It has been four years since the tragic death of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash, yet England’s Rose is still very much in the hearts of millions of people worldwide. Thousands are expected to gather at her Althorp grave and in the National Forest in Leicestershire where a woodland dedicated to the People’s Princess opens on Friday. And while her life was cut terribly short, Diana’s legacy lives on through both her charity work and her family.
Philanthropy inspired by the memory of the Princess thrives to this day. Fourteen years after a bare-handed Diana shook hands with an AIDS patient, humanizing the epidemic and helping combat the stigma, the Princess Of Wales Memorial Fund has announced a £4 million project to ease the suffering of AIDS victims in Africa. The fund has pledged upwards of £40 million to charities this year alone, and is just one example of her awe-inspiring reach.
While Prince Charles moves ever closer to his longtime companion Camilla Parker Bowles, Diana’s effect on the heir to the throne is also visible. The Prince’s once stiff image has melted away to reveal a loving father and a modern man. “Dig that crazy rhythm!” he shouted as he happily mixed records on a recent visit to a homeless shelter. And his outings with the couple’s sons, Princes William and Harry, have been increasingly jovial.
The young Princes – perhaps Diana’s greatest legacy and surely the one she would have been most proud of – are growing into popular and admired men. Prince William has just returned from his gap year after spending several months in Africa and will begin his studies at St Andrews University in the autumn. The effervescent Harry has now surpassed his brother in polo prowess and is becoming every bit the heart-throb William is.
“The two boys have their heads screwed on very well,” says Diana’s brother Earl Spencer. “I think it’s all been fine and they are incredibly well balanced.”
The world lost a great figure on August 31, 1997, with the death of Princess Diana. However, four years on from the tragedy, it’s clear that her memory and her influence are eternal.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
