Abstract

Introduction

Diana married the Prince of Wales in London on July 29, 1981. During her marriage, she was not only the mother of two sons but also a public figure who undertook a wide range of royal duties. From the time of her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in a car accident in 1997, the Princess was the most famous woman in the world—the noblest female celebrity of her generation. She was always a target of the flash bulb because of her beauty and fashion style. Her involvement in many aspects of charity work made her known worldwide, especially her campaigns against the use of landmines and helping the victims of AIDS. Furthermore, her difficulties in marriage were reported very often. The Prince and Princess of Wales were separated on December 9, 1992; their divorce was finalized on August 28, 1996. On August 31, 1997 Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed were both killed in a car accident in Paris. Diana's death was responded to by the public with extraordinary grief, and her funeral, on September 6, drew about 3 million mourners in London, as well as television coverage worldwide.

Analysis

Childhood

Birth Order (Alfred Adler) 

Looking into the childhood of the Princess Diana, I find much evidence related to her personality. The first aspect is her order of birth. Diana was the third child of her family (Her elder brother survived only ten hours). She had two elder sisters and one younger brother. As Alfred Adler’s concept, order of birth plays a major role in childhood. The second-born child is more optimistic about the future and likely to be competitive and ambitious (Schultz & Schultz, 2005). As Davies (1997) depicted in his book, “Diana would not give up and she tried to keep up with her elder sisters even though she was not quite old enough” (p. 47). Diana showed her competitive attitude in her marriage, too. She married Prince Charles, her sister Sara’s former lover. Diana and Charles dated only nine months before they became engaged. When Prince Charles proposed, he wanted her to take a serious consideration because her life would be changed tremendously. Although the royal life is challenging, the nineteen-year-old bride just took one day to weigh her new role as a Prince’s wife (Davies, 1997). One can contrast her strong ambition with the rigid rules set by the royal family— she did not show any hesitation toward confrontation. Moreover, she used her enthusiasm well to repute with the public.

Basic Evil (Karen Horney)                             

Diana’s mother left due to an affair with a married man when Diana was six years old. Subsequently, she saw little of her mother and assumed the mother’s role with her little brother. Davies (1997) described this situation: “Diana’s life became more insecure as a succession of nannies came and went” (p. 50).

Karen Horney coined the term “Basic Evil” to describe a lack of genuine warmth and affection—a major way in which parents weaken the childhood need for safety. Self-protective mechanisms are aimed to defend basic anxiety and could become a permanent part of our personality (Schultz & Schultz, 2005).

Basic Evil had a great influence on Princess Diana. According to Davies (1997), “Some marriage guidance counselors insisted Diana must now be a ‘lonely and frightened person’, a woman who felt ‘abandoned’ and who was ‘panicking’, unable to find comfort in anyone save the person she wanted to talk to” (p. 112). Princess Diana kept on searching for love and safety because of a lack of genuine affection. The following analysis will show how much her personality is to do with Basic Evil. The basic anxiety was aroused by Basic Evil very often in her life. Her eating disorder might have been a symptom of her inadequacy of interrelationism as well. 

The Aggressive Personality (Karen Horney)  

Davis (1997) says, “Diana’s failure to accept any type of criticism surfaced time and time again throughout her life” (p. 123). Diana’s basic anxiety caused her failure to accept any type of criticism throughout her life. Davis (1997) believed that “her fear and loathing of personal criticism was one of the reasons she adored her compassionate charity work” (p. 125). This is a predominant aspect to show her confidence in her abilities and uninhibited in asserting and defending herself (Schultz & Schultz, 2005).

During 1992 and 1993, reports began to circulate that Diana was of a somewhat unstable character. She read all of the negative criticisms in the newspaper and felt upset. But her aggressive attitude leads her to invite the media to private lunch parties at Kensington Palace. Diana flattered them, fixed them with her engaging look, and made them feel special. Once again, Diana began reading more flattering pieces about her (Davis, 1997).

Applying Horney’s theory of neurotic trend, we find Diana moved against other people and formed an aggressive personality. Aggressive personalities never display fear of rejection. (Schultz & Schultz, 2005) Horney’s theory is proved in that Diana made no effort to appease others but would do whatever was necessary to achieve and retain superiority and power (Schultz & Schultz, 2005).

The Development of the Self: Parent-Child Interactions (Gordon Allport) 

Davis (1997) says “the more one examines Diana’s life, the more one discovers, that, in turn, Diana was naive and outrageous, manipulative and innocent, calculating and frivolous, even womanly wise and wanton” (p. 142).

According to Gordon Allport’s point of view, people whose childhood needs are frustrated will become insecure, aggressive, demanding, jealous, and self-centered (Schultz & Schultz, 2005). Actually, “insecure” is one of the terms that Earl Spencer, Diana’s younger brother, used to describe his sister’s character at her funeral (Davis, 1997).

Diana’s self-centered character showed in another event. Princess Diana used her personal number to make three hundreds silent calls to Oliver Hoare after he asked Diana to stop phoning him. Davies (1997) pointed out that “the headline Di’s cranky phone calls to married tycoon caused her great embarrassment” (p. 112).

Gordon Allport put great emphasis on the importance of parent-child interactions in his personality theory. In his opinion, the social interaction with our parents is vitally important during the stages of the development of self. If the mother or primary caregiver supplies sufficient affection and security, the self will develop gradually and steadily (Schultz & Schultz, 2005). From this perspective, we can find out the reason behinds Diana’s unstable personality. She barely saw her mother since her parent’s divorce and her nannies changed often.

The Inferiority complex (Alfred Adler)

Lady Cosima Maria Gabriella Vane-Tempest Stewart was born in the same year as Diana. They share the similar life experience of their parents’ divorce and became good friends till Diana’s death. Cosima said, “We had both broken away from large, powerful families and we had lost our protection. Both of us were considered ‘hysterical, unbalanced, paranoid and foolish’. Many children from broken homes, as Diana and I were, never get over the sense of rejection; the abandonment sets the tone for the whole of one’s emotional life” (Davis, 1997, p. 121).

In Alfred Adler’s idea, neglect or rejected children can develop an inferiority complex. The lack of love of one’s childhood will cause feelings of worthlessness, or even anger, and cause the rejected view to others with distrust (Schultz & Schultz, 2005). Davis (1997) explains about the feeling of rejection when Diana’s mother quit the family: “Diana referred to that feeling throughout her life whenever she had serious discussions with her friends and she believed that she suffered many crises of confidence as a direct result of it” (p. 120).

I believe the lack of parent’s love generated insecurity and feeling of abandonment in Diana’s life. Even worse, according to Davis (1997), “As most marriage guidance counselors would recognize, Charles was particularly ill-equipped to deal with someone of Diana’s character” (p. 119). It is convincing that Diana’s metal illnesses of eating disorder, prenatal depression and attempting suicide had to do with her inferiority complex.

Striving For Perfection (Alfred, Adler)

What is the key factor to make Princess Diana become such a successful woman in the world? Even though Princess Diana had an inferiority complex, she received tremendous accomplishments from her charity work and fashion taste in her later stage of life. Eventually, she was not only adored by the UK but the whole world. As Adler’s theory of striving for perfection delineates, inferiority feelings are the source of motivation and striving, and striving for perfection is the innate goal toward wholeness or completion (Schultz & Schultz, 2005).

Puberty to Young Adulthood

Identity Crisis (Erik Erikson)

When Diana was fifteen years old, her father married her stepmother who didn’t get along with her. She was very lonely and often locked herself in her room. Diana never worked hard at her education, found it increasingly difficult to study and left high school without qualifications. Davis (1997) indicates, “she became convinced that she was the dunce of the family” (p. 58). Meanwhile, her lack of social life was another reason to generate role confusion. According to Davis (1997), “Diana was 17 but her experiences of life were seemingly non-existent. She had never had a boyfriend, she’d hardly ever attended a dance” (p. 58).

From the perspective of Erik Erikson, people experience an identity crisis if they fail to achieve a cohesive identity during adolescence (Schultz & Schultz, 2005).

Identity Need (Erich Fromm)

The impact of Diana’s identity crisis was her failure to accept any type of criticism. David (1997) described her problem: “It didn’t seem to matter whether people criticized her or simply tried to advise her to do something in a different, more efficient way. To Diana’s fragile self-confidence she saw no difference between advice and criticism” (p. 123).

However, we learn from Erich Fromm’s theory that identity is one of six basic human needs. A person can find identity with a group—for example, a religious sect, a union, or a nation (Schultz & Schultz, 2005). Indeed, the Princess did not stop pursuing her identity. She finally found her identity by being involved in many kinds of charity, including helping sick children, visiting patients with AIDS and leprosy, and campaigning against landmines. Her identity need kept driving her to get the media’s attention, too. For example, when her official separation finalized in December 1992, Diana had announced that she would retire from public life and cancel her patronage of more than one hundred charities. After a few months, she realized that she miss the limelight, the crowds, and the Public’s appreciation for her social work. David (1997) confirms this idea: “One of the ways Diana returned in style to the front pages of newspapers and magazines was in her capricious choice of clothes” (p. 132). The elegant fashion of Princess Diana received much praise by the public. 

Self Archetype (Carl Jung)     

By observation of Davis (1997), we know Diana adored playing the role of a mother. She loved to invite a few children to the Palace to play with William and Harry. Such innocent pleasure gave her confidence. And Davis (1997) points out that “Later that confidence would be reflected in the way she dealt with total strangers, the hundreds of people she met (p. 33). The princess used her reputation and position to play a maternal role of many families with sick children in the hospital. For instance, Davis (1997) depicts Diana’s relationship with Harry (a patient she visited) who was only twelve months old suffering from a rare disease which destroys the lungs: “She held his hand and chatted to us (Harry’s parents) as though she was part of our family. She was so sincere. You could just tell she was genuine” (p. 14).

In Carl Jung’s theory, self archetype is one of universal experiences contained in the collective unconscious. It is the ultimate goal of life and represents the unity, integration and harmony of our total personality (Schultz & Schultz, 2005). It is similar to the theory of striving for perfection proclaimed by Alfred Adler. According to Schultz & Schultz (2005), “The actualization of the self involves goals and plans for the future and an accurate perception of one’s abilities” (p. 108).

Although the goal of the full realization of the self is rarely achieved, we can see that Princess Diana worked very hard till the end of her life.

The Self-Actualization Need (Abraham Maslow)

Charity work is the predominant achievement in Diana’s life. She knew her talents very well and she maximized her abilities. Diana was very successful in her charity work. She won applauses and praises from her devotion to suffering patients. On one hand, taking advantage of her reputation and position is very helpful for her self-actualization. On the other hand, she performed her sympathy well through her smile, benevolent attitude and continuous concern toward patients and children. The social interest Diana showed corresponds to the perspective of Maslow. Maslow indicated self-actualizing persons have the sympathy and empathy for all humanity (Schultz & Schultz, 2005). Self-Actualization is the highest need in Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy. It relies on self-realization and fulfillment of our potentials, talents, and abilities (Schultz & Schultz, 2005).

Rationalization (Sigmund Freud)

After the birth of Prince Harry in 1984, Diana began to suspect that Charles was having an affair with Camilla. The fact her husband had turned to another woman gave her a reason to have an affair with Captain James Hewitt in 1987. When Diana worried about how the public would react to her adultery, she hoped they could be convinced that she was driven into another man’s arm because she had been treated by Prince Charles in a callous way. This rationalization had successfully gained understanding from the public. According to Davis (1987), “We don’t blame you, Diana screamed the Daily Mirror and went on to report that in a poll, 73 per cent of Mirror readers backed Diana, believing that she had been driven into the arms of another by a cold and unfeeling husband” (p. 101).

The way Diana rationalized her adultery is an example of rationalization. Rationalization is a kind of defense mechanism that make our behaviors seem more rational and acceptable to us. Defense mechanisms were proposed by Sigmund Freud to explain the strategy the ego uses to defend itself against the anxiety provoked by conflicts. (Schultz & Schultz, 2005)

Conclusion

We have found that Diana’s childhood background played a major role in influencing her character. Even though she lacked the love from her parents during childhood, and her teenage years were lonely ones, her motivation of striving for perfection established the foundation to make her willing to take on challenges. Although she experienced failure in her marriage and suffered from metal disorders, her need of self-realization fostered her to become a worldwide known woman in many aspects.
     To sum up, Princess Diana’s external presentation were not sufficient to analyze another side of her complex, insecure, childlike, and unique character. Obtaining personality theories and detailed information from her biography helps us to understand her personality in depth.

References

Davies, N. (1997). The princess: Who changed the world. London: Blake Publishing Ltd.

Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2005). Theories of personality (8th ed.). Australia ; Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.        

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