Princes will shine a light on Diana’s charity work at anniversary event
FOR those paying attention, the anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales has been a summer of renewed scandal raking over the details of her life and untimely death.
This week, her two sons will move to seize control of their mother’s memory once again, as they focus public attention squarely back on her charity work.
The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry will use their only confirmed public appearance of the coming week to shine a spotlight firmly on the eight charities closest to the late Princess’s heart, and the people who helped her build a new life after the Royal Family.
Aides said a high-profile event at Kensington Palace would be “public acknowledgement of the special place the Princess holds in the heart of the nation” on the 20th anniversary of her death. It is designed as a “positive” ceremony, with the Duke and Prince understood to have been braced for the inevitable focus on their mother’s marriage, details of her death and anger at the Royal Family’s response elsewhere.
On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess and the Prince will visit the White Garden, lovingly designed in the grounds of Kensington Palace to feature Diana’s favourite flowers.
There, the Princes will meet with representatives of the six charities their mother was patron of at her death on Aug 31 1997, and two others close to her heart. They will spend time with modern-day representatives, boosting their profile to the media, and catch up with the Princess’s old colleagues and friends who worked alongside her.
Among them will be Dr Ken Rutherford, who accompanied her on her final charity trip to raise awareness of landmines in Bosnia, and leaders from causes as diverse as The Leprosy Mission and English National Ballet.
Spending time with National Aids Trust, homeless charity Centrepoint, Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Royal Marsden Hospital, Child Bereavement UK and Landmine Survivors Network, the event is designed to highlight the “significant achievements” of the Princess in changing lives.
The event will take place the day before the anniversary of the Princess’s death in a car crash in Paris, and will allow the Princes and their family to commemorate privately. The Prince of Wales is understood to be spending the day in Scotland.
A spokesman said: “They wanted to feel that their mother’s legacy will be celebrated in a positive way. Their objective was to put her character, as a mother and someone committed to charity work, into the spotlight. This is reminding people of the work she did right up until her last days, and remembering the people who supported her.
“The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry very much want to show their gratitude to the public for their continued celebration of their mother’s memory. It is a public acknowledgement of the special place the Princess holds in the heart of the nation.”
Yesterday tributes, photographs and flowers continued to arrive at the gates of Kensington Palace, the Princess’s former home. The Duke and Prince have not yet indicated whether they will view the tributes in public.