Love her or hate her, Princess Diana has an enduring legacy: both due to her humanitarianism (that earnt her the title ‘the people’s princess’) and her signature personal style. Unsurprisingly, she continues to touch the hearts of some of those who loved her at the time of her death. For Gen Z, though, who almost certainly won’t remember being alive at the same time as her, it is perhaps more surprising that they have chosen to iconise Princess Diana.
Image courtesy of Elle Magazine
So, why Diana? For a generation with declining support for the monarchy (only 31% of 18-24-year-olds support their continuation), and such a penchant for calling out inequalities in society (or rather, unpacking the status endowed upon rich, pretty white woman), Princess Diana seems an unusual choice of icon. Take one look at TikTok and Instagram, though, and you’ll no doubt see her influence, from TikTokers like @simplesmurf recreating her outfits, to @jackshepbaby impersonating how Diana would act in laughingly specific situations were she alive today. Perhaps it’s a rite of passage for the children of Diana’s own generation (Gen X), or perhaps Gen Z has a deeper connection to the late Princess.
Born into aristocracy, and marrying into the royal family at aged 20, Diana certainly didn’t have an ordinary life. In 1986, five years after their marriage, Prince Charles was alleged to have started an affair with his ex-girlfriend Camilla Parker-Bowles (his now wife, and Queen Consort), and Diana later had affairs, too. It was only later, in 1992, that Charles famously admitted to said affair in a TV interview, prompting Diana to wear the ‘Revenge Dress.’ The Netflix show The Crown can no doubt be accredited for bringing this series of events to the attention of Gen Z, along with its dramatisation of Diana’s alienation from the Royal Family.
Image courtesy of British Vogue
It’s perhaps Diana’s role within the Royal Family that is most significant to Gen Z’s iconisation of her. Not only is she often exaggeratedly revered by older generations– which Dazed credits as being Gen Z’s inspiration for the ‘Ar Di’ meme– but she was the black sheep amongst, at the time, a staunchly traditional monarchy. She rebelled not only through her clothes, and defiance of royal protocol (such as when she took Prince William on hers and Charles’ first overseas tour), but signalled a new era of leadership, one which led ‘from the heart, not the head.’ This was reflected in her humanitarian efforts, too, such as her contribution to the destigmatisation of HIV/AIDS (in 1987 she held the hands of a patient, something which was widely misconceived as unsafe to do), and her efforts to have landmines banned (she was filmed walking through a live landmine site in Angola). Her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, have carried her humanitarianism through to today, with Harry publicly taking an HIV test in 2016 to advocate for increased HIV testing, and in 2019 following in his mother’s footsteps by recreating her walk through landmine sites.
Now, in an era of political libertarianism not dissimilar to that of Diana’s time, she has been appropriated as a symbol of rebellion against an outdated model of leadership. As we enter Charles’ reign as King, it will be interesting to see how this spirit holds up. With a popularity rating of 42%, it seems Charles has some trust to win back, and we will see if he takes any notes from Diana as he tries to achieve that. Gen Z will always have the iconography of Diana, even if they reject the monarchy. With that comes a hope for a better style of leadership: one that’s more empathetic and inclusive, and one where our leaders wear better clothes, but not one without looking critically at the privilege of the upper echelons of society. We’ve moved on from that.
Image courtesy of Vogue
The Crown has definitely created younger Diana fans