England's Rose
A Tribute to the Princess of Wales

(1961-1997)

http://www.gargaro.com/diana/html

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.

http://www.gargaro.com/diana/html

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 Diana and being there when she needed him. When they returned to their home almost twenty-four hours after Diana gave birth, Diana and Charles began deciding on names. There were several to choose from, and finally it was decided that he should be called " Prince William Arthur Philip Lewis". He was welcomed by the traditional fire arms salute to honor the new Prince which was heard all over London and the loyal public rejoiced.

http://www.gargaro.com/diana/html

Diana was a good and caring mother. Just after William was born the new family took several trips all over England and the Queen and Queen mother was having plenty of fun with the new arrival. Then in the morning of September 15, 1984 she was admitted to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's hospital and at 4:20 in the afternoon she safely delivered another baby boy, Prince Henry Charles Albert David. Diana with her two boys and her husband kept taking several trips, and the boys were considered quite "cultured" by the time that they were of age to attend school.

In 1989, the emotional distance between Charles and Princess Di was growing. The Princess was beginning to feel the early signs of "empty-nest" syndrome. Her two boys were gone off to school, Charles was no comfort to her always being off on business and there was nothing to fill the emotional void. Although in public they had appeared to be the perfect twosome living in the pleasures of royalty, they had long since given up on their marriage, and began to turn to others for affection that they could not give to each other. In the late 1980's the strains of this once perfect marriage had been widely publicized . In 1992 Charles and Diana made it definite to separate. She withdrew from public activities for a time of around 4 months, in order to avoid any negative publicity focused on the separation.

Over the next few years Princess Di's popularity continued to grow, mostly of her beauty, wit, and sense of style. By the time of the separation Diana had already adopted charity as her royal duty. She became known as on of the world's greatest humanitarians. Her concern for the AIDS and land mines victims became especially note-worthy to certain charities, and in the public's point of view very compassionate deeds.

In 1996 Diana and Charles were finally granted a divorce. She lost her title of "Princess", but was believed to be a very small loss . Eventually people began regarding her as the "Queen of Hearts ."

Since the day her divorce was finalized, Diana continued to give active support to many charities related to the homeless and deprived children, drug abuse and AIDS individuals. Diana shocked many people in 1987 by shaking hands on live television with an AIDS victim . During the course of her life Diana fought desperately to band landmines from certain countries. It was estimated that landmines had killed/injured more than one million people, a number of them children. Diana sought to help all the landmine sufferers and in doing this established the "anti-personal landmines campaign." Adding to the landmines campaign Diana created and supported more than five local and national charities; The British Red Cross, Centerpoint Soho, Leprosy Mission, National AIDS Trust, The Great Ormond St. Hospital for Children NHS Trust and the American Red Cross. As her brother had said shortly after her death "She behaved almost childlike in her desires to do good for others."

On August 31st, 1997 Princess Diana died in a fatal car crash along with her lover Mr. Dodi Alfied. This came as an international shock hitting those closest to her with a harsh blow. Her funeral was televised on national television on September 6th, 1997. Her death was untimely and quite unexpected. She was young and was expected to live longer. She was driving in a BMW with Mr. Alfied when the car ran into a barrier late that night. They were trying to out run the paparazzi that were chasing them when the disaster occurred suddenly.

On the day of her funeral, her brother, the Earl Charles Spencer gave a rather continuous speech on the life of his older sister. "Without her God given sensitivity we would be immersed in greater ignorance at the anguish of AIDS and HIV sufferers, the plight of the homeless, the isolation of lepers, the random destruction of landmines. Diana once explained to me that it was her innermost feelings of suffering that made it possible for her to connect with her constituency of the rejected." The Queen also said after the announcement of Diana's death " She was an exceptional and gifted human being, and never lost her capacity to smile and laugh in good and bad times." When she was buried a Princess Diana Memorial fund was created in honor of the former Princess. It was called the " Princess Diana Memorial Fund," its purpose was to distribute funds to the charities that she supported before her death. Elton John composed a song for the late Princess of Wales and it was sold world wide selling over 2 million copies. In his song he wrote "you were the grace that placed itself where lives were torn apart. You called out to our country, and you whispered to those in pain . . .."

Diana's example of love, spirit and dedication, have lit a fire of burning compassion across the world. Her humanitarian efforts and feelings of thoughtfulness for others that are less fortunate will be greatly missed.

http://www.gargaro.com/diana/html

Spencer, Charles. The Earl Charles Spencer's Comments.This site inculdes the speach given by the Earl Spencer of Windsor  
http://members.aol.com/jobfindr/diana/brother.htm

Full Coverage of Princess Diana. This site inculdes picturs, articles and interesting facts on Lady Diana Spencer.
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9708/31/diana.links/index.html

-