Tuesday, April 8, 2008

In Case You Were Wondering

Here's breaking news from the BBC:


"Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed were unlawfully killed due to the "gross negligence" of driver Henri Paul and the paparazzi, an inquest has found."



Didn't that happen back in 1997? And yet the British are still wallowing in it, complete with official inquiries. The BBC's "Have Your Say" page on that story has 2,630 public comments entered after only one day, very few of them from people critical of all the sob-mongering.

What has happened to the famous British sense of reserve, the stiff upper lip? What should have been a tragic event worth a day of mourning has turned, more than a decade later, into a neverending saga more melodramatic than a Mexican soap opera. With all due respect, Diana just wasn't that interesting in the first place.

Personally, I hope Dianamania is only a strange aberration and not evidence of a change in British national character. I'd hate to think that the land of my grandparents has gone as goofy as Oprah's audience.

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