they say, went down-hill from there. It is clear that Charles didn’t like her, and ended up positively hating her histrionic outbursts, bulimia and anorexia which were desperate cries for attention.

The Television Game
They both played the marital game of ‘court room’, described by Eric Berne in his psychology book, “Games People Play.” But this time the Nation was asked to be Judge and Jury, as the game was played out on the world stage of television.

Diana the Drama Queen
Diana wanted to be known as the Victim of Prince Charles, The Royal Family, The Papparazzi and the selection of lovers in whom she had placed her trust. She acted the part well, and we all fell for the story. We poured energy in her direction, and the more we did it, the more she acted the part. The pictures of Diana holding the hand of a Leprosy sufferer and an Aids Victim are legendary.

It wasn’t enough. She needed to be needed by a man, and this wasn’t happening for her. Her belief in Victimhood was too strong, and it culminated in her death, she became the ultimate Victim of circumstance.

If you are the victim in any situation, then visit my website: http://www.wisehealer.co.uk for a place where you can start to unlearn the lessons of your childhood.