Diana, Princess

Diana, Princess (1961-1997), Princess of Wales. Diana was born Diana Frances Spencer in Sandringham, Norfolk, England. She was educated at Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk, and West Heath School in Kent.

From 1979 until 1981 Diana worked as a kindergarten teacher in London. On February 24, 1981, her engagement to Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, was announced. They were married in Saint Paul’s Cathedral in an internationally televised ceremony on July 29, 1981. The couple had two sons: Prince William Arthur Philip Louis (born June 21, 1982) and Prince Henry Charles Albert David (born September 15, 1984).

By the late 1980s the strains in the marriage had been widely publicized, and in December 1992 a separation was announced. By that time Diana had adopted charity work as her royal duty. She withdrew from public activities for about four months in 1993 in an effort to avoid the negative publicity focused on her separation from Prince Charles.

After that, Diana actively supported many charities related to homeless and deprived children, drug abuse, and victims of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In 1987 Diana shocked many people when she shook the hand of an AIDS patient. She was the vice president of the British Red Cross and served as a member of the International Red Cross advisory board. In August 1996 Diana and Charles were legally divorced. A year later Diana was killed in an automobile accident in Paris, France.