After School

#98001     48″ X 36″     oc

Since her childhood, Lady Diana has “always loved babies, always been sweet with the little ones.” She undoubtedly showered most of her love upon her own children, Princes William and Harry. “I want to bring them up with security,” she said. “I hug my children to death and get into bed with them at night. I always feed them love and affection; it’s so important.”

Breaking away from centuries of royal tradition, Princess Diana breastfed her sons and insisted on having them receive the same education that every British schoolboy obtained. She preferred for them to live normal lives and understand the experiences of real society. Diana sent her boys to the Wetherby School and brought them home whenever she could.

In this painting, Dr. Chen not only mixed the royal family with civilians, but also integrated them into Western art history. Renoir’s famous “On the Terrace” (1881) mother and daughter are so naturally introduced into the royal family that the scene could be like a souvenir photograph. Another of Renoir’s masterpieces, “The Swing” (1876) serves as the garden background. Dressed in their school uniforms, Prince William and Harry happily return home with their mother, chatting with friends on the way and passing flowers and forest.

Though a descendent of an aristocratic family, Princess Diana grew up as an ordinary British girl. After her marriage with Prince Charles, she did her best to “modernize” the royal family and keep them in touch with the lives and experiences of the masses. For example, Diana took her sons to wait in line to eat at McDonald’s, to visit the homeless, to comfort the dying in the hospitals, etc. As a tender mother, Diana always tried to show William and Harry another aspect of life, in the hopes that love and compassion for others would awaken in their hearts.

– T. F. and Julie Chen