Until this day, Lady Diana is one of the most popular members of the royal family, even after her divorce with King Charles III (back then Prince) and after her death. But more than that, she was an incredible human being.
Also called “People’s Princess”, Diana was always known as a lovely person even before her marriage. During her childhood and adolescence, she showed talent for music, especially as an accomplished pianist. She also studied ballet and tap dance. Lady Di worked as a nanny, a dance instructor and later as a nursery’s teacher assistant at the Young England School in Pimlico. She was the first royal family member who had a paid job.
On July 29, 1981, Diana married Prince Charles and became the first Princess to write her own wedding vow, in which she did not say she would “obey” him, according to what was on the traditional one. Together they had two children, Prince William and Prince Harry. In 1996, the couple got divorced, but since 1992 they hadn’t been together anymore.
FASHION ICON
Each one of Diana’s appearances proved that she was an icon. Her wedding dress, clothes for the engagement announcement or even her gym outfits were considered fashionable in a comfortable and chic way.
One of the most popular looks was the “revenge dress”, an off-the-shoulder black silk evening gown designed by Christina Stambolian. Lady Di wore it to attend a fundraiser dinner hosted by Vanity Fair magazine for the Serpentine Gallery in 1994, after Prince Charles revealing in an interview that he cheated on her.
Besides that, she always communicated through her clothes. On her philanthropic visits she was always wearing cheerful colors, didn’t wear gloves because she liked to hold people’s hands, wore jewelry so that children could play with and wore velvet when she was visiting hospitals for blind people, so they could feel her.
ICONIC FRIENDS
Besides being a fashion icon, Lady Di also had some popular friendships. The most notorious ones was with Elthon John, Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson.
All three of them had amazing stories with her. Elthon John met her in 1981 and said that she always had an incredible social ease and always made people feel comfortable around her. What later people called “Diana Effect”, he felt on a dinner with friends where he had to separate two Hollywood stars that were fighting for her attention. At her funeral, he sang “Candle in The Wind”.
Freddie Mercury once dressed her up like a man to go to a LGBTQIA+ bar in London, so that she wouldn’t be recognized. They kept their friendship until Freddie’s death.
Michael Jackson met her in 1988 and she told him that “Dirty Diana” was her favorite song. They continued their friendship, even after the divorce, bonding over the harassment by the press and their families.
Badass mother
In many interviews throughout the years, Lady Di talked about the importance of her sons in her life and how she would be nothing without them. For sure she was an amazing mother.
Going against protocols, she always showed affection towards her children in public and tried to keep them with a life as normal as possible. Even if it was unusual to take the boys to international tours, she traveled with them and tried to keep her schedule free just to stay with the boys.
They were the first royals to go to school, because homeschooling was the most common in the Royal Family. Lady Diana made them go to school and also drove them there. Besides, she would also travel with them to go skiing or to visit Disney. Being a resposible mother, her sons always had to stay inside the lines.
Diana was a mother that taught her children how privileged they are, but also kept their feet on the ground. She would take them to visit hospitals and teach the importance of giving back and connecting with the less fortunate.
mental health
During her Panorama interview in 1995, a scandalous interview but also an important one, she spoke freely about her postpartum depression, self-harm and bulimia. The last started with her engagement and showed the difficulties about being a public person, when the princess felt like she was not enough and had a whole country watching her.
However, talking about it in an interview breaked a stigma about mental health and remembered that she and the royal family were only humans. At a time it was not a topic that people used to comment on, she was confident to start the conversation and it encouraged others to get help. Being a public person and talking about her illness made people connect with her and realize that if she could overcome her problems, they could do it too.
The legacy resonates with her sons, both of them talked about mental health in interviews and launched a campaign, Heads Together, to talk and help other people with mental illness.
Philanthropy and charity work
Considering all of her work, philanthropy and charity are the most special and important ones. It’s difficult to name all the actions in charities she took: she worked with the homeless, youth, drug addicts and the elderly.
During all her philanthropy work as Princess of Wales, she gained awards and her work was considered more significant than any other person in the 20th century. One of the most impactful appearances she had done was in 1987, when she held hands with an HIV patient. Diana was the first royal to put efforts to destigmatize the condition. Back then she said: “HIV does not make people dangerous to meet. You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it.”.
Also, one of her most impressive moments was on behalf of HALO Trust, an organization that removes landmines left behind by war. In January 1997, there were pictures taken of Diana in an Angolan minefield. Her influence raised international awareness about landmines and caused the signing of the Ottawa Treaty, which banned the use of anti-personnel landmines.
Those are just some of the highlights of her character and the impact that she left. She was more than a princess because she used to go against the protocols and fight for the things she believed. Lady Di was a role model because she would create connections with people. Being a loving mother, she would do everything for her family. In 26 years you cannot see a person that left that much of an impact in many aspects, she was an example of royalty, motherhood and mainly of humanity
The article above was edited by Larissa Buzon.
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