By Jayden Kimpel, Copy Editor, Promotions Manager, & Staff Writer
“Everyone needs to be valued. Everyone has the potential to give something back if only they had the chance.” — Princess Diana Spencer
Diana Frances Spencer was born on July 1, 1961, in Sandringham – a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Norfolk. Spencer was born into the British nobility through her father and grew up close to the royal family.
Despite not attending college, the princess was the first royal bride to ever hold a paying job before her engagement to Prince Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II while working as a nursery teacher’s assistant in 1981. Their wedding took place at St. Paul’s Cathedral the very same year. This marriage gave her the title ‘the Princess of Wales’. They had two sons, William and Harry, who were then second and third in the line of succession to the British throne.
Spencer’s marriage to Charles suffered due to their incompatibility and extramarital affairs. They separated in 1992, soon after the breakdown of their relationship became public knowledge. Spencer struggled with severe postnatal depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and the strain of being constantly pursued by both the official media royal-watchers and the press — particularly the paparazzi. Their marital difficulties became increasingly publicized, and they officially divorced in 1996.
Spencer used her newfound celebrity status to aid numerous charitable causes, and her constantly changing hairstyles and wardrobe made her a fashion trendsetter. Spencer had a sincere, genuine interest in people. She often spent time visiting the homeless or terminally ill patients in various hospitals. Though there were countless photographs taken, the attention from the press was not her motivation for seeing the patients.
Despite Spencer’s resentment of the media intruding on her private life, she realized the importance of the media highlighting important social issues. She played a critical role in destigmatizing people who were HIV positive, since at the time there was a fear that HIV could be passed on to others through touch alone. Spencer dismissed many of these prejudices by being photographed embracing people who had the disease. In 1987, she famously shook hands with an AIDS patient, at a time when fears about the virus were at an all-time high.
Spencer was a unique royal; by engaging in her charity work on a deeply personal level, she became the “people’s princess”. The people appreciated her heart-centered approach to life. She was not just appreciated in her home country, but around the world. She captured the heart of America and received much support and encouragement, even from American newspapers.
On Aug. 31, 1997, Shortly after midnight, a Mercedes carrying Spencer and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, crashed in a tunnel less than a mile from Paris’ Eiffel Tower. Al-Fayed and their driver, Henri Paul, died at the scene. Diana was taken to Paris’ La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, but she died several hours later, as a result of injuries she sustained in the crash. She was 36 years old.
The death of Princess Diana was immediately followed by an unexpected flow of grief from all over the world. Her funeral was held in Westminster Abbey, five days after her death. An estimate of one million people lined the funeral route from her London home in Kensington Palace to where her funeral was held. Diana is buried at her family’s ancestral estate in Northamptonshire, England.
Though her marriage to Prince Charles was not one filled with love and romance, the Princess of Wales’ connections with the public and her love for her children were what she lived for. Throughout her life and marriage, Princess Diana Spencer saw the world, met some of the world’s biggest celebrities and most significant leaders, and she got to witness things many of us could never even imagine.