THE DAY WE MET DIANA

Two women reflect on meeting the People’s Princess, and what the encounter meant to them

Diana, Princess of Wales, seemed to entrance people from the moment she stepped into the room. With her humanity and warmth, there was a good reason why she became known as the People’s Princess. She championed causes close to the public’s heart and inspired millions with her compassionate attitude and her pioneering work.

But 25 years ago, on 31 August 1997, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. She was just 36. The grief was felt worldwide, but decades after her death, her legacy lives on.

Two women speak about the unforgettable moment they came face to face with the People’s Princess.

Sophia Wyatt, 46, lives in Guildford with her husband and children George, 11, and Elodie, seven. Sitting in my hospital bed, I looked down at the space where my legs had once been. It was March 1993, I was 16 and meningitis had ravaged my body, leaving doctors with no choice but to amputate my legs below the knee.

INCENTIVE TO GET WELL

I was overwhelmed by how dramatically my life had changed. I was struggling to eat and was terrified about relying on a wheelchair, which was my sole hope of getting around. It was too much to bear.

But then, a doctor came to see me. ‘Princess Diana is coming to the hospital,’ he said, explaining how she was opening the Douglas Bader Rehabilitation Centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital. As an incentive to get me up and out in my chair, and eating, they said I could go if I was well enough.

My eyes lit up. I remembered the day of Diana and Charles’ wedding in 1981. ‘I’m going to be a flower girl,’ I’d told my mum, Jennifer. I’d convinced myself I was going to be a part of their big day. I was in awe of this beautiful princess, and my affection for her only grew over the years.

DETERMINATION TO SUCCEED

And now, I had a chance to meet her. It was enough to push me out of my hospital bed and into a wheelchair for the first time since my amputations four months earlier.

When Diana walked in, everyone was captivated. She came over, crouched down beside me and said, ‘Hello, Sophia. Was it meningitis that did this to you?’

Diana was the patron of The Meningitis Trust, now Meningitis Now, and chatting to me and my parents, she seemed to know so much about the illness. ‘We really need to get the symptoms of meningitis out there so people know what to look for,’ she said. She had a genuine interest in us, and what we’d been through. For the first time in so long, I was smiling. I felt alive again.

I knew Diana had been through adversity in her life too, and I felt like she really empathised with me. I thought if I could be as determined as her, I could succeed.

Meeting Diana gave me a reason to get in my wheelchair, and from that day nothing stopped me. I threw myself into rehabilitation and never forgot how Diana had made me feel. I learned to walk again and even skied, just a few months later.

So, when I got home from a nightclub on 31 August 1997 and saw the news that Diana had been in a car crash, I was dumbfounded. I stayed up all night watching the TV, willing them to say she was OK. Instead, in the early hours, they announced she had died, and I prayed they’d made a mistake.

Diana was passionate about raising meningitis awareness and I made it my ambition to carry on with her goal. I am an ambassador for Meningitis Now and I am still championing the cause 30 years on. ✣ For more information about Meningitis Now and for advice and support, visit meningitisnow.org/

‘Diana gave me hope after I lost my legs’

Sophia (left) and her mum with Diana

LEFT: One of Diana’s most famous moments was visiting AIDS patients at a hospital in 1987. At the time, it was a common belief that AIDS or HIV could be transmitted by touch. But determined to challenge those incorrect views, Diana took the iconic step of shaking patients’ hands without wearing gloves.

RIGHT: Hollie Robinson Marsh captured the hearts of the world when she was photographed giggling and cuddling with Princess Diana on the children’s ward at Northwick Park Hospital in 1997. Adorable Hollie, then four, was having treatment for leukaemia. Although she recovered during her childhood, the cancer returned when Hollie was 21 and she sadly died in 2014.

BELOW: Princess Diana worked alongside the charity The Leprosy Mission, travelling to India, Nepal and Zimbabwe to visit patients. She held their hands and touched their wounds. She said: ‘It has always been my concern to touch people with leprosy, trying to show in a simple action that they are not reviled, nor are we repulsed.’