A cup of novelty

Audio: Medium

For most of us, Princess Diana has been an example of empathy, love for people, and the strength to open up about topics that are no longer taboo today. She is the one who left us a rare treasure to the whole world.

All the work she did to make people aware that life has priority, that sick people should not be removed, and that bulimia should not be taboo, was not in vain. She was one of the few personalities in the world who opened the minds of people around the world and left behind a treasure for her two sons to develop even more. And to be honest, I think they do a very good job.
Princess Diana’s death was a shock to the whole world. I was a very young child, I was around 5 years old and I don’t think I understood much at that time, but growing up, I ignited this passion for the princess’ life and all the things she did to change society.

After marrying Prince Charles, Princess Diana had a great impact on the world, because now she was in a position to do something, to change mindsets and hearts. In a world where AIDS ( in the mid-80s people were terrified) and leprosy were stigmatized diseases, she had the courage to show that even the most fallen deserve love and kindness. Despite the fact she was pretty shy at the beginning, she was strong and anchored in all she wanted to achieve.
I came to a conclusion a few years ago that without hope nothing seems to make sense. Without hope, you no longer feel that you have to fight, that nothing is waiting for you on the other side of the road. But hope gives you meaning in whatever happens to you, and Lady Di did just that, gave hope where it might have been lost, and opened new horizons for those waiting for their route on this earth to end as soon as possible.

In 1997 princess Diana visited Angola, a country with severe problems with landmines. Being involved with British Red Cross for many years, they supported her trip to the Huambo province. There she came across HALO Trust who were trying to clean the landmines since 1994. As a parenthesis, I would like to specify that in 2002 the civil war in Angola ended but it will always remain the most heavily landmine-contaminated country. Her walk on the landmines and watching the kids who lost their limbs were so touching for her and for all of us.

Although she always had the status of a princess and quite a lot of influence, she did not change her attitude towards her people even outside the cameras. She always had time to spend some moments with each patient and change a few words. She was a sincere and open-hearted woman, although in her own marriage she could not change anything.
The royal family was in decline when Princess Diana appeared in the picture, and she was also the one who broke down many outdated protocols and made the royal family closer to people and to exist today.

She wanted her children to understand the world the way she did and in an interview in 1995 for BBC Panorama Interview, she said: ”I want them to have an understanding of people’s emotions, people’s insecurities, people’s distress, and people’s hopes and dreams”. I don’t consider that she ever did it for fame or for a certain position somewhere, but I consider that everything she did for people but also for her two sons deserves all the praise. And she didn’t just limit herself to those in hospitals suffering from the disease, but she made sure that the homeless knew they weren’t forgotten.

Based on TIME, ”Diana remained the patron of the Leprosy Mission England and Wales till her death in 1997. In a bid to dispel the myth that the illness could be spread by touch, she was filmed in 1989 shaking hands and touching the bandaged wounds of leprosy patients on her first visit to Indonesia, according to the Leprosy Mission”. She did not let Prince William and Prince Harry grow in their royal bubble but even took them to visit AIDS patients and gave them an education that even the royal family may not have had. Ignorance has never been a part of her life and if she had been with us today, I think she would have continued to be the same people’s princess.

DEEA OLIVIA

Sources: time.com