herrnimrod said:
If we are to take the "Burrell stories" at face value we shouldn't forget the alleged statement from Diana saying "the royal family are not human". So which is it? Personally I've never seen anything but a black hole in the Queen's eyes, and that husband of hers is certainly a character, so I'm very wary of giving her any benefit of the doubt. The puppet part is probably true, but that doesn't mean she's a nice person, or even a "person" at all.
Diana's intended meaning was obviously that the family was not sensitive to her feelings and we have to remember that she had some serious issues with bulimia, etc. Also, consider that Burrell did care about Diana. So it's not a case of "which is it", it's a case of carefully considering all the factors.
If you see a "black hole" in the Queen's eyes, I think you may be projecting a bit.
You have to remember, this is a woman who came to her job BECAUSE her beloved father died, and she was brought up to do her duty and had a clear idea of what it was because of the way she was raised. You can learn a lot about this by reading about their activities during WW II. It was widely understood that it was the stresses of being king that killed her father, so she never forgets that, either, I'm sure. She was so angry at her uncle who abdicated, forcing her father to be king when they were just living a happy, normal life, that she never received him as long as he lived. The world has changed under her feet and the fact that she has managed to keep her balance at all is remarkable.
As we have learned, on a very small scale compared to her life, having any kind of public presence means there are always going to be detractors and destroyers making assumptions and telling lies for all kinds of pathological reasons.