Princess Diana :: essays papers

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