Princess Diana

1674 Words4 Pages

Princess Diana

Throughout her life all eyes were always on Princess Diana. Millions

came to identify with her and, when she died, they felt as though they

have lost a best friend. More than a year after the sudden end of her

privileged but imperfect life, Princess Diana's charity work still

motivates many others to donate their own time in hopes to help the

lives of others. Through the vigorous fund raising and campaigning,

Princess Diana has greatly effected the lives of the patients she has

reached out to.

The honorable Diana Frances Spencer weighed in at seven pounds,

twelve ounces when she was born on July 1, 1961. Her father

announced at the time of her birth, she was nothing less than a

"perfect physical specimen." She was the third surviving child of her

parents. In 1967 her parents, Johnnie and Frances separated, then in

1969 their divorce became final. Johnnie Spencer won custody of their

four children(Brennan19).

On February 24, 1981, Princess Diana's life changed forever.

Her engagement to Prince Charles, the heir to the British

throne, was announced. They were married in Saint Paul's Cathedral on

July 29, 1981. The ceremony was internationally televised. People all

over the world tuned into the beautiful day when Princess Diana was

married into one of the most powerful families in the world(Encarta).

The young Princess of Wales unofficially came of age when she

was twenty- six years old, married for nearly six years, and

the mother of two young sons. That moment was a turning point in her

life because she decided to become involved with AIDS, a subject

shunned by "the great and the good" of British society. Overnight,

Princess Diana changed from a young mum who liked to shop or listen to

pop songs on her Walkman, to a mature young woman who had created a

role for herself(Davies260).

The metamorphosis came the day in April 1987 when Diana opened

Britain's first purpose-built ward for AIDS sufferers, at London's

Middlesex Hospital. Many were shocked at the fact that she didn't wear

any protective clothing(Davies260). At that time the average Briton knew very little about AIDS. Some believed it could be caught and passed on by touch, kissing, or even

hugging someone who was infected. The revelation that a royal, like

Princess Diana, the mother of two young sons, one the heir to the

throne, had taken such an enormous risk with a deadly disease shocked

many people(Brennan88).

Many people wondered, and still to this day wonder if it was

More about Princess Diana

Open Document