No discussion of Princess Diana would be complete without talking about how she truly changed the world for the better during her all-too-short life. While people mention the tragedies in her life and her iconic fashion that inspires thousands to this day, almost everyone talks way she was truly the “People’s Princess” when it came to her humanitarian efforts.
In Diana: In Her Own Words, she was quoted saying, “I remember saying to myself, ‘Right, Diana. It’s not good. You’ve got to change it right round, with this publicity . . . . You’ve been chosen to this position, so you must adapt to it and stop fighting it.’ And I knew I could do it, if I chose a different angle.”
She said this after she decided she wanted to use her platform for good, and soon after, she did one of the most legendary acts in her time as a royal: shaking hands with a patient diagnosed with AIDS.
After that, she was on a mission: to change the world and show love to those who needed it most. She truly changed the world in so many ways, and today, we want to take a walk down memory lane.
She Fought for the Worldwide Ban of Landmines
One of Princess Diana’s most iconic causes, and one of the most inspiring ways she changed the world was her ardent work on banning landmines. Throughout the last years of her life, she put the spotlight on Angola and its landmines, along with the people heavily affected by it, and today, people still focus on banning the landmines!
She Shook Hands With & Worked Raising Awareness for AIDS Patients
Princess Diana did a revolutionary act by shaking hands with someone who had AIDS, something unheard of when the crisis was at its peak. At the time, there was so much misinformation that people thought that if you even touched someone with AIDS, you’d get it. Diana decided to dedicate a lot of her time to raising both awareness and educational matters for the cause.
She Raised Awareness for Those Affected by Leprosy
Not only was Princess Diana the Patron of The Leprosy Mission England and Wales, but during her trip to Angola, she raised awareness for leprosy like she did with the HIV/AIDS crisis. During her time there, she sat with the leprosy patients in the hospital, and touched their wounds to raise awareness.
She Talked Openly About Mental Health
While many know her iconic interview with the BBC, where she openly talked about her marriage troubles and mental health, but mental health was extremely important to her. She was a patron of multiple charities that focused on it, along with speaking at Turning Point’s conference in June of 1993 about women’s mental health, per Healthline.
Her Patronage for Centrepoint Was Game-Changing
One of the biggest causes that was near and dear to Princess Diana was helping those affected by homelessness, and thus, she became a Patron of Centrepoint. In 1992, she became a patron of Centrepoint to help young people obtain a brighter future. The spotlight put on poverty and homelessness truly changed the world.
She Made Many Visits to Homeless Centers
Going off of that, she would make frequent personal visits to homeless centers around the UK to bring further awareness and give the children company.
She Worked Tirelessly With Cancer Trusts
When Princess Diana became the president of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation hospital in 1989, she opened the Wolfson Children’s Cancer Unit and even raised over £1 million for cancer research, per Historic Newspapers.
