Exposure of royal bodies as sexual objects began with Diana

Evidence

The faculty of awe remains intact, for all that the royal story in recent years has taken a sordid turn. … But a new world began, I think, in 1980, with the discovery that Diana, the future Princess of Wales, had legs. … A sort of licentiousness took hold, a national lip-smacking. Those gangling limbs were artlessly exposed, without her permission. It was the first violation. — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1185

Categorization

• QUESTION: Is 1980 the actual watershed, or was Diana merely the threshold moment in an ongoing erosion of royal privacy? Worth checking against earlier coverage of Elizabeth’s reign.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1185
• XREF: connects to: Versailles etiquette stripped royalty of ordinary bodily autonomy — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 675; Public figures like Diana are consumed as archetypes, not people. — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 273

Related

• Public figures like Diana are consumed as archetypes, not people. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Public figures like Diana are consumed as archetypes, not people. #expands (0.80) — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 273
• Versailles etiquette stripped royalty of ordinary bodily autonomy #qualifies (0.75) — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 675