"I knew what my job was; it was to go out and meet the people and love them"
About this Quote
"Go out and meet the people" is where the real break occurs. Royals traditionally receive; Diana goes out. The verb flips the power dynamic. It suggests a deliberate crossing of thresholds - from palace to street, from symbol to human contact - and it hints at her intuitive understanding of media as a tool. She didn't just want to be seen; she wanted to be among. In the late 1980s and 1990s, when her public image became a global drama, that physical closeness was both balm and strategy: it generated photographs, yes, but also a kind of proof of sincerity that the royals often struggled to manufacture.
"And love them" is the line that can sound sentimental until you hear the challenge embedded in it. Love isn't abstract here; it's performance under pressure. It means touching hands, holding eye contact, kneeling beside hospital beds - including in stigmatized spaces like AIDS wards and landmine fields. The subtext is pointed: if the monarchy's legitimacy is emotional, then emotion is labor. Diana is asserting a different sovereignty, one built not on deference but on intimacy.
Quote Details
| Topic | Kindness |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Diana, Princess. (2026, January 18). I knew what my job was; it was to go out and meet the people and love them. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-knew-what-my-job-was-it-was-to-go-out-and-meet-1270/
Chicago Style
Diana, Princess. "I knew what my job was; it was to go out and meet the people and love them." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-knew-what-my-job-was-it-was-to-go-out-and-meet-1270/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I knew what my job was; it was to go out and meet the people and love them." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-knew-what-my-job-was-it-was-to-go-out-and-meet-1270/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.






