10 Years ago, I was sitting on the computer, reading Usenet (remember that? I still use it^*), and my wife rushed in and said that Diana, Princess of Wales, was in an accident, and was seriously injured.

I replied, “Let there be no kings”, paraphrasing George Washington.

Another friend was later informed by his distraught wife that Diana had died, and he replied, “I had no that the two of you were so close.”

As to her life, for the British republicans (i.e. those who support abolishing the monarchy) the breakup of the marriage was cause to say, “I told you so”.

The best comment I ever heard on the marriage was a girlfriend of mine, “It’s a marriage between the biggest welfare recipient in England with its only remaining virgin.”

In a very real way, this is an accurate description.

Charles was not allowed to marry the woman he loved, and hoped it would work out, and Diana, who was all of 19 when she was married, was in love with Charles, Prince of Wales, not Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor.

I never understand why so many people seemed interested in her. She dressed well, but I never saw much behind it.

^*And it’s a heck of a lot safer to get workarounds and cracks and WaReZ off of Usenet because it is pretty much an ASCII only medium.