If Princess Diana Could Go Undiagnosed, How Many of Us Are?
By Diamond, Founder of Muna
I read a piece in Marie Claire this month where Charles Spencer, Princess Diana's younger brother, talks about his new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. In it, he says he believes Diana was neurodivergent, most likely with ADHD, and that it "enhanced the natural empathy in her."
I will admit it got me a little emotional.
Not because it rewrites history. Nobody can diagnose someone after the fact, and her brother is clear that this is what he believes, not a medical record. It got me because it is one more reminder that this wiring has always been here, quietly shaping how people lead and love and survive, long before any of us had the language for it.
And if someone as watched as Diana could spend a lifetime undiagnosed, I keep thinking about how many of us are doing the same thing right now without realizing it.
What Her Brother Actually Said
Spencer told Marie Claire that Diana's teachers often pointed out her trouble concentrating and sitting still, but because those things were so poorly understood at the time, she "was never even tested."
He also sees her ADHD in the way she showed up for the causes she cared about. "I think she cut through the conventional way of looking at causes to see the bits that really mattered," he said.
His view is personal. Spencer was diagnosed with ADHD himself later in life, and in an interview with People he said, "I was only found out to have very severe ADHD late in life, and I know it's exactly what Diana had." He has also said he believes she had dyslexia, and he connects her sensitivity to rejection with how deeply the press criticism of the late '90s hurt her.
Whether or not you agree with him, the pattern he describes is one a lot of women will recognize. Struggling in school. Being told to try harder. Nobody ever asking why.
The Wiring Is Not New. The Language Is.
A lot of us grew up without the words. We had other words instead. Lazy. Scattered. Too much. Too sensitive. One of my users recently described her own planning style as "haphazard," and she said it like it was just a fact about her, the same way you would mention your height.
It was never a fact. It was a mismatch between how her brain works and every tool and expectation built around her.
That is what stays with me about the Diana story. The traits her brother describes, the intensity, the empathy, the way she could zero in on what mattered, were never separate from the parts that made life harder. It is the same brain. It just never got a name.
Why So Many Women Get Missed
ADHD in girls and women often does not look like the stereotype. It can look like daydreaming instead of bouncing off walls. Like being the friend who forgets everything but would also drop everything for you. Like working twice as hard as everyone else just to look fine, and then crashing at home where nobody can see.
When you spend years compensating like that, it is easy for everyone, including you, to assume you are just bad at being an adult. So you blame yourself. Over and over.
Where Hormones Come In
Here is the part I care about most, because it is why I built Muna.
Hormones can change how ADHD shows up. Understood.org recently broke down how ADHD and perimenopause can look almost identical, with brain fog, sleep trouble, and memory lapses, and how hormonal shifts during perimenopause can make ADHD you already had feel worse, or finally unmask ADHD that flew under the radar for decades. (More on that in how perimenopause affects ADHD.)
That means a lot of women are only connecting the dots now, in their late 30s, 40s, and beyond. And the dots are worth connecting at any age. A qualitative study covered by PsyPost followed women who were diagnosed with ADHD in their forties and fifties, and found the diagnosis, even decades late, helped them trade self-blame for self-compassion.
Learning how my own hormones were shaping how I felt and how I worked was my own version of that. I call it my shame to science moment. I stopped blaming myself and started giving myself grace.
If This Sounds Like You
First, nothing is wrong with you. If any of this feels familiar, it is worth talking with a qualified clinician about an evaluation. This post is not medical advice, and only a professional can tell you what is going on.
In the meantime, one of the most useful things you can do is start noticing your patterns. When do the hard weeks hit? What does your focus, energy, and mood look like across the month? It is a lot harder to talk yourself out of a pattern you can actually see.
That is what Muna is for. You check in with your energy and mood in seconds, and over time you start to see how your hormones and your ADHD move together. Muna does not diagnose or treat anything. It just helps you understand yourself, and trust yourself, a little more each week.
If you want to try it, Muna is free for 30 days, with no card at signup. And if you want stories like this one in your inbox, the Muna newsletter goes out every Tuesday, with a Research Roundup every Friday.
Diana never got the chance to understand her wiring. You can.
Sources
- Charles Spencer says Princess Diana's ADHD gave her a "royal advantage", Marie Claire, October 4, 2026
- Earl Spencer believes Princess Diana had ADHD, BANG Showbiz via Castanet, September 21, 2026 (citing his interview with People)
- Is it ADHD, perimenopause, or both?, Understood.org via Stacker, October 1, 2026
- Women diagnosed with ADHD later in life are learning to view hyperfocus as a superpower, PsyPost