Earl’s praise: Winners are so inspiring, like my sister
THE winners of this year’s Diana Legacy Awards tackled “gritty” social issues just like she would have done, said her brother Earl Spencer.
Presenting 20 inspirational young people with the prestigious accolade, he told them: “All of you who have won tonight are doing things that aren’t easy at all.
“There are many different strands of charity and you have chosen to go for things that have a gritty realism about them.
“And that’s what Diana did too.” The awards were created in 2017 by Princes William and Harry to celebrate the life of Diana, 20 years after her death in a car crash in Paris. Taking place every two years, they are designed to recognise the social action and humanitarian work of young people.
Tuesday night’s black-tie ceremony was held in the newly refurbished Painted Hall at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, south London. Charles Spencer, 55, told how Diana would have been “immensely proud” of the winners, who range in age from 11 to 25.
He fondly recalled how Diana would always comfort the younger girls at her boarding school and joked that he was the first young person that she ever looked after.
He said: “I’ve always thought she could have just stayed in a palace having a luxurious time doing the odd good deed.
“But she looked for things that really mattered. She tackled difficult causes – leprosy, HIV/Aids, the homeless, landmines.
“These are not everyday worthy causes and nor are those of the 20 winners tonight. I’m amazed and humbled by the range and depth of what you’re doing.”
Among the winners was anti-female genital mutilation (FGM) campaigner Muna Hassan. The fearless 25-year-old from Bristol cofounded the charity Integrate UK when she was just 14 and has delivered FGM safeguarding training to thousands of young people and professionals.
Muna told the Daily Express: “Receiving the award has been amazing because, like Earl Spencer said, Diana would never have shied away from this issue and if she were alive today she would definitely have been one of the most prominent activists around FGM.
“For hundreds of years we’ve been told to keep quiet about it.
“Only recently we’ve been fortunate enough to shine light on this really dark and tragic issue that has affected women for generations.
“I’m seeing girls having conversations, not just about FGM, but forms of violence that women experience in a much more open way. I would never have seen that in my generation or my mother’s generation. “The Diana award opens spaces for us to have conversations with policy makers and politicians who wouldn’t necessarily have listened without her name attached.”
Princess Diana opened the UK’s first purpose built HIV/Aids unit at London Middlesex Hospital in 1987.
‘If Diana were alive today she would definitely be a really prominent activist’