Diana was 'devious, slow and disturbingly neurotic,' mocks Germaine Greer
Feminist Germaine Greer has caused outrage in Australia for calling the late Princess of Wales, "slow", "devious" and "disturbingly neurotic".
The controversial academic claims Diana is partly responsible for the car accident that killed her almost a decade ago - by initiating a love triangle between herself, Dodi Fayed and heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.
"The saddest thought of all is that Diana's death may have resulted indirectly from another of her kack-handed manipulations; it is said that she only went to Paris with (her late lover) Dodi Fayed in order to make heart surgeon Hasnat Khan jealous," writes Greer in an essay published in Weekend Australian Magazine.
Diana was 36 when she was killed along with Fayed and chauffeur Henri Paul when their Mercedes crashed in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris in August 31, 1997.
Former Celebrity Big Brother contestant Greer further ridicules Diana's intelligence, referring to her childhood nickname of 'Brian' which her siblings called her - "after the dopey snail on The Magic Roundabout on children's TV.
Feminist Germaine Greer is scathing about the late Princess of Wales
"Of the four Spencer children, Diana was the slowest. Because of her slowness, she was easily found out in her preposterous fibs."
The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant takes another episode from Diana's childhood to illustrate her "devious" nature, when she allegedly persuaded a younger school friend to write a poison pen letter to her father's second wife (Lady Raine Spencer).
"Apparently she didn't have the courage to write her own letter...in adulthood Diana became more, rather than less devious.
"The same foolhardiness was at work not only in Diana's sexual adventures but also in her orchestration of her public persona," says Greer.
As for Diana's fashion icon status, Greer dismisses her 'nondescript' sartorial choices as comparable to that of female TV newsreaders.
"Diana was never a fashion icon; she dressed to the same demotic standard of elegance as TV anchorwomen do, plus the inevitable hat.
"It is precisely because she was basically anonymous that Diana's public could so easily identify her."
Lastly, Greer dismisses Diana's 'Queen of Hearts' reputation and accuses her of "rushing into too many situations in which genuine angels would have feared to tread".
"Her habit of popping up in the midst of other people's life crises must have startled some of her victims.
"Diana's legacy is no more than endless column inches of adulation and speculation," adds Greer.