Diana, Princess of Wales in Brighton
Sometimes Brighton, in all its uniqueness, can seem like its own little world, in some ways detached from the rest of England; a little bohemian pocket of society. As such it can be easy, when talking about Brighton’s cultural history, to talk only about the people it has produced, the brilliant artists, writers, politicians, and so on, who have emerged from it, sometimes forgetting the times similarly prominent figures from outside of Brighton have also left their mark on the town; often bringing with them scandal, crowds, and sometimes even disaster.
Therefore, I have decided to form a section on this blog dedicated to those Significant Visitors of the past, whose visits are worth remembering. Some of these visitors will be icons of popular culture (bands, singers, actors), while others will be those from one of the two central British Establishments, the monarchy and Parliament, for whom Brighton, at one time or another, has been worth leaving the bustle of Westminster for.
Having recently looked into the history of visits of one such eminent character, and considering she was perhaps one of the most famous, and more significantly, most loved people to have ever lived, it seems only fitting that the first significant Brighton visitor featured on this blog should be Princess Diana.
Lady Di, as she’s often affectionately called, surprisingly only visited Brighton a handful of times, and only twice to carry out high-profile official visits. The most significant of these royal visits was on the 12th of July, 1990: she attended the 16th National Congress for the Family at the Brighton Centre to perform the opening speech. Upon first hearing about this American organisation, I was surprised to hear that she of all people would agree to speak for them: they had very conservative views on what ‘defined a family’ and firmly opposed gay marriage, queer rights, and abortion.
I was therefore pleased, and not entirely surprised, to find out that she had delivered a speech that very diplomatically challenged this consensus. She opened with,
“We have all had our own unique experiences of family life, and I suspect that each of us has our own view…In all your deliberations, you should remember that the very idea of the human family has many different definitions…”
The Argus: Diana greeting the public outside the Brighton Centre
Perhaps it was for the best that she, of all the senior members of the royal family, would be the one to attend: had it been anyone else, this subtle reproach from one of the most influential women of the time would not have disputed the organisation's backwards views. This message given by Diana complemented the moment that came just before: the political demonstration. Five lesbian women took to the stage in a peaceful protest, standing in a row and holding up placards that read, “lesbian mothers aren’t pretending.” They were promptly escorted off the stage and taken out of the building. The moment elevated the status of the event in the press, in part due to the scandal of the fact that five members of the public were able to bypass security and climb the stage, walking right past what was meant to be the future Queen of England. She, however, was noticed to have been entirely unphased by the event, going on to calmly read out her speech as planned, one that gave a not so subtle nod to the mission of the protesters outside.
What served to further discredit any doubts people had about the princess’s involvement with the Congress was the fact that she, later that day, headed over to the Sussex AIDS Centre in Kemp Town, to spend some time chatting with the staff and connecting with the Brightonians living with the virus. Her ongoing involvement with those suffering with HIV, including her patronage with the National AIDS Trust and commitment to seeing the condition destigmatised remains one of her strongest humanitarian legacies.
Her second prominent visit to Brighton occurred in the same year, on August 9th, 1990, to fulfil a similar humanitarian duty. She attended, once again, the Brighton Centre on the seafront, for the British Deaf Association Centenary Congress. She was patron of the BDA and memorably used British Sign Language to thank children who gave her flowers, and to deliver part of her address to the congress, signing her thanks for a book received as a gift from one of the U.K.’s most prominent advocates for deaf rights, and congratulating the BDA on its centenary. She signed: “I am very proud to receive this book, thank you. Congratulations to the BDA for 100 years.” A link to a video of this speech can be found at the bottom of this piece, along with one of her speech at the National Congress of the Family.
Diana using BSL at the BDA Centenary Congress. Photographer: Tim Graham
Apart from these two dutiful visits to Brighton, other notable visits of hers include a visit to Arundel to attend a wedding, a visit to Eastbourne to chat to residents at the Eastbourne Disabled Housing Trust, as well as the time she was photographed attending a concert with the famous conductor, Mark Wigglesworth.
While she features on A Brightonian History as a ‘significant’ visitor to Brighton, what was really significant about her and remains her legacy today was her ability to connect with people and her determination to change public perception and treatment of the less fortunate, of those beaten down and ignored by society. It is easy to see, even just by reading about her few visits to Sussex, how much time she had for typically forgotten people - for the deaf, for the elderly and children, for those suffering with AIDS. No matter how many years pass since her death (and it is approaching 30) she will always be remembered for her persevering effort to encourage more compassion in an increasingly uncompassionate world.
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