Sad Princess Di Doll —
Status: Fake (in the sense of being a doll), Real (in the sense of really being sold)
I think this
Princess Di doll, created by Texas-based Time Capsule Toys, is an example of what Umberto Eco would call hyperrealityfakes whose fakeness (or kitchiness, or strangeness) makes them interesting in their own right. The likeness of Princess Di isn't actually very good, but its makers have tried to make it more true-to-life by having it say various melancholy phrases that Princess Di said, such as "I sit here in sadness," or "There's far too much about me in the newspapers, far too much," or "I'd like to be a queen of people's hearts." For some reason, they're calling the doll the "Princess of Whales." I don't know if that's a misspelling, or a feeble attempt to avoid using Princess Di's name.
The Brits don't like the doll at all. The Mirror has
declared it "probably the most tasteless, tackiest-ever tribute to Diana." Another Mirror columnist
wrote: "She has bandy legs, a huge behind, hair like a crash-helmet, wild make-up, a hooked nose, no chest and ankles that make her look like she's got two club feet. Still, if you could blow the doll up, most men would choose to have sex with it before Camilla."