biography
| name: |
Diana, Princess of Wales
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formerly Lady Diana (Frances) Spencer
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| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (1961–97)
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| biography:
| Former wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and youngest daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer, born at Sandringham, Norfolk, E England, UK. She was educated in Norfolk, and at West Heath School, Sevenoaks, Kent. She became Lady Diana Spencer when her father succeeded to the earldom in 1975, and worked as a kindergarten teacher in Pimlico before marrying the Prince of Wales to great popular acclaim in 1981. They had two sons, Prince William (Arthur Philip Louis) (1982– ) and Prince Henry (Charles Albert David) (1984– ), known as Prince Harry. Seriously interested in social concerns, she became a popular public figure in her own right, and was honorary president of many charities, particularly those caring for the homeless, deprived and sick children, and people suffering from AIDS. Through her visit to Angola, she raised public awareness of the Red Cross campaign for a world ban on landmines. The royal couple were legally separated in 1992, and divorced in 1996. She continued to travel and work with a range of good causes, both in Britain and abroad, while receiving unprecedented worldwide media attention, with newspapers competing to report on her family situation and on her (real or imaginary) personal relationships; and it was while trying to escape the pursuit of paparazzi in Paris that she died in a car accident in August 1997. Thousands of people flocked to London for her funeral, which took place amid an unprecedented level of public mourning. |
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