Several patients – both women and men – have told me about the moving success story of [Britain's Got Talent singer] Susan Boyle with tears pouring down their cheeks. As one patient put it, “I’ve spent most of my life trying to be so good, to do the right thing, to be perfect and it’s been such a waste of time, a waste of life.
“Susan Boyle has broken through all that stuff and has gone ahead and done what she’s wanted to do. She doesn’t have to be somebody she’s not.”
Max Clifford, the publicist, points out that the “magical moments which we as a nation love” are those that challenge our assumptions and prejudices. Boyle has challenged the stereotype of what it takes to be a successful woman – Cinderella has not been transformed into a Princess, she has been a Princess all along, but without the material trappings of one.
A dumpy, 47-year-old Scottish singleton, Boyle is the epitome of an old maid.
