princess di
... Highgrove House near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and shared an apartment in Kensington Palace. The Princess of Wales had two sons. Prince William Arthur Philip Louis was born on 21 June 1982 and Prince Henry (Harry) Charles Albert David on 15 September 1984, both at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in London. The Princess had seventeen godchildren. In December 1992 it was announced that The Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate. The Princess based her household and her office at Kensington Palace, while The Prince was based at St James's Palace and continued to live at Highgrove. In November 1995, the Princess gave a television interview during which she spoke of her unhappiness in her personal life and the pressures of her public role. The Prince and Princess were divorced on 28 August 1996. The Prince and Princess continued to share equal responsibility for the upbringing of their children. The Princess, as the mother of Prince William (second in line to the throne), continued to be regarded as a member of the Royal family. The Queen, The Prince and The Princess of Wales agreed that the Princess was to be known after the divorce as Diana, Princess of Wales, without the style of 'Her Royal Highness' (as the Princess was given the style 'HRH' on marriage she would therefore be expected to give it up on divorce). The Princess continued to live at Kensington Palace, with her office based there. PUBLIC ROLE After her marriage, The Princess of Wales quickly became involved in the official duties of the Royal family. Her first tour with The Prince was a three-day visit to Wales in October 1981. In 1983 she accompanied The Prince on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and they took the infant Prince William with them. Prince William, with Prince Harry, again joined The Prince and Princess at the end of their tour to Italy in 1985. Other official overseas visits undertaken with The Prince included Australia (for the bicentenary celebrations in 1988), Brazil, India, Canada, Nigeria, Cameroon, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Japan (for the enthronement of Emperor Akihito). Their last joint overseas visit was to South Korea in 1992. The Princess's first official visit overseas on her own was in September 1982, when she represented The Queen at the state funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco. The Princess's first solo overseas tour was in February 1984 when she travelled to Norway to attend a performance of Carmen by the London City Ballet, of which she was patron. The Princess subsequently visited many countries including Germany, the United States, Pakistan, Switzerland, Hungary, Egypt, Belgium, France, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nepal. Although the Princess was renowned for her style and was closely associated with the fashion world, patronising and raising the profile of younger British designers, she was best known for her charitable work. During her marriage, the Princess was president or patron of over 100 charities. The Princess did much to publicise work on behalf of homeless and also disabled people, children and people with HIV/Aids. In December 1993, the Princess announced that she would be reducing the extent of her public life in order to combine 'a meaningful public role with a more private life'. After her separation from The Prince, the Princess continued to appear with the Royal family on major national occasions, such as the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) and VJ (Victory over Japan) Days in 1995. Following her divorce, the Princess resigned most of her charity and other patronages, and relinquished all her Service appointments with military units. The Princess remained as patron of Centrepoint (homeless charity), English National Ballet, Leprosy Mission and National Aids Trust, and as President of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street and of the Royal Marsden Hospital. In June 1997, the Princess attended receptions in London and New York as previews of the sale of a number of dresses and suits worn by her on official engagements, with the proceeds going to charity. The Princess spent her 36th and last birthday on 1 July 1997 attending the Tate Gallery's 100th Anniversary celebrations. Her last official engagement in Britain was on 21 July, when she visited Northwick Park Hospital, London (children's accident and emergency unit). In the year before her death, the Princess was an active campaigner for a ban on the manufacture and use of land mines. In January 1997, she visited Angola as part of her campaign. in June, the Princess spoke at the landmines conference at the Royal Geographical Society in London, and this was followed by a visit to Washington DC in the United States on 17/18 June to promote the American Red Cross landmines campaign (separately, she also met Mother Teresa in The Bronx). The Princess's last public engagements were during her visit to Bosnia from 7 to 10 August, when she visited landmine projects in Travnic, Sarajevo and Zenezica. It was in recognition of her charity work that representatives of the charities with which she worked during her life were invited to walk behind her coffin with her family from St James's Palace to Westminster Abbey on the day of her funeral. DEATH The tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales occurred on Sunday, 31 August 1997 following a car accident in Paris, France. The vehicle in which the Princess was travelling was involved in a high-speed accident in the Place de l'Alma underpass in central Paris shortly before midnight on Saturday, 30 August. The Princess was taken to the La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, where she underwent two hours of emergency surgery before being declared dead at 0300 BST. The Princess's companion, Mr Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the vehicle died in the accident, whilst a bodyguard was seriously injured. The Princess's body was subsequently repatriated to the United Kingdom in the evening of Sunday, 31 August by a BAe 146 aircraft of the Royal Squadron. The Prince of Wales and the Princess's elder sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, accompanied the Princess's coffin on its return journey. Upon arrival at RAF Northolt, the coffin, draped with a Royal Standard, was removed from the aircraft and transferred to a waiting hearse by a bearer party from The Queen's Colour Squadron of the RAF. The Prime Minister was among those in the reception party. From RAF Northolt the coffin was taken to a private mortuary in London, so that the necessary legal formalities could be completed. Shortly after midnight, it was moved to the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, where it lay privately until the funeral on Saturday, 6 September, in Westminster Abbey. The Princess's family and friends visited the Chapel to pay their respects. Following the funeral service, the coffin then was taken by road to the family estate at Althorp for a private interment. The Princess was buried in sanctified ground on an island in the centre of an ornamental lake. Lady Diana Spencer, Princess, mother, "Queen of Hearts", "England's Rose". A royal person in her being, her life full of raising children, being a loving wife and daughter, but also full of tragedy, despair, joy and compassion. Only later in her life did she realize that she took pleasure in helping and aiding the less fortunate people suffering from AIDS, HIV, Cancer. She believed in putting others before herself just as Mother Theresa had, making her an important role model and entrepreneur of the twentieth century. Diana Francis Spencer was born on July 1st 1961 at Park house on the Sandringham estate. She was the 3rd daughter of the Viscount and Viscountess Althrop. Her childhood was simple and pleasant she was full of life and joy. She attended several fine schools through the course of her life such as Riddlesworth hall in Norfolk and West Health School in Kent. When she was eight her parents filed for a divorce and shortly after both remarried to other spouses. After that hardship in her life Diana moved up in the royal circle, being seen at many social and conservative gatherings. When she was sixteen she was "formally" introduced to Prince Charles in a "ploughed field" in 1977 by her twenty-two year old sister Lady Sarah who at the time was friends with the Prince. As the years progressed Diana blossomed into a tall, beautiful and happy girl. Her love of children - and their immediate love for her made her decide to become a Kindergarten teacher. She continued to be seen at several royal events, Balmoral and other social parties. At this time she and Charles were still getting to know one another, and because of their age difference they had little in common. They both shared however a passion for the outdoors, hiking and the occasional long trip to some place far away. On February 24th 1981, all speculation on the subject of Lady Diana and Prince Charles was ended with the announcement of their engagement to be married the following June. The soon to be Princess became a role model over night, and almost immediately the international public was showing a keen interest in the new addition to the royal family. Millions copied Diana's exceptionally casual hairstyle; her choice in hats and dress became fashion leaders in several elite London boutiques. Her nineteen-year-old face made headlines in newspapers and magazines across the country. All the famous jewelers in London immediately copied her ring that had a fairly large oval Sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds and set in 18-carat gold . The engaged couple toured together for a short while before the wedding. Her 20th birthday celebration was very low-key, which surprised many people especially to the public's dismay. The months past quickly up to the day of the famous royal wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer. It was June 29,1981 and the wedding was to be held at St. Paul's Cathedral. This was quite the oddity for the royal family, because all the royal weddings that had occurred in the past had been at Westminster Abbey. But as the grand event drew closer, the mishap was quickly over looked as the excitement grew in London and the countdown drew to a close. Weeks of endless preparation had readied St. Paul's for the momentous event. An area had to be set aside especially for the television camera's, and estimated 750 million viewers world wide were going to watch as the bishop said "you may kiss the bride" . The real taking point in the several months leading up to the event was the bride's dress. An incredibly well guarded secret, the beautiful "poofy" garment of ivory silk taffeta with a twenty five-foot long train lived up the expectations. On the day of the wedding the bride pulled up in the traditional glass carriage and was escorted to her husband to be, by her father the Viscount of Althrop, with over half of the world's population watching. The wedding presents, bridesmaid's dresses and pages uniforms were put on display right after the wedding to raise money for the disabled. Prince Charles and the newly crowned Princess Diana went on quite the long honeymoon. They toured mostly all over Europe. Shortly after they returned it was announced on November 5, 1981 to the nation's delight, that the Princess of Wale was going to be expecting a child that following June. Even though she was pregnant, she made continuous appearances to the public and at social functions, until the end of May when a local doctor pronounced her bedridden. In the early hours of June 21,1982 Diana entered the maternity wing of St. Mary's hospital, and at 9:03pm she gave birth to a beautiful strong baby boy. Prince Charles was there for the whole time comforting Dian...