РефератыИностранный языкPrPrincess Diana Essay Research Paper Throughout her

Princess Diana Essay Research Paper Throughout her

Princess Diana Essay, Research Paper


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


advisable for the Princess of Wales to get involved. Buckingham Palace


was torn. Some of the Queen’s advisers totally opposed the young


princess becoming involved with AIDS, a taboo subject never discussed


in polite company or at British upper-class dinner parties. In 1987,


many Britons condemned it as “that gay disease” which only affected


“homosexuals and drug addicts,” two groups which received very little


sympathy from the chattering classes, many of whom believed the victims


were reaping the harvest they themselves had sown. The advisors argued


strongly that the public would be unsympathetic and warned that


becoming associated with AIDS charities could harm her position as the


future Queen. They also feared it could weaken public sympathy for the


Royal Family(Davies261). Despite much criticism, Diana was


determined. She contacted many charities to produce studies showing


how innocent babies and mothers who has nothing whatsoever to do with


homosexuality or drug addiction had caught the disease(Davies261).


The Palace bureaucracy reluctantly capitulated Diana’s


determined arguments and pleas and officially met the senior


members of the charity. The Department of Health and the Charity


Commissioners had already investigated the National AIDS Trust and


reported that the charity was efficient and well run. It seemed a


highly reputable charity, one in which a member of the Royal Family


could become involved without risk of scandal by the trustees. Only


then did Buckingham Palace agree that Diana could go ahead(Brennan88).


Five years later, in 1992, Buckingham Palace adopted a


different attitude. Press spokesman Dickie Arbiter explained:


“It’s abundantly clear that Princess Diana is determined to break down


prejudice about HIV. Nobody told her to adopt this cause. Everything


she does is spontaneous and nothing is premeditated. It was her own


decision to show someone infected with it(Davies262).” This quote


proves the kind heartiness of Princess Diana. It shows the only reason


she did the community service was to help others. The point that must


not be forgotten is that Diana does all this knowing that people are


misjudging her, but she’s got the sense and compassion to follow her


own inner beliefs. Diana came far in helping others realize the truth


about those with HIV and disproved the many stereotypes of the sick.


“She was the first important person in Britain to show you can touch an


AIDS victim and not catch it. One cannot overestimate the importance


of what Princess


Diana did


that day. Before that no one would go anywhere near them. AIDS sufferers


were


treated by the general public as tough were the untouchables, that to touch


them meant


death(Davies262),” said by Lady Harlech, an AIDS fund-raiser for years. This


only


proves

again the many breakthroughs Princess Diana had with the citizens of


Britain,


even with people all over the world. Princess Diana made the statement, “HIV


does


not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands or give them


a hug


God knows they need it(Davies263).” Many people doubt Diana’s motivation.


People


suggest she is doing it for the publicity.


It wasn’t only AIDS that commanded Diana’s attention and concern.


Princess


Diana was the royal patron of seventy separate charities and had a hectic work


schedule to keep up with all of them. Diana can never rest on these


occasions, or put


her feet up, or not show that she is interested, no matter how bored she may


be or


whatever else she may have on her mind. It seldom matters how the princess is


feeling personally; she knows she has a duty to perform and she does


it(Davies267).


Initially, charities devoted to babies and child welfare were singled


out for her


attention, but soon Diana discovered other opportunities. She decided she


wanted to


help young people-closer to her own age-with drug and alcohol problems, then


later


the unprivileged, and the young homeless(Davies269).


After AIDS, the charity Diana is most closely related to is


Birthright, of which


she became a patron of in 1984. Birthright is the appeal arm of the Royal


College of


Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and it’s aim is to raise funds for research


into


problems of the un born child, including stillbirth, infant death, and


infertility. Before


her support, Birthright had struggled for funds, and it’s valuable research


had been


largely ignored when it came to handing out money. Since Diana came aboard,


all


that had changed.


“Her involvement with the charity has attracted stars from


the entertainment world. Big names equal big money:


They managed to raise $5,000,000 for the charity, which


has helped it improve the survival rate of some premature


infants by up to seventy percent. Diana can feel quite


proud that the turnabout is due primarily to her enthusiasm,


persuasion, and patronage(Davies271).”


This quote confirms that Princess Diana’s endless help brought more people to


donate


their time and money to a good cause where people who needed help survived.


Princess Diana did more than fund raise for different charities. She


actually


met with the people who her hard efforts were assisting. This is just as bit


as valuable


as fund raising. Meeting with the Princess brings new hope to the suffering


patients.


“There is something quite moving about the way she talks with patients. Not


only is


she concerned about their problems, but she knows she is. She understands


the joy of


having a baby and the anguish if something goes wrong. She felt very lucky


and


privileged to have had one healthy child, says Vivienne Parry, one of the


group’s


national organizers.


Supporting charities concerned with drug addiction is another of


Diana’s


concerns. She never smoked and hardly drank herself. In 1987, she became


patron of


Turning Point, the largest national charity in Britain helping drug addicts,


alcoholics,


and mental-health outpatients.


Diana has not only proved her compassion for sufferers, but has also


shown the


courage to take risks she believes are worthwhile. Without publicity


coverage, Diana


would visit clinics-some on her own without detective protcetion- to meet and


chat


with the patients in an effort to help them kick their addiction and


encourage them


back to health(Davies273).


Princess Diana’s determination to help those charities rejected by


many others


also extended overseas causes. Shocked by the gruesome effects of leprosy on


children, Diana agreed to become patron of the Leprosy Mission. In November


1989


Diana visited many young lepers in Indonesia. One of the hospital’s doctor’s


quoted


the effects of her visits:


“She did so much more than she had to. She need only


shake their hand and move on, but she sat on their beds and


listened and talked to them. Then she joined the children


in a game of bowls, which they loved. She brought


happiness and smiles to those children(Davies280).”


Kate Dawson, a British doctor at the hospital, also stated,”The Princess has


helped so


much. She has shown by being so open and natural with them that lepers are


not a


threat to anybody(Davies280).”


Diana was determined to keep up with her charity work, until her


terrifying


death on August 31, 1997, in Paris, in an automobile accident with her lover


Dodi


al-Fayed(Brennan136). Diana especially wanted to reach out to those patients


and


victims who were shunned by the rest of the world.


Not only did Diana personally reach out to victims of terrifying


diseases, but


she also encouraged others to donate their time and money to these worthy


causes.


Diana showed it wasn’t necessary to be apprehensive towards the victims of the


various diseases she worked with. Princess Diana lived an influential life


and her


efforts will never be forgotten.

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