Pinks Mag 003

wearing a plastic vizor while standing in an
only partially cleared minefield in Angola
(PICTURED FAR LEFT) did more to highlight
the issue of landmines than any previous
campaign on the issue.
Following the trip, the representatives of
122 governments met in Ottowa, and
agreed a ban on the use of anti-personnel
landmines. When Foreign Secretary of the
time Robin Cook brought the second
reading of the landmines bill to the house
in 1998, he made a point of paying tribute
to Diana's contribution.
Decades after she mounted her
commitment to the mines clearence work,
pulling the public's attention onto the
issue, the support for the cause continues.
Her son, HRH Prince Harry, who is now
patron of leading landmine charity, the
HALO Trust, recently called for the world to
become free of the weapons by 2025.
As patron of The Leprosy Mission, she
visited hospitals in India, Nepal and
Zimbabwe, where she was pictured and
filmed spending time with patients,
holding their hands and dispelling the
myth that the illness can be passed on
by touch.
Hom eless young people
Diana was patron and a regular visitor
to the charity Centrepoint up until her
death in 1997. Despite her royal
lifestyle, she was not afraid to meet
those directly affected, and is even
known to have gone onto the streets
one night and spoken to rough
sleepers.
Diana w it h Mot her Theresa; June 1997
In February 1992 the Princess visited
Mother Teresa's Hospice for the Sick and
Dying in Kolkata, India, and visited every
one of the 50 patients who were close to
death. In Rome shortly afterwards, and
later in London and New York, she met
Mother Teresa and the two formed a strong
personal connection.
At the time of her death Princess Diana
remained official patron of Royal Marsden
NHS Trust (a cancer fund); Great er
Orm ond St reet Children?s Hospit al,
London; the Nat ional AIDS Trust (an
umbrella for a wide array of AIDS causes in
the United Kingdom); The Leprosy
Mission; the English Nat ional Ballet ; and
Cent repoint Soho (which provides services
to homeless youth). In addition, the
Princess was closely associated at the time
of her death with The Brit ish Red Cross
Ant i-Personnel Land Mines Cam paign
(technically, Diana?s official patronage of
the Land Mines Campaign ended in 1996,
but it remained one of her most active
causes in the last year of her life).
LANDMINES
The image of Diana in a white shirt, beige
trousers and brown leather loafers and
Sick Children
As patron of Great Ormond Street Hospital
for Children and The Royal Marsden
Hospital, known for treating cancerous
children. Diana was often pictured
comforting sick youngsters.
Today, HRH Prince William continues her
legacy, as president of the Royal Marsden
Hospital, the same renowned cancer
institution his mother represented from the
years of 1989 until her untimely death in
1997.
AIDS and HIV
Princess DIana was a crucial figurehead in
lifting the stigma once associated with AIDS
and HIV victims. In April 1987, she opened
the UK's first purpose built HIV/AIDS unit
that exclusively cared for patients infected
with the virus, at London Middlesex
Hospital.
A famous image from the event of her
shaking the hand of a sufferer without
gloves, despite widespread caution at the
time about how the disease was
transmitted, played a revolutionary role in
convincing the public that touching
sufferers was alright.
"HIV does not make people dangerous to
know. You can shake their hand and give
them a hug heaven knows they need it."
She told cameras at the time.
Leprosy
Similar to her AIDS efforts,
Diana travelled to countries with a high
leprosy rate in a bid to remove the stigma
surrounding the disease.
9 THINGS YOU PROBABLY
DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT DIANA
1) She refused to raise her
children in a Royal manner.
2) Her wedding dress had the
longest train in Royal history.
3) She chose her 12ct Engagement
Ring from a catalogue.
4) She didn't get good grades in
school.
5) She aspired to be a ballerina.
6) She auctioned 79 of her Royal
dresses.
7) Her buriel place is an island.
8) She altered her wedding vows.
9) She battled with Bullemia and
Depression.