Princess Diana

• structure

  • Written in quatrains, the most structurally confined section of the text.
  • Reflects pressure on Diana: Stanza structure mirrors the pressure to conform to princess stereotypes.
  • Comparison to other royals: Diana's life measured and compared, contributing to her immense pressure.
  • Duffy emulates Diana's entrapment: Confinement of structure represents the constraints and expectations placed on her.
• A03


  In 1981 she engaged Prince Charles and married later that year. After the couple's separation in 1992, the media sought details of their marital difficulties. Diana was viciously hunted by the media, eventually dying in a car crash while fleeing the paparazzi in 1997. Her funeral was televised and brought in 32.10 million viewers in the U.K., with millions more watching around the world.
• 'Dead, she's elegant bone in mud, ankles crossed, knees clamped, hands clasped'Duffy opens Diana's stanza with gothic imagery to emphasise the tragedy of her life of confinement with the royals. Even in the grave she is restricted 'clamped' and 'clasped' emulate the control and restrictions placed on her life by the hierarchal order of the royal family. The reference to 'bone' could also be Duffy discussing the suspicion that she was bulimic. Diana was constantly in the public eye but suffered much of her life from this eating disorder.
• 'Act like a fu**ing princess. How they loved her - the men in the press'The use of italics within the sixth stanza reflects the voice of the media. Moreover, their use of expletives, 'fuc*ng' and 'ct' demonstrate their ruthlessness, not respecting Diana. They use her only for pictures, hating her while they make their livings from her. They treat her poorly, the commanding 'Act like a fu**ng princess' demonstrating the notion that she was forced to embody a certain type of person. artificail/ similie (link to BLANCHE)
• Moreover, a disgusting image displays how women are exploited, the repulsive world capitalizing on their images. The final words, 'her face' centralise the poem on the female experience. This could also be a reference to the way the patriarchy and the royal hierarchy destroyed Diana... memtephore all 4 women killed bc of beauty
• 'Give us a smile cunt' command + artifical verb + degraded to body
• Princess Diana:

  • Rise to Fame: Married Prince Charles, admired for beauty and charity work.
  • Death: Car crash in Paris, pursued by paparazzi.