Born on July 1st, 1961, Diana wasn't that intellectually gifted as a child. But she had other qualities that more than adequately compensated for her scholarly deficiencies, most outstanding of which was compassion.
Painfully shy and lonely, she felt instant compassion for others suffering the same plight. She could often be found comforting a tearful child, even though she was little more than a child herself.
Diana grew up to be a witty, beautiful and charismatic lady. And she became widely adored when she married into the British royal family. Her innate ability to understand and empathise with ordinary people, especially with the desperately sick, the rejected and the 'unloved', endeared her to many people.
After she became a mother of two sons, she wanted them to know the realities of life, so she took them on visits to hostels for the homeless and people dying of AIDS, hoping they would gain an understanding of people's emotions, insecurities, distress, hopes and dreams.
Unhappily, Diana's marriage went through some rocky patches and ended in divorce in 1996. Perhaps that was why she said these words that I want to make my own:
I've learned so much over the last years. From now on, I'm going to own myself and be true to myself. I no longer want to live someone else's idea of what and who I should be. I'm going to be me.When she died in a road accident in 1997, there was an outpouring of grief, a testament to her impact. Several world leaders mourned for her. Bill Clinton remembered her humanitarian activities, and Nelson Mandela remembered her burning desire to assist HIV-positive children in South Africa.
Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, eulogized her as unique, complex, extraordinary and irreplaceable - the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty - someone who needed no royal title to continue generating her particular brand of magic. Long live the spirit of Princess Diana!
********************
RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy a story on "The Sister I Never Had".
