I am so grateful I got the chance to read Paul Burrell's, 'A Royal Duty'. It cleared up a whole lot of misconceptions about the Queen and the Princess. The heart had just not been willing to accept what the head had gathered from the media. Reading the book helped me regain my perspectives, and my faith in the human-ness of both royal ladies. The book essentially showed the Princess' courage in fighting for her honor against the ruthless system of the 'grey-suits'. A system that wanted to crush her.
Strangely, soon after that, I read Mukhtar Mai's memoir, 'In the Name of Honor'. An uneducated, illiterate lady in a tiny village in Pakistan. Victim of the worst crime that can be done to a woman. Crushed and trampled upon, she fought back against a system that dishonored her family, and was trying to bury her alive.
And, 16th of February, 2011, in a suburb of Calcutta, 23 year old Rinku Das, being escorted by her 16 year old brother as she returned from work, saw him killed because he protested against the goons who doused her in alcohol, even as her cries and screams for help were ignored by the protectors of the law standing not too far away. Now she is fighting for her and her brother's honor.
Once again, the stark truth about womanhood stands in front of us...