Princess Diana’s former voice coach has recalled the moment she “put to the test” and managed to overcome her fear of public speaking.
Stewart Pearce was tasked with helping the late Princess of Wales – who passed away in 1997 – gain confidence in speak publicly, as it was previously something that “terrified her”.
And he has reflected on the moment he knew what he’d told her was working, after the royal gave a quick-witted response to a comment about her sons – Prince William and Prince Harry.
While Diana was receiving an award at an event in New York, somebody shouted in reference to the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex: “Where are they today?”, to which the princess calmly replied: “They’re at school, as all good children should be, and enjoying themselves.”
And Stewart told People magazine: “That was a moment of present-mindedness that she had not been able to accomplish before. She then had a 10-minute standing ovation from the audience.”
The voice coach added that was a “real point of triumph” because he knew she would no longer be “intimidated” in similar situations.
He added: “That was a real point of triumph, that she was able to move forward and be that present and not feel immediately intimidated by the energy that was being thrown at her, which was rather unfortunate and immensely public. It could have gone anywhere. It was obviously quite an aggressive demand upon her, but she was able to stand her ground, remain absolutely centred and say what she felt.”
And he also went on to explain why Diana who he was introduced to through a mutual friend had sought him out in the first place.
He said: “She knew that her voice was not powerful. She knew that her voice was a voice of submission, not a voice of triumph. She wanted to find that.”