|
"This
is me, this is me!"
exclaimed Princess Diana when she was read Dr. David Keirsey's
portrait of an INFP. In 1991, her masseur, Stephen Twigg,
had given her a copy of "Please
Understand Me" to help her understand the spiritual
journey she was undertaking. Her excitement came as Stephen
read the Healer
Idealist (INFP) portrait, which in part says:
| "Healers
care deeply and passionately about a few special persons
or a favorite cause, and their fervent aim is to bring
peace to the world and wholeness to themselves and their
loved ones. They base their self-image on being seen
as empathic, benevolent, and authentic. Often enthusiastic,
they trust intuition, yearn for romance, seek identity,
prize recognition and aspire to the wisdom of the sage."
|
 |
According
to "Diana:
In Pursuit of Love," a book released in the Summer
of 2004 by Andrew Morton, Diana's unofficial biographer, Diana
was astonished and amazed by the portrait's accuracy. At that
time Diana was in the midst of dealing with her dissolving
marriage to Prince Charles while at the same time beginning
to recognize her "potency as an international icon,"
and the fulfillment she felt from helping others in great
need. Taking the Keirsey
Temperament Sorter confirmed what Diana had known by her
intuition, that her gift was that of a Healer. She used this
new-found knowledge as a foundation to what she wanted to
do with herself for the rest of her short life.
The
portrait of the Healer Idealist goes on:
| "It
may be that Healers seek unity within themselves, and
between themselves and others, because of a feeling
of alienation which comes from their often unhappy childhood.
INFPs live a fantasy-filled childhood… They are
the Prince or Princess of fairy-tales… Healers
come to see themselves as ugly ducklings… They
wonder, some of them for the rest of their lives, whether
they are OK. They are quite OK, just different from
the others - swans reared in a family of ducks." |
 |
 |
Interestingly,
Diana fit the description of Healer Idealist to a tee
because she was initially viewed as fairy-tale Princess,
who felt like an "ugly duckling" but really
was a "swan." To the outside world she was
viewed as one of the beautiful people - she seemed to
have it all. However, inside Diana felt like an "ugly
duckling," or, as she put it her own words at one
time - "lower than a Bosnian peasant." |
She
became the most popular princess in modern history, despite
all the power of Windsor and St James courts arrayed against
her because she overshadowed Charles publicly and eventually
would not keep quiet about his mistress and lack of love
for her. She became a famous public example of the Healer
Idealist, despite her monumental self-doubt and the power
of the British Crown. Prince Charles and the Queen should
have realized temperament is powerful force, and nothing
can get in its way.
| Even
in childhood Diana lacked self-confidence. Her parents
had divorced when she was young and her mother, Frances,
left but failed to get custody of her children, partly
because Frances' own mother, Lady Fermoy, had sided
with Diana's father. Diana, only six at the time, did
not understand why her mother left. She felt abandoned
and blamed herself for the failed marriage as kids often
do in that situation. This kind of childhood turmoil
has a very great impact on a Healer. Dr. Keirsey says,
"Healers find it difficult to believe in themselves
and to trust themselves." |
 |
She
grew up as a shy but likable student but didn't excel in
her schooling. Being the third girl of a nominally aristocratic
family, no real plan was made for her regarding her schooling
or career, so she was quietly allowed to drop out of a finishing
school in Switzerland at 16. Without high-paying skills,
she worked as a quasi-nanny, baby-sitter, and charwoman
for her upper crust friends and family, appearing very much
like a Cinderella. As many Healers are, Diana was a natural
with children, and started working for a kindergarten.
| Blossoming
into quite a beauty, she was probably on the path of
becoming a schoolteacher when she was acquainted with
Prince Charles, who was being strongly pushed by his
Royal parents into getting an acceptable, pliant, royal
wife and to produce an heir to the throne. The beautiful
Lady Diana Spencer, young at 19 compared to the Prince
at 33, was definitely from an acceptable British family,
her father being the Eighth Earl of Spencer. |
 |
With
a fairy tale wedding and delivery of two children, Diana
created a very positive public role. Almost too positive
- the Brits and the world went gaga over Diana, virtually
ignoring Charles. Moreover, Charles had found his young,
naïve, and emotional needy wife, not to his liking.
Additionally, he found her sicknesses caused by bulimia
to be annoying and he soon started to ignore her as well
as becoming verbally abusive. Not able to verbalize her
frustration, she cut herself and tried to commit suicide.
"In
their mating role, Healers have a deep commitment
to their vows… Healers cling to their dreams,
and often find it difficult to reconcile a romantic,
idealized concept of conjugal life with the everyday
living with another person."
|
Duty
aside, the Prince would probably have been happier continuing
as a bachelor, keeping to his hunting and polo life style
forever. However, mistresses are very common in the circle
of Royals, and it wasn't long before Charles went back into
the arms of his past girlfriend, Camilla and the St. James'
courtiers helped with a royal cover-up.
At Windsor,
Queen Elizabeth II, a straight and narrow, closed lipped
"Inspector
Guardian" was not happy with Charles implicit decision,
but was not the type to rock the boat or jeopardize the
monarchy - she had sacrificed too much and done her duty
for almost 50 years. Elizabeth's response to Diana's complaints
was typical - "do your duty, besides it's all in your
imagination." The queen, herself, had put up with her
Philip's wanderings and brusque "German" ways.
Diana early in her marriage realized that the Queen and
the Queen Mother had no support to give to her except to
the advice to "keep a stiff upper lip," as the
Brits would say.
"It's
so bloody dishonest, a damned farce," Diana had exclaimed
about the maintaining of the illusion of the happy royal
families for Charles and Andrew. Absolutely devoted to her
boys, as any Healer would be, she realized however, that
the Queen had the power. Custody and access to Diana's children
was in the hands of the Queen of England by law. Diana had
a new-found understanding of her mother now, because she
was in a similar situation, not having control of her own
children because of the British aristocracy. Because of
this, she was cautious, compared to her sister-in-law, Sarah
Ferguson, on what she was to do.
Diana
was locked in a gilded cage and realized that if she didn't
do anything, she would die there. She had a suspicion, for
good reason, that her apartment and phone line was bugged
by the family. The fish bowl of a life at Kensington palace,
with all the servants whose loyalty could not be completely
trusted, made her paranoid. Having been unsuccessful at
love in this restrictive environment and bottled up by the
court, she looked more and more at what she could do with
her life, without being dependent on Charles and the resources
of the monarchy. Diana said, "I love going round places
like Stoke Mandeville Hospital. I'm not so gripped by those
getting better. It's the ones on the way out that I feel
a deep need to be with."
 |
In
the late eighties and early nineties Diana had been
making secret visits to see London's homeless at the
Passage Idea Centre in Victoria. She realized that her
style of ambassadorship, visiting the less fortunate
and the down and out, could have great impact - compared
to her official, Windsor sponsored royal tours. Her
vision as being an ambassador-at-large for the British
people and advocating for causes like the banning of
landmines, could work without the support of the royal
family, who were tightening the purse strings in the
hope that she would fade in the background. |
In her
last interview, just before her tragic death, she said "Yes
I do touch. I believe that everyone needs that whatever
their age. When you put your hand on a friendly face, you
make contact right away; you communicate warmth that you're
close by. It's a gesture that comes to me naturally from
the heart."
|
