Like summer itself — which seemed to define her — Princess Diana’s season was too brief. She was born 60 years ago today, July 1, when summer, like an open road, stretches out before us, full of promise, and died 36 years later on Aug. 31, when summer’s promise, like its roses, has faded and its leaves have burnished, signaling fall.
Earlier today, she was remembered with a statue in the redesigned Sunken Garden of Kensington Palace, where she lived in London. Contemporary figurative sculpture is difficult to do. There’s something about modern clothes that seems at odds with sculpture’s heroic idealization. Think of all those dreary Soviet bureaucrats. That said, Ian Rank-Broadley’s Diana, Princess of Wales, is a total miss. As a friend put it — after noting the irony of Diana’s sons commissioning a sculpture of her from an artist known for his male nudes — the work fails to capture the sheer goddess-ness of Diana. The choice of a blouse open at the throat, a big belt — was Diana ever known for her belts? — and a straight skirt makes her look top heavy when she had a more balanced figure.
The face also has a hawkish cast. What isn’t a miss is the Sunken Garden in which the sculpture sits. Designed by Pip Morrison, it is a gardening enthusiast’s delight, filled with roses, lavender, dahlias, sweet peas, tulips and forget-me-nots — the last being her favorite flower. This will truly be the place of quiet contemplation for the public, as the former garden was for Diana. It is perhaps the real 60th birthday tribute to her.
Of course, the sculpture’s unveiling, which drew the press and fans outside the palace gates and Diana’s Spencer family within, was only one part of the story. The other was about the strained relationship between her two adored boys, now men as old or older than she was when she died. Stalwart William and nervously grinning Harry seemed to get on well enough, despite the reported gulf caused by Harry’s marriage to the former Meghan Markle and their exiting their royal duties for life in California. Watching the men was like looking at the two sides of Diana — dutiful and defiant — or recalling her relationship with their father, Prince Charles, play out again. Maybe William and Harry’s differences are just the sense and sensibility nature of sibs — the older, structured one who stays; the younger, risk-taking one who goes.
Whatever those differences, I hope they patch them up, because for all the talk about Diana’s legacy, we mustn’t forget that a large part of that legacy is those two men. It would’ve torn her apart to see them at odds, ,and you can just imagine her flying back and forth across oceans and continents to heal the breach.
Maybe there’s room in the garden for an olive branch or two.