Princess Diana

Școala: Colegiul Național „Mihai

Eminescu” Botoșani
Candidat: Muraru Ana-Maria
Profesor coordonator: Cazacu Roxana
 Anul: Mai 2023

Contents :
1.Introduction
2.Education and career
3.Marriage
4.Charity work and patronage
5.Death
6.Legacy
7.Bibliography
1. Introduction
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August
1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King
Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Prince William and Prince Harry. Her
activism and glamour made her an international icon, and earned her enduring
popularity.

Diana was born into the British nobility, and grew up close to the royal family
on their Sandringham estate. In 1981, while working as a nursery teacher's
assistant, she became engaged to Charles, the eldest son of Queen
Elizabeth II. Their wedding took place at St Paul's Cathedral in 1981 and made
her Princess of Wales, a role in which she was enthusiastically received by the
public. The couple had two sons, William and Harry, who were then
respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne.
Diana's marriage to Charles suffered due to their incompatibility and
extramarital affairs. They separated in 1992, soon after the breakdown of their
relationship became public knowledge. Their marital difficulties were widely
publicised, and the couple divorced in 1996.
As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of Elizabeth II
and represented her at functions across the Commonwealth realms. She was
celebrated in the media for her unconventional approach to charity work. Her
patronages were initially centred on children and the elderly, but she later
became known for her involvement in two particular campaigns: one involved
the social attitudes towards and the acceptance of AIDS patients, and the
other for the removal of landmines, promoted through the International Red
Cross. She also raised awareness and advocated for ways to help people
affected by cancer and mental illness. Diana was initially noted for her shyness,
but her charisma and friendliness endeared her to the public and helped her
reputation survive the acrimonious collapse of her marriage. Considered
photogenic, she was a leader of fashion in the 1980s and 1990s.
Diana's death in a car crash in Paris in 1997 led to extensive public mourning
and global media attention. An inquest returned a verdict of "unlawful killing"
following Operation Paget, an investigation by the London Metropolitan Police.
Her legacy has had a deep impact on the royal family and British society.
2. Education and career
Diana was born into the British nobility, and grew up close to the royal family
on their Sandringham estate. In 1981, while working as a nursery teacher's
assistant, she became engaged to Charles, the eldest son of Queen
Elizabeth II. Their wedding took place at St Paul's Cathedral in 1981 and made
her Princess of Wales, a role in which she was enthusiastically received by the
public. The couple had two sons, William and Harry, who were then
respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne.
Diana's marriage to Charles suffered due to their incompatibility and
extramarital affairs. They separated in 1992, soon after the breakdown of their
relationship became public knowledge. Their marital difficulties were widely
publicised, and the couple divorced in 1996.
As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of Elizabeth II
and represented her at functions across the Commonwealth realms. She was
celebrated in the media for her unconventional approach to charity work. Her
patronages were initially centred on children and the elderly, but she later
became known for her involvement in two particular campaigns: one involved
the social attitudes towards and the acceptance of AIDS patients, and the
other for the removal of landmines, promoted through the International Red
Cross. She also raised awareness and advocated for ways to help people
affected by cancer and mental illness. Diana was initially noted for her shyness,
but her charisma and friendliness endeared her to the public and helped her
reputation survive the acrimonious collapse of her marriage. Considered
photogenic, she was a leader of fashion in the 1980s and 1990s.
Diana's death in a car crash in Paris in 1997 led to extensive public mourning
and global media attention. An inquest returned a verdict of "unlawful killing"
following Operation Paget, an investigation by the London Metropolitan Police.
Her legacy has had a deep impact on the royal family and British society.
3. Marriage

Diana first met the Prince of Wales (later Charles III), Elizabeth II's eldest son and heir
apparent, when she was 16 in November 1977. He was then 29 and dating her older
sister, Sarah. Charles and Diana were guests at a country weekend during the summer
of 1980 and he took a serious interest in her as a potential bride. The relationship
progressed when he invited her aboard the royal yacht Britannia for a sailing weekend
to Cowes. This was followed by an invitation to Balmoral Castle (the royal family's
Scottish residence) to meet his family. She was well received by the Queen, the Queen
Mother and the Duke of Edinburgh. Charles subsequently courted Diana in London.
He proposed on 6 February 1981 at Windsor Castle, and she accepted, but their
engagement was kept secret for two and a half weeks.
4. Charity work and patronage

HIV/AIDS
Diana began her work with AIDS patients in the 1980s. She was not averse to
making physical contact with AIDS patients, and was the first British royal
figure to do so. In 1987, she held hands with an AIDS patient in one of her
early efforts to de-stigmatise the condition. Diana noted: "HIV does not make
people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug.
Heaven knows they need it. What's more, you can share their homes, their
workplaces, and their playgrounds and toys." To Diana's disappointment, the
Queen did not support this type of charity work, suggesting she get involved
in "something more pleasant". In 1989, she opened Landmark Aids Centre in
South London. In October 1990, Diana opened Grandma's House, a home for
young AIDS patients in Washington, D.C. She was also a patron of the National
AIDS Trust and regularly visited London Lighthouse, which provided residential
care for HIV patients (it has since merged with the Terrence Higgins Trust). In
1991, she hugged one patient during a visit to the AIDS ward of the Middlesex
Hospital, which she had opened in 1987 as the first hospital unit dedicated to
this cause in the UK. As the patron of Turning Point, a health and social care
organisation, Diana visited its project in London for people with HIV/AIDS in
1992. She later established and led fundraising campaigns for AIDS research.
In March 1997, Diana visited South Africa, where she met with President Nelson
Mandela. On 2 November 2002, Mandela announced that the Nelson Mandela
Children's Fund would be teaming up with the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial
Fund to help people with AIDS. 

Cancer
For her first solo official trip, Diana visited The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation
Trust, a cancer treatment hospital in London. She later chose this charity to be
among the organisations that benefited from the auction of her clothes in New
York. The trust's communications manager said she did "much to remove the
stigma and taboo associated with diseases such as cancer, AIDS, HIV and
leprosy". Diana became president of the hospital on 27 June 1989. The
Wolfson Children's Cancer Unit was opened by Diana on 25 February 1993. In
February 1996, Diana, who had been informed about a newly opened cancer
hospital built by Imran Khan, travelled to Pakistan to visit its children's cancer
wards and attend a fundraising dinner in aid of the charity in Lahore. She later
visited the hospital again in May 1997. In June 1996, she travelled to Chicago
in her capacity as president of the Royal Marsden Hospital in order to attend a
fundraising event at the Field Museum of Natural History and raised more than
£1 million for cancer research. She additionally visited patients at the Cook
County Hospital and delivered remarks at a conference on breast cancer at
the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law after meeting a group of
breast cancer researchers. In September 1996, after being asked by Katharine
Graham, Diana went to Washington and appeared at a White House breakfast
in respect of the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research. She also
attended an annual fund-raiser for breast cancer research organised by The
Washington Post at the same centre.

5. Death
On 31 August 1997, Diana died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris
while the driver was fleeing the paparazzi. The crash also resulted in the deaths of her
companion Dodi Fayed and the driver, Henri Paul, who was the acting security
manager of the Hôtel Ritz Paris. Trevor Rees-Jones, who was employed as a
bodyguard by Dodi's father, survived the crash, suffering a serious head injury. The
televised funeral, on 6 September, was watched by a British television audience that
peaked at 32.10 million, which was one of the United Kingdom's highest viewing
figures ever. Millions more watched the event around the world.
6.Legacy
Public image

Diana remains one of the most popular members of the royal family
throughout history, and she continues to influence the younger generations of
royals. She was a major presence on the world stage from her engagement to
Prince Charles in 1981 until her death in 1997, and was often described as the
"world's most photographed woman". She was noted for her
compassion, style, charisma, and high-profile charity work, as well as her ill-
fated marriage. Diana's former private secretary Patrick Jephson described her
as an organised and hardworking person, and pointed out Charles was not
able to "reconcile with his wife's extraordinary popularity", a viewpoint
supported by biographer Tina Brown. He also said she was a tough boss who
was "equally quick to appreciate hard work" but could also be defiant "if she
felt she had been the victim of injustice”. Diana's mother also defined her as a
"loving" figure who could occasionally be "tempestuous". Paul Burrell, who
worked as a butler for Diana, remembered her as a "deep thinker" who was
capable of "introspective analysis”.  She was often described as a devoted
mother to her children, who are believed to be influenced by her personality
and way of life.
In the early years, Diana was often noted for her shy nature. Journalist Michael
White perceived her as being "smart", "shrewd and funny". Those who
communicated with her closely describe her as a person who was led by "her
heart". In an article for The Guardian, Monica Ali described Diana as a woman
with a strong character, who entered the royal family as an inexperienced girl
and, despite being uneducated, she could handle their expectations and
overcome the difficulties and sufferings of her marital life. Ali also believed that
she "had a lasting influence on the public discourse, particularly in matters of
mental health" by discussing her eating disorder publicly. "The bulimia started
the week after we got engaged and would take nearly a decade to overcome,"
Diana said. According to Tina Brown, in her early years Diana possessed a
"passive power", a quality that in her opinion she shared with the Queen
Mother and a trait that would enable her to instinctively use her appeal to
achieve her goalsl. Brown also believed that Diana was capable of charming
people with a single glance.
Diana was widely known for her encounters with sick and dying patients, and
the poor and unwanted whom she used to comfort, an action that earned her
more popularity. She was mindful of people's thoughts and feelings, and later
revealed her wish to become a beloved figure among the people, saying in her
1995 interview, that "[She would] like to be a queen of people's hearts, in
people's hearts.". Known for her easygoing attitude, she reportedly hated
formality in her inner circle, asking "people not to jump up every time she
enters the room". Diana is often credited with widening the range of charity
works carried out by the royal family in a more modern style. Eugene
Robinson of The Washington Post wrote in an article that "Diana imbued her role
as royal princess with vitality, activism and, above all, glamour." .  Alicia Carroll
of The New York Times described Diana as "a breath of fresh air" who was the
main reason the royal family was known in the United States. In Anthony
Holden's opinion, Diana was "visibly reborn" after her separation from Charles,
a point in her life that was described by Holden as her "moment of triumph",
which put her on an independent path to success.
Biographer Sarah Bradford commented, "The only cure for her suffering would
have been the love of the Prince of Wales, which she so passionately desired,
something which would always be denied her. His was the final rejection; the
way in which he consistently denigrated her reduced her to despair." Despite
all the marital issues and scandals, Diana continued to enjoy a high level of
popularity in the polls while her husband was suffering from low levels of
public approval. Her peak popularity rate in the United Kingdom between 1981
and 2012 was 47%. Highly regarded by the LGBT community due to her work
with gay men suffering from AIDS, Diana is considered to be a gay icon.
Diana had become what Prime Minister Tony Blair called the "People's Princess",
an iconic national figure. He had reportedly said that she had shown the nation
"a new way to be British". Her sudden death brought an unprecedented spasm

of grief and mourning, and subsequently a crisis arose in the Royal

Household. Andrew Marr said that by her death she "revived the culture of
public sentiment", while The Guardian's Matthew d'Ancona dubbed Diana "the
queen of the realm of feeling" and said that "the impassioned aftermath of her
death was a bold punctuation mark in a new national narrative that favoured
disinhibition, empathy and personal candour."
Style Icon
Diana was a fashion icon whose style was emulated by women around the world. Iain
Hollingshead of The Telegraph wrote: "[Diana] had an ability to sell clothes just by
looking at them." An early example of the effect occurred during her courtship with
Charles in 1980 when sales of Hunter Wellington boots skyrocketed after she was
pictured wearing a pair on the Balmoral estate. According to designers and people
who worked with Diana, she used fashion and style to endorse her charitable causes,
express herself and communicate. Diana remains a prominent figure for her fashion
style, impacting recent cultural and style trends.
7.Bibliography:
https://www.royal.uk/diana-princess-wales

https://www.britannica.com/biography/
Diana-princess-of-Wales

https://abc7ny.com/diana-princess-di-lady/
2360915/

https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-
commemorations/royals/diana-princess-of-
wales