But what does Royalty (or National Leadership,) really mean?
It is the role of being Guardian of the Future, Exemplar of Culture and Behavior to the people, and being the Ambassador of the Ideals and Values that a people would wish to be remembered as holding.
It is the responsibility of that Royal Role played from before one awakens in the morning, to long after one drifts off to sleep at night. And even more so, whenever aroused by crisis.
Some play that role well. Others literally loose their minds, their respect, and with some luck, their heads. That loss is not just theirs, but even more so, that loss is multiplied by all who would be their followers, and all whom their example would influence.
Just look at Prince Charles. You can feel the almost paralyzing weight that the Royal Role has always placed upon his shoulders; the weight that he has chosen to endure in often silent diffidence.
Then contrast that with the often haunted "inhaling" look of Diana; stressed by the dichotomy of what she wished to do, and what protocol called for.
And yet, and yet... it is well known in some forensics circles that determination of alcohol level is notoriously difficult at autopsy. Metabolism has stopped burning off alcohol, yet diffusion from the stomach continues. And if the stomach is ruptured, as it may be in such accidents, the alcohol is further distributed. So perhaps those levels are mere "conveniences", used to shift blame from those who own the media, to those who can no longer defend themselves. In this light, the French refusal to allow a second autopsy of the driver is indeed most curios...
And what of that second car? What bay or steel mill was it consigned to? Does the former owner tremble, or does the former driver smile? Likely, we shall never know.
England expects a Royal Queen; tradition and the future call for Class and Respectability. Compassion is indeed a wonderful thing, and not to minimize the considerable effect Diana's compassion had; but all the compassion in the world won't help if not tempered by balance and a sense of where England should be in the twenty first century. Whether you believe Diana had gained enough of what it takes or not; the road is once again clear for such a person to appear. Let us hope, for the sake of the English, that such a high caliber Lady with Vision and Wisdom does step onto the Royal Stage.
We may look at the past and mourn; but we must look more to the future than the past, for the future is yet ours to build. If we do not build the future, what shall our progeny inherit? Shall they gain no more than a decaying mausoleum of history?
It depends on us. Day after day, life after life, we build the future with our deeds. What are you doing today to make your life, and the world, better? Your future is, in large part, up to you.