Earl Spencer Eulogy Analysis

Through sadness and loss hope can always be found. In a heart-felt speech heard around the world, Earl Spencer unites a nation in remembrance of Princess Diana. “Earl Spencer Eulogy” captures Diana’s essence in a moving speech that not only tells a story of Diana’s life, but also inspires a nation to find the strength to move forward. Earl Spencer begins his eulogy with simple honesty. He acknowledged all of the people around the world that were “united” in their “need” to pay their respects to Diana and expressed how thankful he was for their support. He further reassured his audience when he stated that the “tens of millions” of people that were watching the service on television or listening to it on the radio made a more “remarkable tribute” …show more content…
He uses the pronouns “we” and “us” in order to speak for the entire audience, as if the world itself was saying “thank you”. He remains optimistic by being “grateful” for Diana’s life instead of fixating on the feeling of being “cheated”. This allows the audience to join his bright outlook as opposed to dwelling on their grief. As he continues he emphasizes that the only thing that allowed them the strength to “move forward” was Diana’s “message” that she gave them through “years of giving”. Because this statement raises Diana to an almost saint-like level, Earl Spencer points out that there is no need to “canonize” Diana’s memory, because she was enough of a human being not to do so. Even though he mentioned Diana’s “wonderfully mischievous” humor and her “boundless energy”, he especially emphasized her “intuition” because that was the attribute that connected her to all of the people watching and mourning her death. As he dove deeper into Diana’s life, Earl Spencer took a more serious tone to divulge another “truth” about her. He spoke about Diana’s insecurity and her “deep feelings of unworthiness” that led to her “eating disorders”. By speaking of such personal topics he gains the trust and support of people watching because they also “cherished” her “vulnerability” and “admired” her “honesty”. He breaks down the barrier between the royal family and …show more content…
Earl Spencer proves this by revealing how terribly she suffered at the “hands of the newspapers”. His complete honesty with the audience really translates his trust and his courage for displaying his emotions on a worldwide stage. He punctuates his accusing paragraph with a simple irony that although Diana was named after the “ancient goddess of hunting” she was the “most hunted person” of her time. This single sentence strikes a cord and makes his audience really understand how difficult Diana’s life was. Earl Spencer shifts gears to focus on William and Harry. By speaking about William and Harry he redirected the audience to think about how the two boys’ suffering dwarfs their own. When he pledges to Diana herself that they won’t let them suffer like she did, but instead continue teach them and “arm them” for the rest of their lives he simultaneously gains the support of everyone watching to help William and Harry as much as they