Too many men forget the stories little girls are told about the Prince who sweeps them off of their feet with protestations of undying love. Look at who her Mother was and the stories she wrote. Is it any wonder Diana had difficulties in separating reality from fiction?
I don't think she was a gold digger. I think she bought into the whole Prince Charming routine until she was slapped in the face with Mr. Jerk's marrying her as a brood mare.
I feel for Diana and her never ending search to be loved for who she was and not what she had to offer.
I think you are confusing her mother with Barbara Cartland, the romance novelist... she was something like Diana's step-grandmother, not her mother. I don't think they had much contact. As far as Diana's parents go, I think the more relevant point is the effect on Diana of a broken home and the related fallout after her parents' divorce. Now I have displayed more knowledge of the whole Princess Diana story than I care to admit. My defense is that I was at an impressionable age when she came into the spotlight... now I just find a lot of it tiresome and overhyped (the whole Diana-was-a-saint concept being the ultimate absurdity)....