Princess Diana

“The worse illness of our time, is that so many people have to suffer from never being loved” – Princess Diana. A person, who can speak those words with such grace and promise, is someone who honestly cares, and that’s who Princess Diana was. She looked passed the political problems and found the real people who were hurting the most. Princess Diana was a very strong person; she had seen and been through a lot of terrible things, so she understood people. Judging wasn’t a part of her; she cared for everyone as an individual. She had such a positive energy and shared it with everyone around her, that’s why she was such a inspiring woman. Woman don’t have as much say in this world as they should, but Princess Diana gave us hope, that if you put your mind to something, it can happen. She was a world icon, and the people loved her and they had good reason too. She traveled the world helping others, without even the thought of what she needed for herself. She just wanted to help people. Even during the worst of times in her life, she was positive, strong and never gave up. She was honestly an incredible woman.

Charity was Princess Diana’s passion. She loved helping the people and that made her happy. It was like she was a kid in a candy store. Being involved in the political world, she was no stranger to what was going on all around us. So, she used her high ranking ability to full use, and helped everyone she possibly could. She loved visiting schools and hospitals, lecturing to young kids to always do your best, and never give up on what you believe in. She loved children, and even once said “hugs can do a great amount of good – especially for kids” (Pettinger, “Princess Diana Charity Work”). Hospitals are another place she loved to visit, to give as much help as she possibly could to everyone that needed it. Many people thought that all of this charity work was all for show for the media, but some people knew that even in late evenings, she would sneak out to the hospital and visit the patience. No Cameras, just her and the people that just needed someone to talk too. When asked about her charity work, Diana said “Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of my life - a kind of destiny. Whoever is in distress can call on me. I will come running wherever they are”(Pettinger, “Princess Diana Charity Work”). People look past these problems we have in our world, but Princess Diana saw them for what they were, and try her best to fix it. She also helped charities for the homeless, youth, drug addicts, and the elderly. She did not segregate anyone; she helped everyone who needed it, no matter who they were. She saw people for who they were, not what they’ve done. She could empathise with people’s suffering, having suffered so much herself.

Pain is something all of us have experienced, some more that others, but in one way or another we all have. Princess Diana didn’t expect sympathy from people; she was a strong, independent woman that knew, somehow, everything would be ok. Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage first began to have noticeable problems in 1985, but didn’t divorce until the early 1990s. They tried their hardest to keep the marriage alive, but in the end they both knew it wasn’t right. Princess Diana said once before the divorce was final “I think like any marriage, especially when you've had divorced parents like myself; you want to try even harder to make it work”(Pettinger, “Princess Diana short biography”). They both blamed each other for the divorced, and the whole situation crushed Diana. She stayed strong, keeping her head up high, all until reports of Prince Charles and his ex-girlfriend had been seeing each other. Any person would be devastated by this, which Princess Diana was, considering the relationship had started with them not very long after the divorce, but Diana knew she had to move on with her life, and so she did. Even as a child, Princess Diana didn’t have a life that people would think a normal Princess had. Her parents suddenly divorced when Diana was only 8 years old because of an affair her mother was having with a married man. This kind of thing wasn’t something a child should have had to deal with, but Princess Diana did. To make things worse, years later her father was caught cheating on his newest wife, Diana’s stepmother, with a married woman. Diana’s childhood was anything but normal, but she grew into a spectacular woman. She’s someone who went through so much pain, and feels for others going through hard times as well. She once said “I understand people's suffering, people's pain, more than you will ever know yourself”(Pettinger, “Princess Diana short biography”).

HIV was something that had just been brought into the public as Princess Diana was becoming popular. The people were confused by it, and didn’t know the reason for it, or why it was happening. She worked with victims of aids, comforted them and even was one of the first high profile people photographed touching a person with the HIV virus. Princess Diana once said “HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them hug, heaven knows they need it”(Pettinger, “Achievements of Princess Diana”). Even the HIV victims were shocked to be having Princess Diana holding their hands while they told their story to her. She changed the people’s minds and attitudes about the virus. Another problem that Diana knew had to be fixed was the landmine situation. Princess Diana was also one of the first people to take action against the land mining problems. The Princess traveled to other countries, touring minefields; getting a good look at how dangerous they really are. Just days before her death, she visited a landmine survivor’s network, and saw the damage that the landmines had caused, and couldn’t believe it. The part that really got to her was most of the victims, were children. Princess Diana is believed to have been a huge influence in the signing of the Ottawa Treaty, an international ban of the use of anti-personnel landmines. Diana saved lives by doing this, without even knowing it. Even though the treaty was signed after her death, everyone knew she was the one that brought it to everyone’s attention. Princess Diana had a heart of gold and loved the people more than anyone would know. She tried to protect everyone with everything she had, and not just for the media, but for you and everyone else. She once said “I would like to be a queen in the hearts of the people”(“Princess Diana Quotes”), and she honestly was a queen to millions.

From changing the worlds mind about HIV, to helping the homeless, to saving children from landmines, Princess Diana is a remarkable woman. Everyone has a moment in their life were they wish for a hero, and that’s what Diana was to thousands of people. Princess Diana was one of the people that were there for you through it all. Princess Diana lived her life the way I think everyone wants to live, doing what you believe in. She never knew what was next, but when she saw something that caught her attention, she went after it. She always said “Life’s an adventure” and I believe that’s how she lived it. Even though Princess Diana has passed on, her work still lives on through others that were influenced by her extraordinary passion of helping others. She has changed this world for the better in so many ways. Its incredible how one person that had been through so much pain in her life, can still turn into someone that changes the world.

Pettinger, Tejvan. “Princess Diana Charity Work”. Biography Online. Jan 28 2011.
<http://www.biographyonline.net/people/diana/charity_work.html.>

Petteringer, Tejvan. “Princess Diana short biography”. Biography Online. Jan 28 2011 <http://www.biographyonline.net/people/short-bio-princess-diana.html>

Pettinger, Tejvan. “Achievements of Princess Diana”. Biography Online. Jan 28 2011 http://www.biographyonline.net/people/diana/achievements_princess_diana.html

“Princess Diana Quotes”. Princess Diana Quotes . Jan 28 2011 http://thinkexist.com/quotes/princess_diana/