Cindy GarciaGarcia 1 Carl Mason 42. 103. 273 18 May 2011 The “Glamorous” Life of Princess Diana For my biography final paper, I chose to write about Princess Diana. She is someone who stood out to me and someone who accomplished so much in such a short life. She displayed genuine care to the public, the children, the injured, and the handicapped. Princess Diana is the princess of Wales, yet we hear so much about her here in America because she is of great importance. She stood out to me mostly because she is a princess who displays great poise, decorum, and perfection but there was so much chaos and imperfection during her short life.
Nobody is perfect, especially the Princess of Wales. “Being a princess isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” says Princess Diana. Her hectic life and all of her accomplishments is what interested me to write this paper on her. Princess Diana was born as Diana Frances Spencer on July 1, 1961. She was born in Norfolk, England. She was the second youngest child. She had two elder sisters and a younger brother. Her childhood was simple and pleasant. She grew up around royal families and was associated with them.
She had a lot of privileges during her childhood because her father, John Spencer, was a royal equerry for both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. Her mother was a daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy. When Diana’s paternal grandfather died, her father became the eighth Earl Spencer, giving Diana the title of “Lady. ” When Diana’s parents were married in 1954 at the Westminster Abbey, the queen was a chief guest. Her parents’ marriage was a big social event during 1954, but the split up when Diana was only about six years old. They Garcia 2 divorced two years after the split.
The split of her parents was something tragic during her childhood. After the split, Diana and her siblings had to go through an intense custody dispute, resulting in her father winning custody over her and her siblings. Her mother was said to have had an affair and was an unfit mother, which helped her father gain custody. She still, often, visited her mother. Her parents both shortly remarried to other spouses. Diana went to a preparatory school and then a boarding school and excelled in sports and activities such as swimming, music and dancing.
Her grades weren’t the greatest in school. She was considered a below-average student, but she still enjoyed school because of her determination, cheeriness, and caring nature. She longed to be a professional ballerina and studied ballet but she grew to be too tall, 5’10’’. When she finished school, she went to work in London. She worked as a nanny, worked in a restaurant, did cleaning jobs, and then worked as a teacher at the Young England kindergarten in Knightsbridge. She had a caring nurture towards deprived children due to the impact the divorce of her parents left on her.
She says, “I think the biggest disease the world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved. I know that I can give love for a minute, for half an hour, for a day, for a month, but I can give. I am very happy to do that, I want to do that. ” By nineteen, Diana became a headline for the national media. Lady Diana’s older sister introduced her to Prince Charles of Wales, The oldest child of British monarch Queen Elizabeth II. He was in his early thirties while Lady Diana was in her late teen years. Their age gap was significant.
He was about thirteen years older than her. Because of their age difference, they had little in common but they did both enjoy hiking, traveling, and the outdoors. Prince Charles was always under press speculation, especially when it came to his love life. He was under increasing pressure to get married. In order to gain the approval of his family Garcia 3 and their advisors, any potential bride had to have an aristocratic background, could not have been previously married, should be Protestant and, preferably, a virgin. Lady Diana fulfilled all of these qualifications.
Prince Charles’ former girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles, helped him select Lady Diana as a potential bride. Their romance began in 1980. At this time, the press took a special interest in Lady Diana. They followed her everywhere, and she found the attention to be unbearable. Prince Charles and Lady Diana were engaged in February of 1981 and were married on July 29, 1981 in St. Paul’s Cathedral. She was only twenty when she got married. The wedding was broadcast in 74 countries and watched by almost 750 million people worldwide. They had about 3,500 guests attending their weeding.
Diana was the first English woman to marry an heir to the throne in over 300 years. By the time they got married, they seemed to be truly in love and their wedding was that of a fairytale. Upon her marriage, Diana became the Princess of Wales and was ranked as the third most senior royal woman in the United Kingdom after the Queen and the Queen Mother. But from the beginning, their wedding was not blessed with good fortune. Prior to their wedding, Diana had a feeling that Camilla played a great role in Charles’ life. This led her to great jealousy and pondered if she should even marry him.
Less than a year after their wedding, they gave birth to their first son, William, and two years after that to their second son, Henry. She tried to take all of the duties of the children onto her own shoulders. She was a devoted mother. By the time their second son was born, there were great problems in their marriage. Diana became sick of worry about Charles having an affair. She suffered from bulimia and several phases of depression. She even tried to commit suicide several times. She felt early signs Garcia 4 of empty-nest syndrome and felt an emotional void. She was, also, under a lot of pressure.
She had many roles to perfect as she wanted to do everything properly. Their sons brought them happiness, but they never seemed to meet eye to eye. When they went to functions, crowds would cheer for Princess Diana and no longer for Prince Charles. He was concerned about all the attention and would criticize her. She made her feel as though she was immature, moody, and couldn’t fulfill her royal duties. They had no common topic for conversation. They never developed common interests. Princess Diana was very much interested in fashion, films, and celebrities. Prince Charles was bored by those topics.
He was more interested in history, literature, philosophy, painting, and architecture. Because of all of the attention Princess Diana was getting and her depressive behavior, Prince Charles slowly drifted away from her making her feel lonelier. They became estranged so quickly after their marriage. Despite the way her marriage was going, she tried to keep a positive personal persona and find a place for herself. Her wardrobe was a focus of attention. She charmed everyone and the public loved her presence. She made constant visits to hospitals, nurseries, and schools.
A lot of her visits to the hospitals would be unannounced and she would ask the nurses to keep her visit concealed from the media. That showed that she didn’t do all of the visits and charity just for publicity. She did charity work for AIDs, helping to raise AIDS awareness. People of that time were afraid of catching AIDs just by touching someone who had it. Princess Diana would visit AIDs patients and touch them to prove that it was safe and okay and that they deserve compassion. “HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug: Heaven knows they need it,” said Princess Diana.
Her work for AIDs, also, promoted research and in other ways positively influence the fight against AIDS. She did a lot of Garcia 5 work for those who had leprosy. She tried doing a lot of charity work for the children. She was a president or patron of over a hundred charities. She was a patron of the British Deaf Association and had taken the initiative to learn a number of words in sign language. She would practice her skill, master it, and later use it in her work with the children. She played an active role in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. This campaign won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
She won praise for touring land mine fields in a flak jacket and helmet. Her concern over the use of land mines was mostly for those they injured, usually children. The land mines killed or injured more than a million people. A lot of charities would raise large amounts of money with just one appearance by Princess Diana. But she wanted to show the charities that she cares, so she would visit every charity under her patronage at least twice a year, and would talk to the staff personally. When she was around people she gave them hugs and would look them in the eye to show that she cares and that she is interested in what you have to say.
Helping those in need or just giving them a visit, is what she felt gave her the strength to keep going. It was her everyday motivation. I felt as though that was what made her a good princess. She truthfully cared for the people and wanted to do all she can do to help, even if it was just a hug. As she would say, “Hugs can do great amounts of good – especially for children. ” Her marriage continued to suffer more and more. Prince Charles was fixated on his former girl Camilla and even admitted to having an extra-marital affair.
Charles and Diana were separated in 1992 and finally divorced in 1996. Princess Diana was lonely and found comfort from many different men. Her and her sons’ riding instructor, James Hewitt, gave her the attention and charm she longed for. He gave her everything Charles didn’t, stealing away her heart. She was said to be involved with about five other men. Although her separation with Garcia 6 Prince Charles impacted her greatly, she still continued to be involved in all of her charity work and everyone still loved her the same as before. She had joint custody with Charles of her two sons.
She still failed to neglect her duties as a mother and do all she can for the deprived. She was given about twenty-eight million dollars from her divorce, but she had to give up the title of “Her Royal Highness. ” She was still considered Princess of Wales, especially since her sons are in line for the throne. She did lose a lot of privileges, though, including public money for her work. But it didn’t stop her. She stayed strong in the public eye. In 1997, Princess Diana had a boyfriend by the name of Dodi Al Fayed, a son of a billionaire businessman.
He was a heart surgeon. They went on several trips and dates together, and she was very fond of him. The paparazzi were always on their back and they would always try to flee from them. The paparazzi got to a point where they barely let them breathe. Wherever they would go, which was many places, they would be there waiting for them. On August 31, 1997 they were both killed in a car accident in Paris while fleeing from paparazzi. How it happened and what happened afterwards is a worldwide dispute. Her death shocked the world, and millions of people mourned her death.
She died at the age of thirty-five years old. Despite her tragic death, she left a longing legacy and she is still widely known today. From the beginning of her childhood, when her parents were divorced, I automatically felt sympathy for her. I still have my parents together and despite their disputes, I can never picture them separated. I know that it would drastically affect me, so I understand how it greatly affected Princess Diana. She took that negative and turned it into a positive despite her hurt. That was the great thing about her.
The divorce of her parents led her to care for children, especially those children in need. When her husband was cheating on her and neglecting her, she turned to Garcia 7 charity work and devotion to her sons. I would have never thought that she suffered from depression, bulimia, and several attempts of suicide. She was good at hiding the horrible things in her life and overshadowing it with poise and care for the people. She is definitely a role model and left an impact on the world; not just in England. Her sons continue to do her works and honor her name.
I doubt that no other princess or queen lived a hectic and dramatic life as she did. That is what made her so interesting, because above all of that chaos she is one of the most known princesses. She died so young at the age of thirty-six and that makes me think of my sister who is that same age. You still have so much life to live at that age. It just makes the saying truer that the good die young. As someone close to her said, “She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness.
I admired and respected her – for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys. … ” Works Cited http://charity. lovetoknow. com/Charity_Work_of_Princess_Diana http://www. famous-women-and-beauty. com/accomplishments-of-princess-diana. html http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/special/politics97/diana/ending4. html http://www. angelfire. com/mi2/llennium3/diana. html http://www. brainyquote. com/quotes/authors/p/princess_diana. html http://www. princess-diana. com/diana/married. htm http://history1900s. about. com/od/1980s/p/princessdiana. htm
