title: Turkey

text: Basic education in Turkey is said to lag behind other OECD countries, with significant differences between high and low performers. Access to high-quality school heavily depends on the performance in the secondary school entrance exams, to the point that some students begin taking private tutoring classes when they are ten years old.


title: Turkey

text: As of 2022, there are 209 universities in Turkey. Except for the Open Education Faculties (AÖF) at Anadolu, Istanbul and Atatürk University; entrance is regulated by the national Student Selection and Placement System (, ÖSYS) examination, after which high school graduates are assigned to universities according to their performance. According to the 2012–2013 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the top university in Turkey is Middle East Technical University, followed by Bilkent University and Koç University, Istanbul Technical University and Boğaziçi University. All state and private universities are under the control of the Higher Education Board (, YÖK), whose head is appointed by the President of Turkey; and since 2016 the President directly appoints all rectors of all state and private universities.


title: Turkey

text: Turkey is a member of Socrates programme, Erasmus Programme and Erasmus+ Programmes. These student exchange programmes are organised by the European Union. Also it is a member of Erasmus Student Network which is a Europe-wide student organisation which has more than 15.000 volunteers across the Europe.


title: Turkey

text: Turkey has become a hub for foreign students in recent years. The number of foreign students in Turkey was 795.962 in 2016. The government has announced a vision to draw around 500,000 foreign students at its universities by offering attractive scholarships. Türkiye Scholarships is international scholarship programme funded by Government of Turkey. In 2021, in response to Türkiye Scholarships, that was advertised in January 2021, Turkish Government received 165,000 applications from 178 countries of the World.


title: Turkey

text: The Ministry of Health has run a universal public healthcare system since 2003. Known as Universal Health Insurance (), it is funded by a tax surcharge on employers, currently at 5%. Public-sector funding covers approximately 75.2% of health expenditures. Despite the universal health care, total expenditure on health as a share of GDP in 2018 was the lowest among OECD countries at 6.3% of GDP, compared to the OECD average of 9.3%. The lower health care expenditure is due to lower median age in Turkey which is 32.4, compared to Italy which is 47.3. Aging population is the prime reason for higher healthcare expenditure in the developed world.


title: Turkey

text: Average life expectancy is 78.6 years (75.9 for males and 81.3 for females), compared with the EU average of 81 years. Turkey has high rates of obesity, with 29.5% of its adult population having a body mass index (BMI) value that is 30 or above. Air pollution in Turkey is a major cause of early death.


title: Turkey

text: There are many private hospitals in the country. Turkey benefits from medical tourism in the recent years. Health tourism earns above $1 billion to Turkey in 2019. Some 60% of the income is obtained from plastic surgery and a total of 662,087 patients received service in the country last year within the scope of health tourism.


title: Turkey

text: Turkey has a very diverse culture that is a blend of various elements of the Turkic, Anatolian, Byzantine, Ottoman (which was itself a continuation of both Greco-Roman and Islamic cultures) and Western culture and traditions, which started with the Westernisation of the Ottoman Empire and still continues today. This mix originally began as a result of the encounter of Turks and their culture with those of the peoples who were in their path during their migration from Central Asia to the West. Turkish culture is a product of efforts to be a "modern" Western state, while maintaining traditional religious and historical values.


title: Turkey

text: Turkish culture also influenced the European art and fashion particularly during the period of 16th to 18th centuries at the peak of Ottoman power. This phenomenan is also called Turquerie.


title: Turkey

text: Ottoman miniature is linked to the Persian miniature tradition, as well as strong Chinese artistic influences. The words "tasvir" or "nakış" were used to define the art of miniature painting in Ottoman Turkish. The studios the artists worked in were called "nakkaşhane". The miniatures were usually not signed, perhaps because of the rejection of individualism, but also because the works were not created entirely by one person; the head painter designed the composition of the scene, and his apprentices drew the contours (which were called "tahrir") with black or coloured ink and then painted the miniature without creating an illusion of depth. The head painter, and much more often the scribe of the text, were indeed named and depicted in some of the manuscripts. The understanding of perspective was different from that of the nearby European Renaissance painting tradition, and the scene depicted often included different time periods and spaces in one picture. They followed closely the context of the book they were included in, more illustrations than standalone works of art.Nakkaş Osman and Matrakçı Nasuh (1480–1564) is one of the most prominent artists of this era.


title: Turkey

text: Turkish painting, in the Western sense, developed actively starting from the mid 19th century. The first painting lessons were scheduled at what is now the Istanbul Technical University (then the "Imperial Military Engineering School") in 1793, mostly for technical purposes. In the late 19th century, human figure in the Western sense was being established in Turkish painting, especially with Osman Hamdi Bey (1842–1910). Impressionism, among the contemporary trends, appeared later on with Halil Pasha (c.1857–1939). Other important Turkish painters in the 19th century were Ferik İbrahim Paşa (1815–1891), Osman Nuri Paşa (c.1839–1906), Şeker Ahmet Paşa (1841–1907), and Hoca Ali Riza (1864–1939).


title: Turkey

text: The young Turkish artists sent to Europe in 1926 came back inspired by contemporary trends such as Fauvism, Cubism and Expressionism, still very influential in Europe. The later "Group D" of artists led by Abidin Dino, Cemal Tollu, Fikret Mualla, Fahrünnisa Zeid, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Adnan Çoker and Burhan Doğançay introduced some trends that had lasted in the West for more than three decades.


title: Turkey

text: Other important movements in Turkish painting were the "Yeniler Grubu" (The Newcomers Group) of the late 1930s; the "On'lar Grubu" (Group of Ten) of the 1940s; the "Yeni Dal Grubu" (New Branch Group) of the 1950s; and the "Siyah Kalem Grubu" (Black Pen Group) of the 1960s.


title: Turkey

text: Internationally acclaimed Turkish sculptors in the 20th century include Ali Hadi Bara, Zühtü Müridoğlu, İlhan Koman, Kuzgun Acar and Ali Teoman Germaner.


title: Turkey

text: Carpet ("halı") and tapestry ("kilim") weaving is a traditional Turkish art form with roots in pre-Islamic times. During its long history, the art and craft of weaving carpets and tapestries in Turkey has integrated numerous cultural traditions. Apart from the Turkic design patterns that are prevalent, traces of Persian and Byzantine patterns can also be detected. There are also similarities with the patterns used in Armenian, Caucasian and Kurdish carpet designs. The arrival of Islam in Central Asia and the development of Islamic art also influenced Turkic patterns in the medieval period. The history of the designs, motifs and ornaments used in Turkish carpets and tapestries thus reflects the political and ethnic history of the Turks and the cultural diversity of Anatolia. However, scientific attempts were unsuccessful, as yet, to attribute a particular design to a specific ethnic, regional, or even nomadic versus village tradition.


title: Turkey

text: The earliest examples of Turkish paper marbling, called "ebru" in Turkish, are said to be a copy of the "Hâlnâme" by the poet Arifî. The text of this manuscript was rendered in a delicate cut paper découpage calligraphy by Mehmed bin Gazanfer and completed in 1540, and features many marbled and decorative paper borders. One early master by the pseudonym of "Şebek" is mentioned posthumously in the earliest Ottoman text on the art known as the "Tertib-i Risâle-i Ebrî", which is dated based on internal evidence to after 1615. The instructions for several "ebru" techniques in the text are accredited to this master. Another famous 18th-century master by the name of Hatip Mehmed Efendi (died 1773) is accredited with developing motifs and perhaps early floral designs, although evidence from India appears to contradict some of these reports. Despite this, marbled motifs are commonly referred to as "hatip" designs in Turkey today.


title: Turkey

text: Turkish literature is a mix of cultural influences. Interaction between the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic world along with Europe contributed to a blend of Turkic, Islamic and European traditions in modern-day Turkish music and literary arts. Turkish literature was heavily influenced by Persian and Arabic literature during most of the Ottoman era.


title: Turkey

text: The Tanzimat reforms of the 19th century introduced previously unknown Western genres, primarily the novel and the short story. Many of the writers in the Tanzimat period wrote in several genres simultaneously: for instance, the poet Namık Kemal also wrote the important 1876 novel "İntibâh" (Awakening), while the journalist Şinasi has written, in 1860, the first modern Turkish play, the one-act comedy ""Şair Evlenmesi"" (The Poet's Marriage). Most of the roots of modern Turkish literature were formed between the years 1896 and 1923. Broadly, there were three primary literary movements during this period: the "Edebiyat-ı Cedîde" (New Literature) movement; the "Fecr-i Âtî" (Dawn of the Future) movement; and the "Millî Edebiyat" (National Literature) movement.


title: Turkey

text: The first radical step of innovation in 20th century Turkish poetry was taken by Nâzım Hikmet, who introduced the free verse style. Another revolution in Turkish poetry came about in 1941 with the Garip movement led by Orhan Veli, Oktay Rıfat and Melih Cevdet. The mix of cultural influences in Turkey is dramatised, for example, in the form of the "new symbols of the clash and interlacing of cultures" enacted in the novels of Orhan Pamuk, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature.


title: Turkey

text: The origin of Turkish theatre dates back to ancient pagan rituals and oral legends. The dances, music and songs performed during the rituals of the inhabitants of Anatolia millennia ago are the elements from which the first shows originated. In time, the ancient rituals, myths, legends and stories evolved into theatrical shows. Starting from the 11th-century, the traditions of the Seljuk Turks blended with those of the indigenous peoples of Anatolia and the interaction between diverse cultures paved the way for new plays.


title: Turkey

text: After the Tanzimat (Reformation) period in the 19th century, characters in Turkish theatre were modernised and plays were performed on European-style stages, with actors wearing European costumes. Following the restoration of constitutional monarchy with the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, theatrical activities increased and social problems began to be reflected at the theatre as well as in historical plays. A theatrical conservatoire, Darülbedayi-i Osmani (which became the nucleus of the Istanbul City Theatres) was established in 1914. During the years of chaos and war, the Darülbedayi-i Osmani continued its activities and attracted the younger generation. Numerous Turkish playwrights emerged in this era; some of them wrote on romantic subjects, while others were interested in social problems, and still others dealt with nationalistic themes. The first Turkish musicals were also written in this period. In time, Turkish women began to appear on stage, which was an important development in the late Ottoman society. Until then, female roles had only been played by actresses who were members of Turkey's ethnic minorities. Today there are numerous private theatres in the country, together with those which are subsidised by the government, such as the Turkish State Theatres.


title: Turkey

text: Music of Turkey includes mainly Turkic elements as well as partial influences ranging from Central Asian folk music, Arabic music, Greek music, Ottoman music, Persian music and Balkan music, as well as references to more modern European and American popular music. The roots of traditional music in Turkey span across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks migrated to Anatolia and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular music can trace its roots to the emergence in the early 1930s drive for Westernization.


title: Turkey

text: With the assimilation of immigrants from various regions the diversity of musical genres and musical instrumentation also expanded. Turkey has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of Greek, Armenian, Albanian, Polish and Jewish communities, among others.


title: Turkey

text: Many Turkish cities and towns have vibrant local music scenes which, in turn, support a number of regional musical styles. Despite this however, western music styles like pop music and kanto lost popularity to arabesque in the late 1970s and 1980s. It became popular again by the beginning of the 1990s, as a result of an opening economy and society. With the support of Sezen Aksu, the resurging popularity of pop music gave rise to several international Turkish pop stars such as Ajda Pekkan, Tarkan, Levent Yüksel, Sertab Erener and Hande Yener. Internationally acclaimed Turkish jazz and blues musicians and composers include Ahmet Ertegun (founder and president of Atlantic Records), Nükhet Ruacan and Kerem Görsev.


title: Turkey

text: The Turkish Five is a name used by some authors to identify the five pioneers of Western classical music in Turkey, namely Ahmed Adnan Saygun, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Cemal Reşit Rey, Hasan Ferit Alnar and Necil Kazım Akses. Internationally acclaimed Turkish musicians of Western classical music include pianists İdil Biret, Verda Erman, Gülsin Onay, the Pekinel sisters (Güher and Süher Pekinel), Ayşegül Sarıca and Fazıl Say; violinists Ayla Erduran and Suna Kan; opera singers Semiha Berksoy, Leyla Gencer and Güneş Gürle; and conductors Emre Aracı, Gürer Aykal, Erol Erdinç, Rengim Gökmen and Hikmet Şimşek.


title: Turkey

text: Turkish folk dance is diverse. "Hora" is performed in East Thrace; "Zeybek" in the Aegean Region, Southern Marmara and East-Central Anatolia Region; "Teke" in the Western Mediterranean Region; "Kaşık Oyunları" and "Karşılama" in West-Central Anatolia, Western Black Sea Region, Southern Marmara Region and Eastern Mediterranean Region; "Horon" in the Central and Eastern Black Sea Region; "Halay" in Eastern Anatolia and the Central Anatolia Region; and "Bar" and "Lezginka" in the Northeastern Anatolia Region.


title: Turkey

text: The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Its architecture dramatically influenced the later medieval architecture throughout Europe and the Near East, and became the primary progenitor of the Renaissance and Ottoman architectural traditions that followed its collapse. When the Roman Empire went Christian (as well as Eastwards) with its new capital at Constantinople, its architecture became more sensuous and more ambitious. This new style would come to be known as Byzantine with increasingly exotic domes and ever-richer mosaics, traveled west to Ravenna and Venice and as far north as Moscow. This influence can be seen particularly in the Venetian Gothic architecture.


title: Turkey

text: The architecture of the Seljuk Turks combined the elements and characteristics of the Turkic architecture of Central Asia with those of Persian, Arab, Armenian and Byzantine architecture. The transition from Seljuk architecture to Ottoman architecture is most visible in Bursa, which was the capital of the Ottoman State between 1335 and 1413. Following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, Ottoman architecture was significantly influenced by Byzantine architecture. Topkapı Palace in Istanbul is one of the most famous examples of classical Ottoman architecture and was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years. Mimar Sinan (c.1489–1588) was the most important architect of the classical period in Ottoman architecture. He was the chief architect of at least 374 buildings that were constructed in various provinces of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. Sedefkar Mehmed Agha also known as the architect of the Blue Mosque was an Albanian origin Devshirme. He became a pupil of architect Mimar Sinan, becoming his first assistant in charge of the office in the absence of Sinan. His work heavily influenced by his teacher Mimar Sinan


title: Turkey

text: Since the 18th century, Turkish architecture has been increasingly influenced by European styles, and this can be particularly seen in the Tanzimat era buildings of Istanbul like the Dolmabahçe, Çırağan, Taksim Military Barracks (demolished), Feriye, Beylerbeyi, Küçüksu, Ihlamur and Yıldız palaces, which were all designed by members of the Balyan family of Ottoman Armenian court architects. The Ottoman era waterfront houses ("yalı") on the Bosphorus also reflect the fusion between classical Ottoman and European architectural styles during the aforementioned period. Italian architect, Raimondo D'Aronco served as the chief palace architect to the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II in Istanbul for 16 years. D'Aronco designed and built a large number of buildings of various types in Istanbul. The stylistic features of his works can be classified in three groups: Revivalism, reinterpretation of the Ottoman forms, Art Nouveau and Vienna Secession. Art Nouveau was first introduced to Istanbul by D'Aronco, and his designs reveal that he drew freely on Byzantine and Ottoman decorations. He also mixed Western and Oriental styles in his work.


title: Turkey

text: The First National Architectural Movement in the early 20th century sought to create a new architecture, which was based on motifs from Seljuk and Ottoman architecture. The leading architects of this movement were Vedat Tek (1873–1942), Mimar Kemaleddin Bey (1870–1927), Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu (1888–1982) and Giulio Mongeri (1873–1953). Buildings from this era are the Grand Post Office in Istanbul (1905–1909), Tayyare Apartments (1919–1922), Istanbul 4th Vakıf Han (1911–1926), State Art and Sculpture Museum (1927–1930), Ethnography Museum of Ankara (1925–1928), the first Ziraat Bank headquarters in Ankara (1925–1929), the first Türkiye İş Bankası headquarters in Ankara (1926–1929), Bebek Mosque, and Kamer Hatun Mosque.


title: Turkey

text: Some of the notable contemporary architects of Turkey are Behruz Çinici, Emre Arolat, Murat Tabanlıoğlu, Melkan Tabanlıoğlu, Melike Altınışık, Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu and Mehmet Kütükçüoğlu


title: Turkey

text: Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine. In the early years of the Republic, a few studies were published about regional Anatolian dishes but cuisine did not feature heavily in Turkish folkloric studies until the 1980s, when the fledgling tourism industry encouraged the Turkish state to sponsor two food symposia. The papers submitted at the symposia presented the history of Turkish cuisine on a "historical continuum" that dated back to Turkic origins in Central Asia and continued through the Seljuk and Ottoman periods.


title: Turkey

text: Many of the papers presented at these first two symposia were unreferenced. Prior to the symposia, the study of Turkish culinary culture was first popularised by the publication of Süheyl Ünver's "Fifty Dishes in Turkish History" in 1948. This book was based on recipes found in an 18th century Ottoman manuscript. His second book was about the 15th century palace cuisine during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II. Following the publication of Ünver's book, subsequent studies were published, including a 1978 study by a historian named Bahaettin Ögel about the Central Asian origins of Turkish cuisine.


title: Turkey

text: Ottoman cuisine contains elements of Turkish, Byzantine, Balkan, Armenian, Georgian, Kurdish, Arab and Persian cuisines. It can be described as a fusion and refinement of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Balkan and Eastern European cuisines. The country's position between Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean Sea helped the Turks in gaining complete control of the major trade routes, and an ideal landscape and climate allowed plants and animals to flourish. Turkish cuisine was well established by the mid-1400s, which marked the beginning of the classical age during the Ottoman Empire's 623-year history. Yogurt salads; mezes; fish and seafood; grilled, sauteed or steamed meat varieties; vegetables or stuffed and wrapped vegetables cooked with olive oil; and drinks like sherbet, ayran and rakı became Turkish staples. The empire, eventually spanning from Austria and Ukraine in the north to Yemen and Sudan in the south, Algeria and the Maghreb in the west to the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf in the east, used its land and water routes to import exotic ingredients from all over the world. By the end of the 16th century, the Ottoman court housed over 1,400 live-in cooks and passed laws regulating the freshness of food. Since the fall of the empire in World War I (1914–1918) and the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, foreign food such as French hollandaise sauce and Western fast food have made their way into the modern Turkish diet.


title: Turkey

text: The most popular sport in Turkey is association football. Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000. The Turkish national football team won the bronze medal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup and UEFA Euro 2008.


title: Turkey

text: Other mainstream sports such as basketball and volleyball are also popular. The men's national basketball team won the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and at EuroBasket 2001, which were both hosted by Turkey; and is one of the most successful at the Mediterranean Games. Turkish basketball club Fenerbahçe reached the final of the EuroLeague in three consecutive seasons (2016, 2017 and 2018), becoming the European champions in 2017 and runners-up in 2016 and 2018. Another Turkish basketball club, Anadolu Efes S.K. won the 2020–21 EuroLeague and the 1995–96 FIBA Korać Cup, were the runners-up of the 2018–19 EuroLeague and the 1992–93 FIBA Saporta Cup, and finished third at the 1999–2000 EuroLeague and the 2000–01 SuproLeague. Beşiktaş won the 2011–12 FIBA EuroChallenge, and Galatasaray won the 2015–16 Eurocup. The Final of the 2013–14 EuroLeague Women basketball championship was played between two Turkish teams, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, and won by Galatasaray. The women's national basketball team won the silver medal at the EuroBasket Women 2011 and the bronze medal at the EuroBasket Women 2013. Like the men's team, the women's basketball team is one of the most successful at the Mediterranean Games.


title: Turkey

text: The women's national volleyball team won the gold medal at the 2015 European Games, the silver medal at the 2003 European Championship, the bronze medal at the 2011 European Championship, and the bronze medal at the 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix. They also won multiple medals over multiple decades at the Mediterranean Games. Women's volleyball clubs, namely Fenerbahçe, Eczacıbaşı and Vakıfbank, have won numerous European championship titles and medals. Fenerbahçe won the 2010 FIVB Women's Club World Championship and the 2012 CEV Women's Champions League. Representing Europe as the winner of the 2012–13 CEV Women's Champions League, Vakıfbank also became the world champion by winning the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship. Recently Vakıfbank has won the FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship in 2017 and 2018, and the 2017–18 CEV Women's Champions League for the fourth time in their history.


title: Turkey

text: The traditional national sport of Turkey has been yağlı güreş ("oil wrestling") since Ottoman times. Edirne Province has hosted the annual Kırkpınar oil wrestling tournament since 1361, making it the oldest continuously held sporting competition in the world. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Ottoman Turkish oil wrestling champions such as Koca Yusuf, Nurullah Hasan and Kızılcıklı Mahmut acquired international fame in Europe and North America by winning world heavyweight wrestling championship titles. International wrestling styles governed by FILA such as freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling are also popular, with many European, World and Olympic championship titles won by Turkish wrestlers both individually and as a national team.


title: Turkey

text: Hundreds of television channels, thousands of local and national radio stations, several dozen newspapers, a productive and profitable national cinema and a rapid growth of broadband Internet use constitute a vibrant media industry in Turkey. The majority of the TV audiences are shared among public broadcaster TRT and the network-style channels such as Kanal D, Show TV, ATV and Star TV. The broadcast media have a very high penetration as satellite dishes and cable systems are widely available. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) is the government body overseeing the broadcast media. By circulation, the most popular newspapers are "Posta", "Hürriyet", "Sözcü", "Sabah" and "Habertürk".


title: Turkey

text: Turkish television dramas are increasingly becoming popular beyond Turkey's borders and are among the country's most vital exports, both in terms of profit and public relations. After sweeping the Middle East's television market over the past decade, Turkish shows have aired in more than a dozen South and Central American countries in 2016. Turkey is today the world's second largest exporter of television series.


title: Turkey

text: "Yeşilçam" is the sobriquet that refers to the Turkish film art and industry. The first movie exhibited in the Ottoman Empire was the Lumiere Brothers' 1895 film, "L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat", which was shown in Istanbul in 1896. The first Turkish-made film was a documentary entitled "Ayastefanos'taki Rus Abidesinin Yıkılışı" ("Demolition of the Russian Monument at San Stefano"), directed by Fuat Uzkınay and completed in 1914. The first narrative film, Sedat Simavi's "The Spy", was released in 1917. Turkey's first sound film was shown in 1931. Turkish directors like Metin Erksan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Yılmaz Güney, Zeki Demirkubuz and Ferzan Özpetek won numerous international awards such as the Palme d'Or and Golden Bear.


title: Turkey

text: Despite legal provisions, media freedom in Turkey has steadily deteriorated from 2010 onwards, with a precipitous decline following the failed coup attempt on 15 July 2016. As of December 2016, at least 81 journalists were imprisoned in Turkey and more than 100 news outlets were closed. Freedom House lists Turkey's media as "not free". The media crackdowns also extend to Internet censorship with Wikipedia getting blocked between 29 April 2017 and 15 January 2020.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her activism and glamour made her an international icon, and earned her enduring popularity, as well as almost unprecedented public scrutiny.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana was born into the British nobility, and grew up close to the royal family on their Sandringham estate. In 1981, while working as a nursery teacher's assistant, she became engaged to the Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II. Their wedding took place at St Paul's Cathedral in 1981 and made her Princess of Wales, a role in which she was enthusiastically received by the public. The couple had two sons, William and Harry, who were then second and third in the line of succession to the British throne. Diana'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. Their marital difficulties were widely publicised, and the couple divorced in 1996.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of the Queen and represented her at functions across the Commonwealth realms. She was celebrated in the media for her unconventional approach to charity work. Her patronages initially centred on children and the elderly, but she later became known for her involvement in two particular campaigns: one involved the social attitudes towards and the acceptance of AIDS patients, and the other for the removal of landmines, promoted through the International Red Cross. She also raised awareness and advocated for ways to help people affected by cancer and mental illness. Diana was initially noted for her shyness, but her charisma and friendliness endeared her to the public and helped her reputation survive the acrimonious collapse of her marriage. Considered photogenic, she was a leader of fashion in the 1980s and 1990s.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana's death in a car crash in Paris in 1997 led to extensive public mourning and global media attention. An inquest returned a verdict of "unlawful killing" following Operation Paget, an investigation by the Metropolitan Police. Her legacy has had a deep impact on the royal family and British society.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana Frances Spencer was born on 1 July 1961 at Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the fourth of five children of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (1924–1992), and Frances Spencer, Viscountess Althorp (née Roche; 1936–2004). The Spencer family had been closely allied with the British royal family for several generations; her grandmothers, Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer, and Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy, had served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Her parents were hoping for a boy to carry on the family line, and no name was chosen for a week until they settled on Diana Frances after her mother and Lady Diana Spencer, a many-times-great-aunt who was also a prospective Princess of Wales. Within the family, she was also known informally as "Duch", a reference to her duchess-like attitude in childhood.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: On 30 August 1961, Diana was baptised at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham. She grew up with three siblings: Sarah, Jane, and Charles. Her infant brother, John, died shortly after his birth one year before Diana was born. The desire for an heir added strain to her parents' marriage, and Lady Althorp was sent to Harley Street clinics in London to determine the cause of the "problem". The experience was described as "humiliating" by Diana's younger brother, Charles: "It was a dreadful time for my parents and probably the root of their divorce because I don't think they ever got over it." Diana grew up in Park House, situated on the Sandringham estate. The family leased the house from its owner, Queen Elizabeth II, whom Diana called "Aunt Lilibet" since childhood. The royal family frequently holidayed at the neighbouring Sandringham House, and Diana played with the Queen's sons Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana was seven years old when her parents divorced. Her mother later began a relationship with Peter Shand Kydd and married him in 1969. Diana lived with her mother in London during her parents' separation in 1967, but during that year's Christmas holidays, Lord Althorp refused to let his daughter return to London with Lady Althorp. Shortly afterwards, he won custody of Diana with support from his former mother-in-law, Lady Fermoy. In 1976, Lord Althorp married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth. Diana's relationship with her stepmother was particularly bad. She resented Raine, whom she called a "bully". On one occasion Diana pushed her down the stairs. She later described her childhood as "very unhappy" and "very unstable, the whole thing". She became known as "Lady" Diana after her father later inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975, at which point her father moved the entire family from Park House to Althorp, the Spencer seat in Northamptonshire.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana was initially home-schooled under the supervision of her governess, Gertrude Allen. She began her formal education at Silfield Private School in King's Lynn, Norfolk, and moved to Riddlesworth Hall School, an all-girls boarding school near Thetford, when she was nine. She joined her sisters at West Heath Girls' School in Sevenoaks, Kent, in 1973. She did not perform well academically, failing her O-levels twice. Her outstanding community spirit was recognised with an award from West Heath. She left West Heath when she was sixteen. Her brother Charles recalls her as being quite shy up until that time. She showed a talent for music as an accomplished pianist. She also excelled in swimming and diving, and studied ballet and tap dance.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 1978, Diana worked for three months as a nanny for Philippa and Jeremy Whitaker in Hampshire. After attending Institut Alpin Videmanette (a finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland) for one term, and leaving after the Easter term of 1978, Diana returned to London, where she shared her mother's flat with two school friends. In London, she took an advanced cooking course, but seldom cooked for her roommates. She took a series of low-paying jobs; she worked as a dance instructor for youth until a skiing accident caused her to miss three months of work. She then found employment as a playgroup pre-school assistant, did some cleaning work for her sister Sarah and several of her friends, and acted as a hostess at parties. She spent time working as a nanny for the Robertsons, an American family living in London, and worked as a nursery teacher's assistant at the Young England School in Pimlico. In July 1979, her mother bought her a flat at Coleherne Court in Earl's Court as an 18th birthday present. She lived there with three flatmates until 25 February 1981.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana first met the Prince of Wales (later Charles III), Elizabeth II's eldest son and heir apparent, when she was 16 in November 1977. He was then 29 and dating her older sister, Sarah. Charles and Diana were guests at a country weekend during the summer of 1980 when she watched him play polo and he took a serious interest in her as a potential bride. The relationship progressed when he invited her aboard the royal yacht "Britannia" for a sailing weekend to Cowes. This was followed by an invitation to Balmoral Castle (the royal family's Scottish residence) to meet his family one weekend in November 1980. She was well received by the Queen, the Queen Mother and the Duke of Edinburgh. Charles subsequently courted Diana in London. He proposed on 6 February 1981 at Windsor Castle, and she accepted, but their engagement was kept secret for two and a half weeks.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Their engagement became official on 24 February 1981. Diana selected her own engagement ring. Following the engagement, she left her occupation as a nursery teacher's assistant and lived for a short period at Clarence House, which was the home of the Queen Mother. She then lived at Buckingham Palace until the wedding, where, according to biographer Ingrid Seward, her life was incredibly lonely. Diana was the first Englishwoman to marry the first in line to the throne since Anne Hyde married the future James II over 300 years earlier, and she was also the first royal bride to have a paying job before her engagement. She made her first public appearance with Prince Charles in a charity ball in March 1981 at Goldsmiths' Hall, where she met Grace, Princess of Monaco.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Twenty-year-old Diana became the Princess of Wales when she married Charles on 29 July 1981. The wedding was held at St Paul's Cathedral, which offered more seating than Westminster Abbey, a church that was generally used for royal nuptials. The service was widely described as a "fairytale wedding" and was watched by a global television audience of 750million people while 600,000 spectators lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the couple en route to the ceremony. At the altar, Diana inadvertently reversed the order of his first two names, saying "Philip Charles" Arthur George instead. She did not say she would "obey" him; that traditional vow was left out at the couple's request, which caused some comment at the time. Diana wore a dress valued at £9,000 () with a 25-foot (7.62-metre) train.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: After she became Princess of Wales, Diana automatically acquired rank as the third-highest female in the British order of precedence (after the Queen and the Queen Mother), and was fifth or sixth in the orders of precedence of her other realms, following the Queen, the relevant viceroy, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen Mother, and the Prince of Wales. Within a few years of the wedding, the Queen extended Diana visible tokens of membership in the royal family; she lent her the Queen Mary's Lover's Knot Tiara, and granted her the badge of the Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The couple had residences at Kensington Palace and Highgrove House, near Tetbury. On 5 November 1981, Diana's pregnancy was announced. In January 1982–12 weeks into the pregnancy—Diana fell down a staircase at Sandringham, suffering some bruising, and the royal gynaecologist Sir George Pinker was summoned from London; the foetus was uninjured. Diana later confessed that she had intentionally thrown herself down the stairs because she was feeling "so inadequate". On 21 June 1982, Diana gave birth to the couple's first son, Prince William. She subsequently suffered from postpartum depression after her first pregnancy. Amidst some media criticism, she decided to take William—who was still a baby—on her first major tours of Australia and New Zealand, and the decision was popularly applauded. By her own admission, Diana had not initially intended to take William until Malcolm Fraser, the Australian prime minister, made the suggestion.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: A second son, Harry, was born on 15 September 1984. Diana said she and Charles were closest during her pregnancy with Harry. She was aware their second child was a boy, but did not share the knowledge with anyone else, including Charles as he was hoping for a girl.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana gave her sons wider experiences than was usual for royal children. She rarely deferred to Charles or to the royal family, and was often intransigent when it came to the children. She chose their first given names, dismissed a royal family nanny and engaged one of her own choosing, selected their schools and clothing, planned their outings, and took them to school herself as often as her schedule permitted. She also organised her public duties around their timetables. Diana was reported to have described Harry as "naughty, just like me", and William as "my little wise old man" whom she started to rely on as her confidant by his early teens.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Five years into the marriage, the couple's incompatibility and age difference of 12 years became visible and damaging. In 1986 Diana began a relationship with Major James Hewitt, the family's former riding instructor and in the same year, Charles resumed his relationship with his former girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles. The media speculated that Hewitt, not Charles, was Harry's father based on the alleged physical similarity between Hewitt and Harry, but Hewitt and others have denied this. Harry was born two years before Hewitt and Diana began their affair.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: By 1987, cracks in their marriage had become visible and the couple's unhappiness and cold attitude towards one another were being reported by the press, who dubbed them "The Glums" due to their evident discomfort in each other's company. In 1989, Diana was at a birthday party for Camilla's sister, Annabel Elliot, when she confronted Camilla about her and Charles's extramarital affair. These affairs were later exposed in 1992 with the publication of Andrew Morton's book, "". The book, which also revealed Diana's allegedly suicidal unhappiness, caused a media storm. In 1991, James Colthurst conducted secret interviews with Diana in which she had talked about her marital issues and difficulties. These recordings were later used as a source for Morton's book. During her lifetime, both Diana and Morton denied her direct involvement in the writing process and maintained that family and friends were the book's main source, however, after her death Morton acknowledged Diana's role in writing the tell-all in the book's updated edition, "Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words".


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The Queen and Prince Philip hosted a meeting between Charles and Diana and unsuccessfully tried to effect a reconciliation. Philip wrote to Diana and expressed his disappointment at the extramarital affairs of both her and Charles; he asked her to examine their behaviour from the other's point of view. Philip was direct and Diana was sensitive. She found the letters hard to take, but nevertheless appreciated that he was acting with good intent. It was alleged by some people, including Diana's close friend Simone Simmons, that Diana and her former father-in-law, Prince Philip, had a relationship filled with tension; however, other observers said their letters provided no sign of friction between them. Philip later issued a statement, publicly denying the allegations of him insulting Diana.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: During 1992 and 1993, leaked tapes of telephone conversations reflected negatively on both Charles and Diana. Tape recordings of Diana and James Gilbey were made public in August 1992, and transcripts were published the same month. The article, "Squidgygate", was followed in November 1992 by the leaked "Camillagate" tapes, intimate exchanges between Charles and Camilla, published in the tabloids. In December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced the couple's "amicable separation" to the House of Commons.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Between 1992 and 1993, Diana hired voice coach Peter Settelen to help her develop her public speaking voice. In a videotape recorded by Settelen in 1992, Diana said that in 1984 through to 1986, she had been "deeply in love with someone who worked in this environment." It is thought she was referring to Barry Mannakee, who was transferred to the Diplomatic Protection Squad in 1986 after his managers had determined that his relationship with Diana had been inappropriate. Diana said in the tape that Mannakee had been "chucked out" from his role as her bodyguard following suspicion that the two were having an affair. Penny Junor suggested in her 1998 book that Diana was in a romantic relationship with Mannakee. Diana's friends dismissed the claim as absurd. In the subsequently released tapes, Diana said she had feelings for that "someone", saying "I was quite happy to give all this up [and] just to go off and live with him". She described him as "the greatest friend [she's] ever had", though she denied any sexual relationship with him. She also spoke bitterly of her husband saying that "[He] made me feel so inadequate in every possible way, that each time I came up for air he pushed me down again."


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Charles's aunt Princess Margaret burned "highly personal" letters that Diana had written to the Queen Mother in 1993. Biographer William Shawcross considered Margaret's action to be "understandable" as she was "protecting her mother and other members of the family", but "regrettable from a historical viewpoint".


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Although she blamed Camilla Parker Bowles for her marital troubles, Diana began to believe her husband had also been involved in other affairs. In October 1993, Diana wrote to her butler Paul Burrell, telling him that she believed her husband was now in love with his personal assistant Tiggy Legge-Bourke—who was also his sons' former nanny—and was planning to have her killed "to make the path clear for him to marry Tiggy". Legge-Bourke had been hired by Charles as a young companion for his sons while they were in his care, and Diana was resentful of Legge-Bourke and her relationship with the young princes. Prince Charles sought public understanding via with Jonathan Dimbleby on 29 June 1994. In the interview, he said he had rekindled his relationship with Camilla in 1986 only after his marriage to Diana had "irretrievably broken down". In the same year, Diana's affair with James Hewitt was exposed in detail in the book "Princess in Love" by Anna Pasternak, with Hewitt acting as the main source. Diana was evidently disturbed and outraged when the book was released, although Pasternak claimed Hewitt had acted with Diana's support to avoid having the affair covered in Andrew Morton's second book.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In the same year, the "News of the World" claimed that Diana had made over 300 phone calls to the married art dealer Oliver Hoare. These calls were proven to have been made both from her Kensington Palace apartment and from the phone box just outside the palace. According to Hoare's obituary, there was little doubt she had been in a relationship with him. However, Diana denied any romantic relationship with Hoare, whom she described as a friend, and said that "a young boy" was the source of the nuisance calls made to Hoare. She was also linked by the press to rugby union player Will Carling and private equity investor Theodore J. Forstmann, yet these claims were neither confirmed nor proven.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Journalist Martin Bashir interviewed Diana for the BBC current affairs show "Panorama". The interview was broadcast on 20 November 1995. Diana discussed her own and her husband's extramarital affairs. Referring to Charles's relationship with Camilla, she said: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." She also expressed doubt about her husband's suitability for kingship. Authors Tina Brown, Sally Bedell Smith, and Sarah Bradford support Diana's admission in the interview that she had suffered from depression, "rampant bulimia" and had engaged numerous times in the act of self mutilation; the show's transcript records Diana confirming many of her mental health problems, including that she had "hurt [her] arms and legs". The combination of illnesses from which Diana herself said she suffered resulted in some of her biographers opining that she had borderline personality disorder. It was later revealed that Bashir had used forged bank statements to win Diana and her brother's trust to secure the interview, falsely indicating people close to her had been paid for spying.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The interview proved to be the tipping point. On 20 December, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen had sent letters to Charles and Diana, advising them to divorce. The Queen's move was backed by the Prime Minister and by senior Privy Counsellors, and, according to the BBC, was decided after two weeks of talks. Charles formally agreed to the divorce in a written statement soon after. In February 1996, Diana announced her agreement after negotiations with Charles and representatives of the Queen, irritating Buckingham Palace by issuing her own announcement of the divorce agreement and its terms. In July 1996, the couple agreed on the terms of their divorce. This followed shortly after Diana's accusation that Charles's personal assistant Tiggy Legge-Bourke had aborted his child, after which Legge-Bourke instructed her attorney Peter Carter-Ruck to demand an apology. Diana's private secretary Patrick Jephson resigned shortly before the story broke, later writing that she had "exulted in accusing Legge-Bourke of having had an abortion". The rumours of Legge-Bourke's alleged abortion were apparently spread by Martin Bashir as a means to gain his "Panorama" interview with Diana.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The decree nisi was granted on 15 July 1996 and the divorce was finalised on 28 August 1996. Diana was represented by Anthony Julius in the case. The couple shared custody of their children. She received a lump sum settlement of £17million () as well as £400,000 per year. The couple signed a confidentiality agreement that prohibited them from discussing the details of the divorce or of their married life. Days before, letters patent were issued with general rules to regulate royal titles after divorce. Diana lost the style "Her Royal Highness" and instead was styled "Diana, Princess of Wales". As the mother of the prince expected to one day ascend to the throne, she continued to be regarded as a member of the royal family and was accorded the same precedence she enjoyed during her marriage. The Queen reportedly wanted to let Diana continue to use the style of Royal Highness after her divorce, but Charles had insisted on removing it. Prince William was reported to have reassured his mother: "Don't worry, Mummy, I will give it back to you one day when I am King." Almost a year before, according to Tina Brown, Prince Philip had warned Diana: "If you don't behave, my girl, we'll take your title away." She is said to have replied: "My title is a lot older than yours, Philip."


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Following her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana made her first official public appearance in March 1981 in a charity event at Goldsmiths' Hall. She attended the Trooping the Colour for the first time in June 1981, making her appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace afterwards. In October 1981, Charles and Diana visited Wales. Diana attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time on 4 November 1981. Her first solo engagement was a visit to Regent Street on 18 November 1981 to switch on the Christmas lights. Diana made her inaugural overseas tour in September 1982, to attend the state funeral of Grace, Princess of Monaco. Also in 1982, Diana was created a Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown by Queen Beatrix. In 1983, she accompanied Charles on a tour of Australia and New Zealand with Prince William. The tour was a success and the couple drew immense crowds, though the press focused more on Diana rather than Charles, coining the term 'Dianamania' as a reference to people's obsession with her. While sitting in a car with Charles near the Sydney Opera House, Diana burst into tears for a few minutes, which their office stated was due to jet lag and the heat. In New Zealand, the couple met with representatives of the Māori people. Their visit to Canada in June and July 1983 included a trip to Edmonton to open the 1983 Summer Universiade and a stop in Newfoundland to commemorate the 400th anniversary of that island's acquisition by the Crown. In 1983, she was targeted by the Scottish National Liberation Army who tried to deliver a letter bomb to her.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In February 1984, Diana was the patron of London City Ballet when she travelled to Norway on her own to attend a performance organised by the company. In April 1985, Charles and Diana visited Italy, and were later joined by Princes William and Harry. They met with President Alessandro Pertini. Their visit to the Holy See included a private audience with Pope John Paul II. In autumn 1985, they returned to Australia, and their tour was well-received by the public and the media, who referred to Diana as "Di-amond Princess" and the "Jewel in the Crown". In November 1985, the couple visited the United States, meeting President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan at the White House. Diana had a busy year in 1986 as she and Charles toured Japan, Spain, and Canada. In Canada, they visited Expo 86, where Diana fainted in the California Pavilion. In November 1986, she went on a six-day tour to Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where she met King Fahd and Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 1988, Charles and Diana visited Thailand and toured Australia for the bicentenary celebrations. In February 1989, she spent a few days in New York as a solo visit, mainly to promote the works of the Welsh National Opera, of which she was a patron. During a tour of Harlem Hospital Center, she made a profound impact on the public by spontaneously hugging a seven-year-old child with AIDS. In March 1989, she had her second trip to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, in which she visited Kuwait and the UAE.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In March 1990, Diana and Charles toured Nigeria and Cameroon. The president of Cameroon hosted an official dinner to welcome them in Yaoundé. Highlights of the tour included visits by Diana to hospitals and projects focusing on women's development. In May 1990, they visited Hungary for four days. It was the first visit by members of the royal family to "a former Warsaw Pact country". They attended a dinner hosted by President Árpád Göncz and viewed a fashion display at the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest. Peto Institute was among the places visited by Diana, and she presented its director with an honorary OBE. In November 1990, the royal couple went to Japan to attend the enthronement of .


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In her desire to play an encouraging role during the Gulf War, Diana visited Germany in December 1990 to meet with the families of soldiers. She subsequently travelled to Germany in January 1991 to visit RAF Bruggen, and later wrote an encouraging letter which was published in "Soldier", "Navy News" and "RAF News". In 1991, Charles and Diana visited Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where they presented the university with a replica of their royal charter. In September 1991, Diana visited Pakistan on a solo trip, and went to Brazil with Charles. During the Brazilian tour, Diana paid visits to organisations that battled homelessness among street children. Her final trips with Charles were to India and South Korea in 1992. She visited Mother Teresa's hospice in Kolkata, India. The two women met later in the same month in Rome and developed a personal relationship. It was also during the Indian tour that pictures of Diana alone in front of the Taj Mahal made headlines. In May 1992, she went on a solo tour of Egypt, visiting the Giza pyramid complex and attending a meeting with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. In November 1992, she went on an official solo trip to France and had an audience with President François Mitterrand.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In March 1993, she went on her first solo trip after her separation from Charles, visiting a leprosy hospital in Nepal where she met and came into contact with some patients, marking the first time they had ever been touched by a dignitary who had come to visit. In December 1993, she announced that she would withdraw from public life, but in November 1994 she said she wished to "make a partial return". In her capacity as the vice-president of British Red Cross, she was interested in playing an important role for its 125th anniversary celebrations. Later, the Queen formally invited her to attend the anniversary celebrations of D-Day. In February 1995, Diana visited Japan. She paid a formal visit to Emperor and , and visited the National Children's Hospital in Tokyo. In June 1995, Diana went to the Venice Biennale art festival, and also visited Moscow where she received the International Leonardo Prize. In November 1995, Diana undertook a four-day trip to Argentina to attend a charity event. She visited many other countries, including Belgium, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe, alongside numerous others. During her separation from Charles, which lasted for almost four years, Diana participated in major national occasions as a senior member of the royal family, notably including "the commemorations of the 50th anniversaries of Victory in Europe Day and Victory over Japan Day" in 1995. Her 36th and final birthday celebration was held at Tate Gallery, which was also a commemorative event for the gallery's 100th anniversary. In July 1997, Diana attended Gianni Versace's funeral in Milan, Italy.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 1983, she confided to the Premier of Newfoundland, Brian Peckford, "I am finding it very difficult to cope with the pressures of being Princess of Wales, but I am learning to cope with it." She was expected to make regular public appearances at hospitals, schools, and other facilities, in the 20th-century model of royal patronage. From the mid-1980s, she became increasingly associated with numerous charities. She carried out 191 official engagements in 1988 and 397 in 1991. Diana developed an intense interest in serious illnesses and health-related matters outside the purview of traditional royal involvement, including AIDS and leprosy. In recognition of her effect as a philanthropist, Stephen Lee, director of the UK Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers, said "Her overall effect on charity is probably more significant than any other person's in the 20th century."


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: She was the patroness of charities and organisations who worked with the homeless, youth, drug addicts, and the elderly. From 1989, she was president of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. She was patron of the Natural History Museum and president of the Royal Academy of Music. From 1984 to 1996, she was president of Barnardo's, a charity founded by Dr. Thomas John Barnardo in 1866 to care for vulnerable children and young people. In 1988, she became patron of the British Red Cross and supported its organisations in other countries such as Australia and Canada. She made several lengthy visits each week to Royal Brompton Hospital, where she worked to comfort seriously ill or dying patients. From 1991 to 1996, she was a patron of Headway, a brain injury association. In 1992, she became the first patron of Chester Childbirth Appeal, a charity she had supported since 1984. The charity, which is named after one of Diana's royal titles, could raise over £1 million with her help. In 1994, she helped her friend Julia Samuel launch the charity Child Bereavement UK which supports children "of military families, those of suicide victims, [and] terminally-ill parents", and became its patron. Prince William later replaced his mother as the charity's royal patron.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Her patronages also included Landmine Survivors Network, Help the Aged, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, the British Lung Foundation, Eureka! (joint patron with Prince Charles), the National Children's Orchestra, British Red Cross Youth, the Guinness Trust, Meningitis Trust, the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children, the Royal School for the Blind, Welsh National Opera, the Variety Club of New Zealand, Birthright, the British Deaf Association (for which she learned sign language), All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Anglo-European College of Chiropractic, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, British Sports Association for the Disabled, British Youth Opera, Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, London City Ballet, London Symphony Orchestra, Pre-School Playgroups Association, as well as president or patron of other charities.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 1987, Diana was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City of London, the highest honour which is in the power of the City of London to bestow on someone. In June 1995, she travelled to Moscow. She paid a visit to a children's hospital she had previously supported when she provided them with medical equipment. In Moscow, she received the International Leonardo Prize, which is given to "the most distinguished patrons and people in the arts, medicine, and sports". In December 1995, Diana received the United Cerebral Palsy Humanitarian of the Year Award in New York City for her philanthropic efforts. In October 1996, for her works on the elderly, she was awarded a gold medal at a health care conference organised by the Pio Manzù Centre in Rimini, Italy.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The day after her divorce, she announced her resignation from over 100 charities and retained patronages of only six: Centrepoint, English National Ballet, Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Leprosy Mission, National AIDS Trust, and the Royal Marsden Hospital. She continued her work with the British Red Cross Anti-Personnel Land Mines Campaign, but was no longer listed as patron.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In May 1997, Diana opened the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts in Leicester, after being asked by her friend Richard Attenborough. In June 1997 and at the suggestion of her son William, some of her dresses and suits were sold at Christie's auction houses in London and New York, and the proceeds that were earned from these events were donated to charities. Her final official engagement was a visit to Northwick Park Hospital, London, on 21 July 1997. She was scheduled to attend a fundraiser at the Osteopathic Centre for Children on 4 September 1997, upon her return from Paris.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana began her work with AIDS patients in the 1980s. She was not averse to making physical contact with AIDS patients, and was the first British royal figure to do so. In 1987, she held hands with an AIDS patient in one of her early efforts to de-stigmatise the condition. Diana noted: "HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it. What's more, you can share their homes, their workplaces, and their playgrounds and toys." To Diana's disappointment, the Queen did not support this type of charity work, suggesting she get involved in "something more pleasant". In 1989, she opened Landmark Aids Centre in South London. In October 1990, Diana opened Grandma's House, a home for young AIDS patients in Washington, D.C. She was also a patron of the National AIDS Trust and regularly visited London Lighthouse, which provided residential care for HIV patients. In 1991, she hugged one patient during a visit to the AIDS ward of the Middlesex Hospital, which she had opened in 1987 as the first hospital unit dedicated to this cause in the UK. As the patron of Turning Point, a health and social care organisation, Diana visited its project in London for people with HIV/AIDS in 1992. She later established and led fundraising campaigns for AIDS research.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In March 1997, Diana visited South Africa, where she met with President Nelson Mandela. On 2 November 2002, Mandela announced that the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund would be teaming up with the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to help people with AIDS. They had planned the combination of the two charities a few months before her death. Mandela later praised Diana for her efforts surrounding the issue of HIV/AIDS: "When she stroked the limbs of someone with leprosy or sat on the bed of a man with HIV/AIDS and held his hand, she transformed public attitudes and improved the life chances of such people". Diana had used her celebrity status to "fight stigma attached to people living with HIV/AIDS", Mandela said. In 2009, a panel including Sir Ian McKellen and Alan Hollinghurst chose Diana's portrait to be shown in the Gay Icons exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London. In October 2017, "Attitude" magazine honoured Diana with its Legacy Award for her HIV/AIDS work. Prince Harry accepted the award on behalf of his mother.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana was the patron of the HALO Trust, an organisation that removes debris—particularly landmines—left behind by war. In January 1997, pictures of Diana touring an Angolan minefield in a ballistic helmet and flak jacket were seen worldwide. During her campaign, she was accused of meddling in politics and called a "loose cannon" by Earl Howe, an official in the British Ministry of Defence. Despite the criticism, HALO states that Diana's efforts resulted in raising international awareness about landmines and the subsequent sufferings caused by them. In June 1997, she gave a speech at a landmines conference held at the Royal Geographical Society, and travelled to Washington, D.C. to help promote the American Red Cross landmines campaign. From 7 to 10 August 1997, just days before her death, she visited Bosnia and Herzegovina with Jerry White and Ken Rutherford of the Landmine Survivors Network.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Her work on the landmines issue has been described as influential in the signing of the Ottawa Treaty, which created an international ban on the use of anti-personnel landmines. Introducing the Second Reading of the Landmines Bill 1998 to the British House of Commons, the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, paid tribute to Diana's work on landmines:All Honourable Members will be aware from their postbags of the immense contribution made by Diana, Princess of Wales to bringing home to many of our constituents the human costs of landmines. The best way in which to record our appreciation of her work, and the work of NGOs that have campaigned against landmines, is to pass the Bill, and to pave the way towards a global ban on landmines.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: A few months after Diana's death in 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines won the Nobel Peace Prize.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: For her first solo official trip, Diana visited The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, a cancer treatment hospital in London. She later chose this charity to be among the organisations that benefited from the auction of her clothes in New York. The trust's communications manager said she did "much to remove the stigma and taboo associated with diseases such as cancer, AIDS, HIV and leprosy". Diana became president of the hospital on 27 June 1989. The Wolfson Children's Cancer Unit was opened by Diana on 25 February 1993. In February 1996, Diana, who had been informed about a newly opened cancer hospital built by Imran Khan, travelled to Pakistan to visit its children's cancer wards and attend a fundraising dinner in aid of the charity in Lahore. She later visited the hospital again in May 1997. In June 1996, she travelled to Chicago in her capacity as president of the Royal Marsden Hospital in order to attend a fundraising event at the Field Museum of Natural History and raised more than £1 million for cancer research. She additionally visited patients at the Cook County Hospital and delivered remarks at a conference on breast cancer at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law after meeting a group of breast cancer researchers. In September 1996, after being asked by Katharine Graham, Diana went to Washington and appeared at a White House breakfast in respect of the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research. She also attended an annual fund-raiser for breast cancer research organised by "The Washington Post" at the same centre.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 1988, Diana opened Children with Leukaemia (later renamed Children with Cancer UK) in memory of two young cancer victims. In November 1987, a few days after the death of Jean O'Gorman from cancer, Diana met her family. The deaths of Jean and her brother affected her and she assisted their family to establish the charity. It was opened by her on 12 January 1988 at Mill Hill Secondary School, and she supported it until her death in 1997.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In November 1989, Diana visited a leprosy hospital in Indonesia. Following her visit, she became patron of the Leprosy Mission, an organisation dedicated to providing medicine, treatment, and other support services to those who are afflicted with the disease. She remained the patron of this charity and visited several of its hospitals around the world, especially in India, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Nigeria until her death in 1997. She touched those affected by the disease when many people believed it could be contracted through casual contact. "It has always been my concern to touch people with leprosy, trying to show in a simple action that they are not reviled, nor are we repulsed", she commented. The Diana Princess of Wales Health Education and Media Centre in Noida, India, was opened in her honour in November 1999, funded by the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to give social support to the people affected by leprosy and disability.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana was a long-standing and active supporter of Centrepoint, a charity which provides accommodation and support to homeless people, and became patron in 1992. She supported organisations that battle poverty and homelessness, including the Passage. Diana was a supporter of young homeless people and spoke out on behalf of them by saying that "they deserve a decent start in life". "We, as a part of society, must ensure that young people—who are our future—are given the chance they deserve", she said. Diana used to take young William and Harry for private visits to Centrepoint services and homeless shelters. "The young people at Centrepoint were always really touched by her visits and by her genuine feelings for them", said one of the charity's staff members. Prince William later became the patron of this charity.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana was a staunch and longtime supporter of charities and organisations that focused on social and mental issues, including Relate and Turning Point. Relate was relaunched in 1987 as a renewed version to its predecessor, the National Marriage Guidance Council. Diana became its patron in 1989. Turning Point, a health and social care organisation, was founded in 1964 to help and support those affected by drug and alcohol misuse and mental health problems. She became the charity's patron in 1987 and visited the charity on a regular basis, meeting the sufferers at its centres or institutions including Rampton and Broadmoor. In 1990 during a speech for Turning Point she said, "It takes professionalism to convince a doubting public that it should accept back into its midst many of those diagnosed as psychotics, neurotics and other sufferers who Victorian communities decided should be kept out of sight in the safety of mental institutions." Despite the protocol problems of travelling to a Muslim country, she made a trip to Pakistan in 1991 in order to visit a rehabilitation centre in Lahore as a sign of "her commitment to working against drug abuse".


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In November 1980, the "Sunday Mirror" ran a story claiming that Charles had used the Royal Train twice for secret love rendezvous with Diana, prompting the palace to issue a statement, calling the story "a total fabrication" and demanding an apology. The newspaper editors, however, insisted that the woman boarding the train was Diana and declined to apologise. In February 1982, pictures of a pregnant Diana in bikini while holidaying were published in the media. The Queen subsequently released a statement and called it "the blackest day in the history of British journalism."


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 1993, Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) published photographs of Diana that were taken by gym owner Bryce Taylor. The photos showed her exercising in the gym LA Fitness wearing "a leotard and cycling shorts". Diana lawyers immediately filed a criminal complaint that sought "a permanent ban on the sale and publication of the photographs" around the world. However, some newspapers outside the UK published the pictures. The courts granted an injunction against Taylor and MGN that prohibited "further publication of the pictures". MGN later issued an apology after facing much criticism from the public and gave Diana £1 million as a payment for her legal costs, while donating £200,000 to her charities. LA Fitness issued its own apology in June 1994, which was followed by Taylor apologising in February 1995 and giving up the £300,000 he had made from the sale of pictures in an out-of-court settlement about a week before the case was set to start. It was alleged that a member of the royal family had helped him financially to settle out of court.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 1994, pictures of Diana sunbathing topless at a Costa del Sol hotel were put up for sale by a Spanish photography agency for a price of £1 million. In 1996, a set of pictures of a topless Diana while sunbathing appeared in the "Mirror", which resulted in "a furor about invasion of privacy". In the same year, she was the subject of a hoax call by Victor Lewis-Smith, who pretended to be Stephen Hawking, though the full recorded conversation was never released. Also in 1996, Stuart Higgins of "The Sun" wrote a front page story about an intimate video purporting to feature Diana with James Hewitt. The video turned out to be a hoax, forcing Higgins to issue an apology.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: After her 1996 divorce, Diana retained the double apartment on the north side of Kensington Palace that she had shared with Charles since the first year of their marriage; the apartment remained her home until her death the following year. She also moved her offices to Kensington Palace but was permitted "to use the state apartments at St James's Palace". In a book published in 2003, Paul Burrell claimed Diana's private letters had revealed that her brother, Lord Spencer, had refused to allow her to live at Althorp, despite her request. She was also given an allowance to run her private office, which was responsible for her charity work and royal duties, but from September 1996 onwards she was required to pay her bills and "any expenditure" incurred by her or on her behalf. Furthermore, she continued to have access to the jewellery that she had received during her marriage, and was allowed to use the air transport of the British royal family and government. Diana was also offered security by Metropolitan Police's Royalty Protection Group, which she benefitted from while travelling with her sons, but had refused it in the final years of her life, in an attempt to distance herself from the royal family.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana dated the British-Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, who was called "the love of her life" by many of her closest friends after her death, and she is said to have described him as "Mr. Wonderful". In May 1996, Diana visited Lahore upon invitation of Imran Khan, a relative of Hasnat Khan, and visited the latter's family in secret. Khan was intensely private and the relationship was conducted in secrecy, with Diana lying to members of the press who questioned her about it. Their relationship lasted almost two years with differing accounts of who ended it. She is said to have spoken of her distress when he ended their relationship. However, according to Khan's testimony at the inquest into her death, it was Diana who ended their relationship in the summer of 1997. Burrell also said the relationship was ended by Diana in July 1997. Burrell also claimed that Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd, disapproved of her daughter's relationship with a Muslim man. By the time of Diana's death in 1997, she had not spoken to her mother in four months. By contrast, her relationship with her estranged stepmother had reportedly improved.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Within a month, Diana began a relationship with Dodi Fayed, the son of her summer host, Mohamed Al-Fayed. That summer, Diana had considered taking her sons on a holiday to the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, but security officials had prevented it. After deciding against a trip to Thailand, she accepted Fayed's invitation to join his family in the south of France, where his compound and large security detail would not cause concern to the Royal Protection squad. Mohamed Al-Fayed bought the "Jonikal", a 60-metre multimillion-pound yacht on which to entertain Diana and her sons. Tina Brown later claimed that Diana's romance with Fayed and her four-month relationship with Gulu Lalvani were a ploy "to inflame the true object of her affections, Hasnat Khan". In the years after her death, Burrell, journalist Richard Kay, and voice coach Stewart Pierce have claimed that Diana was also thinking about buying a property in the United States.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: On 31 August 1997, Diana died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris while the driver was fleeing the paparazzi. The crash also resulted in the deaths of her companion Dodi Fayed and the driver, Henri Paul, who was the acting security manager of the Hôtel Ritz Paris. Trevor Rees-Jones, who was employed as a bodyguard by Dodi's father, survived the crash, suffering a serious head injury. The televised funeral, on 6 September, was watched by a British television audience that peaked at 32.10million, which was one of the United Kingdom's highest viewing figures ever. Millions more watched the event around the world.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The sudden and unexpected death of an extraordinarily popular royal figure brought statements from senior figures worldwide and many tributes by members of the public. People left flowers, candles, cards, and personal messages outside Kensington Palace for many months. Her coffin, draped with the royal flag, was brought to London from Paris by Prince Charles and Diana's two sisters on 31 August 1997. The coffin was taken to a private mortuary and then placed in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: On 5 September, Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to her in a live television broadcast. Diana's funeral took place in Westminster Abbey on 6 September. Her sons walked in the funeral procession behind her coffin, along with her ex-husband the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, Diana's brother Lord Spencer, and representatives of some of her charities. Lord Spencer said of his sister, "She proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic." Re-written in tribute to Diana, "Candle in the Wind 1997" was performed by Elton John at the funeral service (the only occasion the song has been performed live). Released as a single in 1997, the global proceeds from the song have gone to Diana's charities.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The burial took place privately later the same day. Diana's former husband, sons, mother, siblings, a close friend, and a clergyman were present. Diana's body was clothed in a black long-sleeved dress designed by Catherine Walker, which she had chosen some weeks before. A set of rosary beads that she had received from Mother Teresa was placed in her hands. Diana's grave is on an island () within the grounds of Althorp Park, the Spencer family home for centuries.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The burial party was provided by the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, who carried Diana's coffin across to the island and laid her to rest. Diana was the Regiment's Colonel-in-Chief from 1992 to 1996. The original plan was for Diana to be buried in the Spencer family vault at the local church in nearby Great Brington, but Lord Spencer said he was concerned about public safety and security and the onslaught of visitors that might overwhelm Great Brington. He decided Diana would be buried where her grave could be easily cared for and visited in privacy by William, Harry, and other relatives.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The initial French judicial investigation concluded that the crash was caused by Paul's intoxication, reckless driving, speeding, and effects of prescription drugs. In February 1998, Mohamed Al-Fayed, father of Dodi Fayed, publicly said the crash, which killed his son, had been planned and accused MI6 and the Duke of Edinburgh. An inquest that started in London in 2004 and continued in 2007–08 attributed the crash to grossly negligent driving by Paul and to the pursuing paparazzi, who forced Paul to speed into the tunnel. On 7 April 2008, the jury returned a verdict of "unlawful killing". On the day after the final verdict of the inquest, Al-Fayed announced that he would end his 10-year campaign to establish that the tragedy was murder; he said he did so for the sake of Diana's children.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Following her death, Diana left a £21 million estate, "netting £17 million after estate taxes", which were left in the hands of trustees, her mother, and her sister, Lady Sarah. The will was signed in June 1993, but Diana had it modified in February 1996 to remove the name of her personal secretary from the list of trustees and have her sister replace him. After applying personal and inheritance taxes, a net estate of £12.9 million was left to be distributed among the beneficiaries. Her two sons subsequently inherited the majority of her estate. Each of them was left with £6.5 million which was invested and gathered substantial interest, and an estimated £10 million was given to each son upon turning 30 years old in 2012 and 2014 respectively. Many of Diana's possessions were initially left in the care of her brother who put them on show in Althorp twice a year until they were returned to the princes. They were also put on display in American museums and raised two million dollars for charities. Among the objects were her dresses and suits along with numerous family paintings, jewels and two diamond tiaras. Diana's engagement ring and her yellow gold watch were given to Harry and William, respectively. The brothers eventually exchanged mementos and William later passed the ring to his wife, Catherine Middleton. The ownership of Diana's wedding dress was also given to her sons.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In addition to her will, Diana had also written a letter of wishes in which she had asked for three-quarters of her personal property to be given to her sons, and dividing the remaining quarter (aside from the jewellery) between her 17 godchildren. Despite Diana's wishes, the executors (her mother and sister) "petitioned the probate court for a "variance" of the will", and the letter of wishes was ignored "because it did not contain certain language required by British law". Eventually, one item from Diana's estate was given to each of her godchildren, while they would have received £100,000 each, had a quarter of her estate been divided between them. The variance also prevented the estate from being distributed between her sons at the age of 25 but postponed it until they were 30. Diana also left her butler Paul Burrell around £50,000 in cash.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 1999, after the submission of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Internet news service "apbonline.com", it was revealed that Diana had been placed under surveillance by the National Security Agency until her death, and the organisation kept a top secret file on her containing more than 1,000 pages. The contents of Diana's NSA file cannot be disclosed because of national security concerns. The NSA officials insisted Diana was not a "target of [their] massive, worldwide electronic eavesdropping infrastructure." Despite multiple inquiries for the files to be declassified—with one of the notable ones being filed by Mohamed Al-Fayed—the NSA has refused to release the documents.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 2008, Ken Wharfe, a former bodyguard of Diana, claimed that her scandalous conversations with James Gilbey (commonly referred to as the Squidgygate) were in fact recorded by the GCHQ, which intentionally released them on a "loop". People close to Diana believed the action was intended to defame her. Wharfe said Diana herself believed that members of the royal family were all being monitored, though he also stated that the main reason for it could be the potential threats of the IRA.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: On the first anniversary of Diana's death, people left flowers and bouquets outside the gates of Kensington Palace and a memorial service was held at Westminster Abbey. The royal family and the Prime Minister and his family went to Crathie Kirk for private prayers, while Diana's family held a private memorial service at Althorp. All flags at Buckingham Palace and other royal residences were flown at half-mast on the Queen's orders. The Union Jack was first lowered to half-mast on the day of Diana's funeral and has set a precedent, as based on the previous protocol no flag could ever fly at half-mast over the palace "even on the death of a monarch". Since 1997, however, the Union Flag (but not the Royal Standard) has flown at half-mast upon the deaths of members of the royal family, and other times of national mourning.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: The Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium was held on 1 July 2007. The event, organised by the princes William and Harry, celebrated the 46th anniversary of their mother's birth and occurred a few weeks before the 10th anniversary of her death on 31 August. The proceeds from this event were donated to Diana's charities. On 31 August 2007, a service of thanksgiving for Diana took place in the Guards' Chapel. Among the 500 guests were members of the royal family and their relatives, members of the Spencer family, her godparents and godchildren, members of her wedding party, her close friends and aides, representatives from many of her charities, British politicians Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, and John Major, and friends from the entertainment world such as David Frost, Elton John, and Cliff Richard.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: On 19 March 2013, ten of Diana's dresses, including a midnight blue velvet gown she wore to a 1985 state dinner at the White House when she danced with John Travolta (which became known as the Travolta dress), raised over £800,000 at auction in London.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In January 2017, a series of letters that Diana and other members of the royal family had written to a Buckingham Palace steward were sold as a part of a collection titled "the private letters between a trusted butler and the royal family". The six letters that were written by Diana included information about her young sons' daily life and raised £15,100. Another collection of 40 letters written by Diana between 1990 and 1997 were sold for £67,900 at an auction in 2021.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: "Diana: Her Fashion Story", an exhibition of gowns and suits worn by Diana, was announced to be opened at Kensington Palace in February 2017 as a tribute to mark her 20th death anniversary, with her favourite dresses created by numerous fashion designers, including Catherine Walker and Victor Edelstein, being displayed. The exhibition opened on 24 February displaying a collection of 25 dresses, and was set to remain open until 2018.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Other tributes planned for the anniversary included exhibitions at Althorp hosted by Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, a series of commemorating events organised by the Diana Award, as well as restyling Kensington Gardens and creating a new section called "The White Garden" in order to symbolise Diana's life and style.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: On 31 August 2019, the Princess Diana 3D Virtual Museum was launched to mark the 22nd anniversary of Diana's death. Operated by the Princess & the Platypus Foundation, the online museum consisted of over 1,000 of Diana's items which were photographed using the techniques of virtual reality.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana remains one of the most popular members of the royal family throughout history, and she continues to influence the younger generations of royals. She was a major presence on the world stage from her engagement to Prince Charles in 1981 until her death in 1997, and was often described as the "world's most photographed woman". She was noted for her compassion, style, charisma, and high-profile charity work, as well as her ill-fated marriage. Diana's former private secretary Patrick Jephson described her as an organised and hardworking person, and pointed out Charles was not able to "reconcile with his wife's extraordinary popularity", a viewpoint supported by biographer Tina Brown. He also said she was a tough boss who was "equally quick to appreciate hard work" but could also be defiant "if she felt she had been the victim of injustice". Diana's mother also defined her as a "loving" figure who could occasionally be "tempestuous". Paul Burrell, who worked as a butler for Diana, remembered her as a "deep thinker" who was capable of "introspective analysis". She was often described as a devoted mother to her children, who are believed to be influenced by her personality and way of life.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In the early years, Diana was often noted for her shy nature. Journalist Michael White perceived her as being "smart", "shrewd and funny". Those who communicated with her closely describe her as a person who was led by "her heart". In an article for "The Guardian", Monica Ali described Diana as a woman with a strong character, who entered the royal family as an inexperienced girl and, despite being uneducated, she could handle their expectations and overcome the difficulties and sufferings of her marital life. Ali also believed that she "had a lasting influence on the public discourse, particularly in matters of mental health" by discussing her eating disorder publicly. According to Tina Brown, in her early years Diana possessed a "passive power", a quality that in her opinion she shared with the Queen Mother and a trait that would enable her to instinctively use her appeal to achieve her goals. Brown also believed that Diana was capable of charming people with a single glance.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana was widely known for her encounters with sick and dying patients, and the poor and unwanted whom she used to comfort, an action that earned her more popularity. She was mindful of people's thoughts and feelings, and later revealed her wish to become a beloved figure among the people, saying in her 1995 interview, that "[She would] like to be a queen of people's hearts, in people's hearts." Known for her easygoing attitude, she reportedly hated formality in her inner circle, asking "people not to jump up every time she enters the room". Diana is often credited with widening the range of charity works carried out by the royal family in a more modern style. Eugene Robinson of "The Washington Post" wrote in an article that "Diana imbued her role as royal princess with vitality, activism and, above all, glamour." Alicia Carroll of "The New York Times" described Diana as "a breath of fresh air" who was the main reason the royal family was known in the United States. In Anthony Holden's opinion, Diana was "visibly reborn" after her separation from Charles, a point in her life that was described by Holden as her "moment of triumph", which put her on an independent path to success.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Biographer Sarah Bradford commented, "The only cure for her suffering would have been the love of the Prince of Wales, which she so passionately desired, something which would always be denied her. His was the final rejection; the way in which he consistently denigrated her reduced her to despair." Despite all the marital issues and scandals, Diana continued to enjoy a high level of popularity in the polls while her husband was suffering from low levels of public approval. Her peak popularity rate in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 2012 was 47%. Highly regarded by the LGBT community due to her work with gay men suffering from AIDS, Diana is considered to be a gay icon.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana had become what Prime Minister Tony Blair called the "People's Princess", an iconic national figure. He had reportedly said that she had shown the nation "a new way to be British". Her sudden death brought an unprecedented spasm of grief and mourning, and subsequently a crisis arose in the Royal Household. Andrew Marr said that by her death she "revived the culture of public sentiment", while "The Guardian"s Matthew d'Ancona dubbed Diana "the queen of the realm of feeling" and said that "the impassioned aftermath of her death was a bold punctuation mark in a new national narrative that favoured disinhibition, empathy and personal candour." Her brother, the Earl Spencer, captured her role:


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity. All over the world, a standard bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a very British girl who transcended nationality. Someone with a natural nobility who was classless and who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: In 1997, Diana was one of the runners-up for "Time" magazine's Person of the Year. In 1999, "Time" magazine named Diana one of the . In 2002, Diana ranked third on the BBC's poll of the "100 Greatest Britons", above the Queen and other British monarchs. In 2003, VH1 ranked her at number nine on its 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons list, which recognises "the folks that have significantly inspired and impacted American society". In 2006, the Japanese public ranked Diana twelfth in "The Top 100 Historical Persons in Japan". In 2018, Diana ranked fifteenth on the "BBC History"s poll of 100 Women Who Changed the World. In 2020, "Time" magazine included Diana's name on its list of 100 Women of the Year. She was chosen as the Woman of the Year 1987 for her efforts in de-stigmatising the conditions surrounding HIV/AIDS patients.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Despite being regarded as an iconic figure and a popular member of the royal family, Diana was subject to criticism during her life. Patrick Jephson, her private secretary of eight years, wrote in an article in "The Daily Telegraph" that "[Diana] had an extra quality that frustrated her critics during her lifetime and has done little to soften their disdain since her death". Diana was criticised by philosophy professor Anthony O'Hear who in his notes argued that she was unable to fulfill her duties, her reckless behaviour was damaging the monarchy, and she was "self-indulgent" in her philanthropic efforts. Following his remarks, charity organisations that were supported by Diana defended her, and Peter Luff called O'Hear's comments "distasteful and inappropriate". Further criticism surfaced as she was accused of using her public profile to benefit herself, which in return "demeaned her royal office". Diana's unique type of charity work, which sometimes included physical contact with people affected by serious diseases occasionally had a negative reaction in the media.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Diana's relationship with the press and the paparazzi has been described as "ambivalent". On different occasions she would complain about the way she was being treated by the media, mentioning that their constant presence in her proximity had made life impossible for her, whereas at other times she would seek their attention and hand information to reporters herself. Writing for "The Guardian", Peter Conrad suggested that it was Diana who let the journalists and paparazzi into her life as she knew they were the source of her power; thus, she "overburdened herself with public duties" and destroyed the border between private and public life. This view was supported by Christopher Hitchens, who believed that "in pursuit of a personal solution to an unhappy private life, she became an assiduous leaker to the press". Tina Brown argued that Diana was in no way "a vulnerable victim of media manipulation", and she found it "offensive to present the canny, resourceful Diana as a woman of no agency, as either a foolish, duped child or the hapless casualty of malevolent muckrakers". Nevertheless, Diana also used the media's interest in her to shine light on her charitable efforts and patronages.


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

text: Sally Bedell Smith characterised Diana as unpredictable, egocentric, and possessive. Smith also argued that in her desire to do charity works, Diana was "motivated by personal considerations, rather than by an ambitious urge to take on a societal problem". Eugene Robinson, however, said that "[Diana] was serious about the causes she espoused". According to Sarah Bradford, Diana looked down on the House of Windsor, whom she reportedly viewed "as jumped-up foreign princelings" and called them "the Germans". Some observers, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, characterised her as a manipulative person. Blair also described Diana as "extraordinarily captivating" but an "unpredictable meteor" whose death was a "turning point" for the monarchy. After her death, it was revealed that Diana had been in discussion with Blair about a special role that would provide a government platform for her campaigns and charities to make her capable of endorsing Britain's interests overseas.