This Princess Diana Nickname Is ‘Inaccurate’, Ex-Royal Press Secretary Says

When Princess Diana was introduced to the press in 1980, she was often referred to as “Shy Di.” She was only 19 years old then and was pushed into the media limelight as then-Prince Charles’ girlfriend. But Queen Elizabeth’s former press secretary claimed there was “nothing shy about her.”

In an interview with Vogue, Queen Elizabeth II’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter said that Princess Diana’s “Shy Di” nickname was “inaccurate” admitting that Diana may have been overwhelmed by media attention but the “shy” nickname was used for her too much.

“I first met her about three or four days before the wedding. She just turned 20,” Dickie Arbiter said.

“People used to call her “Shy Di,” because she kept her head down when she talked to you. But there was nothing shy about her,” he added.

Dickie Arbiter continued while talking of one royal visit to a residential home for the blind, saying, “She was conscious of her height—5 foot 10. She used to keep her hed down when talking to people not to make them feel uncomfortable and to talk to them at their level.”

Then Princess Diana had stopped to talk to a lady and gentleman sitting in the entrance hall, both partially sighted during which Dickie Arbiter noted, “She had this capacity to react instinctively. You can’t teach anybody to do that.”