Princess Diana's Effect on the United Kingdom and the Monarchy

Born on July 1, 1961, Diana Spencer had no clue of the life she would someday live. Diana grew up as the daughter of the Viscount and Viscountess of Althorp. However, they divorced 8 years after Diana’s birth. Diana lived with her father and attended preparatory school in Norfolk. She then went on to attend West Heath Girls’ School in Kent, where she failed her O-level exams. She dropped out of West Heath and her father sent her to a finishing school in Switzerland. Before she left England for school, she met Prince Charles through mutual friends. Once she returned home from Switzerland, she and her family visited Prince Charles and his family at the castle in Scotland. This started their “royal romance.” Their wedding in 1981 was one for the history books. There was over one billion worldwide viewers watching at home on their televisions and she was the first woman born in England to marry the heir to the throne in over 300 years. Their first child, William, was born in 1982 while their second, Harry, was born two years later.
Once she had her children she began being in the public’s eye much more often. Soon she would be labeled the “People’s Princess.” She was frequently called a fashion icon, role model, and arguably the most famous and photographed woman in the world. People who were close to her said that she had a “very easy going personality.” Lord St. John of Fawsley said “her appeal lay precisely in that she elevated feeling to the highest position. That is why people responded to her - they knew she really cared.” She became involved in numerous charities. Her most advertised ones were fighting the use of landmines and helping those who suffered from AIDs. One of her most famous pictures taken was of her holding ...

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