The Shadow of Di’s Smile

CHILDHOOD AND TEENAGE YEARS
Diana, Princess of Wales, formerly Lady Diana Frances Spencer, was born on 1 July 1961 at Park House near Sandringbam, Norfolk. She was the youngest daughter of the then Viscount and Viscountess Althorp, now the late (8th) Earl Spencer and the Hon. Mrs Shand-Kydd, daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy. Earl Spencer was Equerry to George VI from 1950 to 1952, and to The Queen from 1952 to 1954. Lady Diana's parents, who had married in 1954, separated in 1967 and the marriage was dissolved in 1969. Ear! Spencer later married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth in 1976.
Together with her two elder sisters Sarah (born 1955), Jane (born 1957) and her younger brother Charles (born 1964), Lady Diana continued to five with her father at Park House, Sandringham, until the death of her grandfather, the 7th Earl Spencer. In 1975, the family moved to the Spencer family seat at Althorp (a stately house dating from 1508) in Northamptonshire, in the English Midlands.

Lady Diana was educated first at a preparatory school, Riddlesworth Hail at Diss, Norfolk, and then in 1974 went as a boarder to West Heath, near Sevenoaks, Kent. At school she showed a particular tafent for music (as an accomplished pianist), dancing and domestic science, and gained the school's award for the girl giving maximum help to the school and her schoolfellows. She left West Heath in 1977 and went to finishing school at the Institut Alpin Videmanette in Rougemont, Switzerland, which she left after the Easter term of 1978. The following year she moved to a flat in Coleherne Court, London. For a while she looked after the child of an American couple, and she worked as a kindergarten teacher at the Young England School in Pimitco.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

On 24 February 1981 it was officially announced that Lady Diana was to marry The Prince of Wales. As neighbours at Sandringham until 1975, their families had known each other for many years, and Lady Diana and the The Prince had met again when he was invited to a weekend at Althorp in November 1977.

They were married at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981, in a ceremony which drew a global television and radio audience estimated at around 1,000 million people, and hundreds of thousands of people lining the route from Buckingham Palace to the Cathedral. The wedding reception was at Buckingham Palace.

The marriage was solemnised by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Runcie, together with the Dean of St Paul's; clergy from other denominations read prayers. Music included the hymns 'Christ is made the sure foundation', 'I vow to thee my country1, the anthem 'I was glad' (by Sir Hubert Parry), a specially composed anthem 'Let the people praise thee' by Professor Mathias, and Handel's 'Let the bright seraphim' performed by Dame Kiri te Kanawa. The lesson was read by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Mr George Thomas (the iate Lord Tonypandy).

The Princess was the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne
for 300 years (when Lady Anne Hyde married the future James II from whom the Princess was descended). The bride wore a silk taffeta dress with a 25-foot train designed by the Emanuels, her veil was held in place by the Spencer family diamond tiara, and she carried a bouquet of gardenias, !ilies-of-the-valley, white freesia, golden roses, white orchids and stephanotis. She was attended by five bridesmaids including Princess Margaret's daughter Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (now Lady Sarah Chatto); Prince Andrew (now The Duke of York) and Prince Edward were The Prince of Waies's supporters (a Royal custom instead of a best man).
The Prince and Princess of Waies spent part of their honeymoon at the Mountbatten family home at Broadlands, Hampshire, before flying to Gibraltar to join the Royal Yacht HMY BRITANNIA for a 12-day cruise through the Mediterranean to Egypt. They finished their honeymoon with a stay at Balmoral.

The Prince and Princess made their principal home at Highgrove House nearTetbury, Gloucestershire, and shared an apartment in Kensington Palace.
The Princess of Wales had two sons. Prince William Arthur Philip Louis was born on 21 June 1982 and Prince Henry (Harry) Charles Albert David on 15 September 1984, both at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in London. The Princess had seventeen godchildren.

In December 1992 it was announced that The Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate. The Princess based her household and her office at Kensington Palace, while The Prince was based at St James's Palace and continued to live at Highgrove.
In November 1995, the Princess gave a television interview during which she spoke of her unhappiness in her personal life and the pressures of her public role. The Prince and Princess were divorced on 28 August 1996.
The Prince and Princess continued to share equal responsibility for the upbringing of their children. The Princess, as the mother of Prince William (second in line to the throne), continued to be regarded as a member of the Royal family. The Queen, The Prince and The Princess of Wales agreed that the Princess was to be known after the divorce as Diana, Princess of Wales, without the style of 'Her Royal Highness1 (as the Princess was given the style 'HRH1 on marriage she would therefore be expected to give it up on divorce). The Princess continued to live at Kensington Palace, with her office based there.

PUBLIC ROLE
After her marriage, The Princess of Wales quickly became involved in the official duties of the Royal family. Her first tour with The Prince was a three-day visit to Wales in October 1981. In 1983 she accompanied The Prince on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and they took the infant Prince William with them. Prince William, with Prince Harry, again joined The Prince and Princess at the end of their tour to Italy in 1985. Other official overseas visits undertaken with The Prince included Australia (for the bicentenary celebrations in 1988), Brazil, India, Canada, Nigeria, Cameroon, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Japan (for the enthronement of Emperor Akihito). Their last joint overseas visit was to South Korea in 1992.
The Princess's first official visit overseas on her own was in September 1982, when she represented The Queen at the state funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco. The Princess's first solo overseas tour was in February 1984 when she travelled to Norway to attend a performance of Carmen by the London City Ballet, of which she was patron. The Princess subsequently visited many countries including Germany, the United States, Pakistan, Switzerland, Hungary, Egypt, Belgium, France, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nepal.

The Princess's first official visit overseas on her own was in September 1982, when she represented The Queen at the state funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco. The Princess's first solo overseas tour was in February 1984 when she travelled to Norway to attend a performance of Carmen by the London City Ballet, of which she was patron. The Princess subsequently visited many countries including Germany, the United States, Pakistan, Switzerland, Hungary, Egypt, Belgium, France, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nepal.

Although the Princess was renowned for her style and was closely associated with the fashion world, patronising and raising the profile of younger British designers, she was best known for her charitable work.
During her marriage, the Princess was president or patron of over 100 charities. The Princess did much to publicise work on behalf of homeless and also disabled people, children and people with HIV/Aids.

In December 1993, the Princess announced that she would be reducing the extent of her public life in order to combine 'a meaningful public role with a more private life1.After her separation from The Prince, the Princess continued to appear With the Royal family on major national occasions, such as the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) and VJ (Victory over Japan) Days in 1995.
Following her divorce, the Princess resigned most of her charity and other patronages, and

relinquished ail her Service appointments with military units. The Princess remained as patron of Centrepoint (homeless charity), English National Ballet, Leprosy Mission and National Aids Trust, and as President of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street and of the Royal Marsden Hospital. In June 1997, the Princess attended receptions in London and New York as previews of the sale of a number of dresses and suits worn by her on official engagements, with the proceeds going to charity.
The Princess spent her 36th and last birthday on 1 July 1997 attending the Tate Gailery's 100th Anniversary celebrations. Her last official engagement in Britain was on 21 July, when she visited Northwick Park Hospital, London (children's accident and emergency unit).
In the year before her death, the Princess was an active campaigner for a ban on the manufacture and use of land mines. In January 1997, she visited Angola as part of her campaign, in June, the Princess spoke at the landmines conference at the Royal Geographical Society in London, and this was followed by a visit to Washington DC in the United States on 17/18 June to promote the American Red Cross landmines campaign (separately, she also met Mother Teresa in The Bronx). The Princess's last public engagements were during her visit to Bosnia from 7 to 10 August, when she visited landmine projects in Travnic, Sarajevo and Zenezica,
It was in recognition of her charity work that representatives of the charities with which she worked during her life were invited to walk behind her coffin with her family from St James's Palace to Westminster Abbey on the day of her funeral

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund
In the wake of the Princess of Wales's premature death, a Memorial Fund was established to receive charitable donations from members of the public. Its goal is to commemorate the life of the Princess and to support the causes with which she was associated. The administration of the Fund, an independent charity, was initially coordinated by the Office ofDiana, Princess of Wales at Kensington Palace. The Fund's office is due to move to offices at County Hall, London, in the autumn.
The first disbursements, totalling 313 million, were made from the Fund in March 1998. The six causes of which the Princess of Wales was either patron or president at the time of her death each received grants of about Jl million ($1.6 million). These were: Centrepoint, the English National Ballet, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, The Leprosy Mission, the National AIDS Trust and the Royal Marsden National Health Service Hospital Trust.

The Osteopathic Centre for Children, for whose new centre the Princess was to have launched the 'Sweet Pea Appeal' in September 1997, also received a grant of 31 million. A simitar amount will also be apportioned amongst organisations concerned with land mine issues.
The Trustees further set aside around 35 million (38 million) to be shared between the 95 charitable causes with which the Princess had previously been involved. These organisations are being asked to submit proposals to the Fund based on projects for 'vulnerable young people', 'children', 'the socially excluded' and 'survivors'.

In }une 1998, the Memorial Fund announced grants totalling over 3548,000 to 10 charity projects: Seeability (formerly the Royal School for the Blind), Disability Sports England, Chicken Shed Theatre Company, RELATE National, HEADWAY (National Head Injuries Association), the British Lung Foundation, Freshfield Service (street drug agency in Cornwall), Barnardos UK, Barnardos Australia and Barnardos New Zealand.
A further series of grants totalling over 3532,000 were announced later in the same month for the following projects: the Aids charity London Lighthouse, the St Matthew Society (towards the building of a house for homeless people in Norfolk), the Passage (for refurbishing a building in London for homeless people), Refuge (for counselling women and child victims of domestic violence), British Youth Opera (for young people to perform in the 1998 Princess of Wales Summer Season), Gloucestershire County Cricket Club (for a sporting education centre to introduce cricket to disadvantaged young people), Childline, Scottish Pre-School Play Association, Chester Summer Music Festival (for its education outreach programme) and the Albany (for an arts education project for a deprived area of southeast London).
The Memorial Fund has also awarded a 31 million grant to Park House in the surroundings of the Sandringham Estate in west Norfolk. Park House is a specially designed hotel for disabled people run by the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, and the grant will be used to develop a day care centre and a domiciliary care service for disabled people in the local community.

The Memorial Fund has also awarded a 31 million grant to Park House in the surroundings of the Sandringham Estate in west Norfolk. Park House is a specially designed hotel for disabled people run by the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, and the grant will be used to develop a day care centre and a domiciliary care service for disabled people in the local community.
The Memorial Fund has also awarded a 31 million grant to Park House in the surroundings of the Sandringham Estate in west Norfolk. Park House is a specially designed hotel for disabled people run by the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, and the grant will be used to develop a day care centre and a domiciliary care service for disabled people in the local community.
Sinces its beginning in 1997, the memorial fund has continued to give grants to charities and similar organisations as a 'living memorial' to Diana, Princess of Wales.
Money from the Fund is not being used to meet the costs of memorial projects for the Princess which have been approved by the Memorial Committee.
For information on making a donation to the Fund, or for enquiries about proposed events,
funding, naming requests and commercial products linked with the Princess's name or her
image, please contact:

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Committee
The Memorial Committee was established in December 1997 to advise the government as to how the life of the Princess of Wales can best be commemorated, complementing the work of the Memorial Fund. The Committee has taken into account the views of members of the public, and has regard to the charities and causes supported by the Princess. It received more than 10,000 suggestions for appropriate memorials to the life and work of the Princess.
The Committee was chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the Minister responsible for the Treasury, the British equivalent of the Ministry of Finance) Gordon Brown. The other nine members were the Lord Chamberlain Lord Camoys, representing the Royal Household; the Princess's sister. Lady Sarah McCorquodale, representing Earl Spencer (who also attends when he is in Great Britain) and the Princess's family; the film producer Lord Attenborough; Paul Burrell, the Princess's butler; Baroness Chalker, the former Minister for Overseas Development; the television presenter Diane Louise Jordan; the solicitor Anthony Julius; The Hon. Rosa Monckton, one of the Princess's friends; and charities representative Jane Tewson.

The Committee announced four commemoration projects, which are in varying stages of completion:
Community children's nursing teams have been developed to support children with life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses, and their families, in their own homes (with the Government meeting the costs).
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award for children aged 11 to 18 years recognises outstanding community service and children who have overcome personal problems.
A commemorative 35 coin was issued on 1 July 1999, the anniversary of the Princess's birthday.
A programme to commemorate the Princess in the Royal Parks is well underway. The children's playground to the north of Kensington Palace has been improved (particularly for disabled children). There is also a special 'Walk for Diana' linking four royal London parks: Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park and St James's Park. The last component is a fountain in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, which will be built on a site already selected in Hyde Park.

DEATH
The tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales occurred on Sunday, 31 August 1997 following a car accident in Paris, France. The vehicle in which the Princess was travelling was involved in a high-speed accident in the Place de I'Alma underpass in central Paris shortly before midnight on Saturday, 30 August. The Princess was taken to the La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, where she underwent two hours of emergency surgery before being declared dead at 0300 BST. The Princess's companion, Mr Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the vehicle died in the accident, whilst a bodyguard was seriously injured.
The Princess's body was subsequently repatriated to the United Kingdom in the evening of Sunday, 31 August by a BAe 146 aircraft of the Royai Squadron. The Prince of Wales and the Princess's elder sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, accompanied the Princess's coffin on its return journey. Upon arrival at RAF Northolt, the coffin, draped with a Royal Standard, was removed from the aircraft and transferred to a waiting hearse by a bearer party from The Queen's Colour Squadron of the RAF. The Prime Minister was among those in the reception party.

From RAF Northolt the coffin was taken to a private mortuary in London, so that the necessary legal formalities could be completed. Shortly after midnight, it was moved to the Chape! Royal in St James's Palace, where it lay privately until the funeral on Saturday, 6 September, in Westminster Abbey. The Princess's family and friends visited the Chapel to pay their respects.
Following the funeral service, the coffin then was taken by road to the family estate at Althorp for a private interment. The Princess was buried in sanctified ground on an island in the centre of an ornamental lake.

THE FUNERAL
The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales took place on Saturday, 6 September, in Westminster Abbey. It began at 11.00 a.m. and lasted for about one hour.
Before moving in Procession to the Abbey for the service, the
Princess's coffin had lain at the Chapel Royal, within St James's
Palace, until the evening before the funeral. It was then moved to the Princess's apartment at Kensington Palace, where it remainedovernight. The Bishop of London and the Sub-Dean of the Chapeis Royal kept a candlelit vigil of prayer over the Princess's coffin throughout the night.
On the morning of the funeral her coffin was borne in Procession from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey. Her brother, Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry, The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Edinburgh, joined the Procession in The Mall and walked behind the coffin to the Abbey.
Following the service, the Princess's coffin was taken by road to the Spencer family home at Althorp for private burial in sanctified ground on an island in the centre of an ornamental lake. The grave faces east, towards the rising sun.
The Althorp estate was opened to members of the public who wished to view the lake where the Princess is buried, from 1 July 1998 to 30 August 1998.
Books of Condolence were opened for signing at St James's Palace and at Kensington Palace until 21 September. The Books were then offered to the Spencer family. Some 580,000 condolence messages sent electronically in the week after the Princess's death were also offered to the Princess's family.
It was estimated that 31 miflion people in Britain and two and a half billion people around the worid watched the funeral on television,

The Althorp estate was opened to members of the public who wished to view the lake where the Princess is buried, from 1 July 1998 to 30 August 1998.
Books of Condolence were opened for signing at St James's Palace and at Kensington Palace until 21 September. The Books were then offered to the Spencer family. Some 580,000 condolence messages sent electronically in the week after the Princess's death were also offered to the Princess's family.
It was estimated that 31 miflion people in Britain and two and a half billion people around the worid watched the funeral on television,

OUTLINE OF FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS
Movement of the coffin to St James's Palace
Following completion of the coroner's formalities, the coffin was taken to the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace in the early hours of Monday, 1 September, where it remained until the night of Friday, 5 September. It was then moved to rest overnight in the Princess's apartment at Kensington Palace.

Procession to Westminster Abbey
The Procession began from Kensington Palace on the morning of Saturday, 6 September at 9.08 a.m. The Princess's coffin, borne on a gun carnage of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, and escorted on foot by a bearer party from the Welsh Guards and by mounted police, was taken to Westminster Abbey along a route lined by tens of thousands of mourners. The route passed Hyde Park, where many thousands more watched the Procession and service on two giant screens. At Hyde Park Corner, the Procession passed under Wellington Arch before moving into Constitution Hill. The Queen led members of the Royal family in paying their respects outside Buckingham Palace. Earf Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry, The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Edinburgh joined the Procession in The Mall, together with 500 charity representatives, to walk behind the coffin on its journey to Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey to Althorp
The funeral cortnge travelled to Althorp by road. Family members travelled to Northamptonshire separately on board the Royal Train.

Committal and interment
The coffin was subsequently interred in a private ceremony at Althorp in the afternoon of the same day as the funeral, in sanctified ground on a small island in the centre of a tranquil ornamental fake.
The Althorp estate was opened to members of the public who wished to view the lake where the Princess is buried, from 1 July 1998 to 30 August 1998.

The Queen spoke to the nation live at 6.00 p.m. on Friday, 5 September, from the Chinese Dining Room at Buckingham Palace.
Since last Sunday's dreadful news we have seen, throughout Britain and around the world, an overwhelming expression of sadness at Diana's death.
We have ail been trying in our different ways to cope. It is not easy to express a sense of loss, since the initial shock is often succeeded by a mixture of other feelings: disbelief, incomprehension, anger - and concern for those who remain. We have all felt those emotions in these last few days. So what I say to you now, as your Queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.
First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her - for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys. This week at Balmoral, we have al! been trying to help William and Harry come to terms with the devastating loss that they and the rest of us have suffered.

First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her - for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys. This week at Balmoral, we have al! been trying to help William and Harry come to terms with the devastating loss that they and the rest of us have suffered.

No-one who knew Diana will ever forget her. Millions of others who never met her, but felt they knew her, wil! remember her. I for one believe there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death. I share in your determination to cherish her memory.
This is also an opportunity for me, on behaff of my family, and especially Prince Charles and William and Harry, to thank all of you who have brought flowers, sent messages and paid your respects in so many ways to a remarkable person. These acts of kindness have been a huge source of help and comfort.

Our thoughts are also with Diana's family and the families of those who died with her. I know that they too have drawn strength from what has happened since last weekend, as they seek to heal their sorrow and then to face the future without a loved one.
I hope that tomorrow we can all, wherever we are, join in expressing our grief at Diana's loss, and gratitude for her all-too-short life. It is a chance to show to the whole world the British nation united in grief and respect.
May those who died rest in peace and may we, each and every one of us, thank God for someone who made many, many people happy.