Princess Diana is still remembered as the people’s princess to this day. However, it was recently revealed that she wasn’t as well received by the royalty and the British press when she was King Charles III’s girlfriend at the age of 19.
Diana was officially introduced as King Charles III’s sentimental partner in 1980 but their early years were not the fairy tale that everyone thought. At the beginning of their relationship, she had to deal with a lot of negative press and she had to deny many of the rumors that the media created to taint her image.
Dickie Arbiter, Queen Elizabeth II’s former press secretary, revealed in an interview with Vogue that some royal members and the press used to call Diana names with the intent of insulting her and making her feel bad:
People used to call her Shy Di because she kept her head down when she talked to you. But there was nothing shy about her. She was conscious of her height—5 foot 10. She used to keep her head down when talking to people not to make them feel uncomfortable and to talk to them at their level.
Just a few years later, Princess Diana was able to win the British people and the media’s hearts and became one of the most beloved members of the royal family and started being called the people’s princess.
