英语名人堂：戴安娜·弗兰西斯·斯宾塞（在线收听）

戴安娜王妃（1961-1997）1961年7月1日出生于英国诺福克，是爱德华斯宾塞伯爵的小女儿，1981年7月29日与威尔士亲王查尔斯结婚。她是查尔斯的第一任妻子，亦是威廉王子和哈里王子的亲生母亲。1987年6月，戴安娜将她所拍卖的79件服装所得350万英镑，全部捐给慈善事业。她的品行深深地感动了普通人，尤其是苦难之中的人们。1996年8月28日解除婚约，1997年因车祸死于法国巴黎。

Lady Diana Spencer was born in 1961. She had a normal, quiet upbringing. It could never have prepared her for the fame and glamour of being a British princess. Within a few years, she changed from being a shy teenager to the most photographed person on the planet. She hit newspaper headlines around the world, but the biggest one was for her death at the age of 36.

Diana was a kindergarten teacher in London when she caught the interest of Prince Charles. She won the hearts of a nation with her shy smiles and natural beauty. The whole world watched the fairytale royal wedding in 1981. A year later, she gave birth to Prince William, the first of her two sons.

Diana was nervous at first in public, but she soon developed a charming manner. She took a strong interest in many charities and important causes. She highlighted the suffering of the homeless, lepers and AIDS victims. She also campaigned for the abolition of landmines and many countries banned them.

Diana and Charles divorced in 1996. She struggled with depression and eating disorders for many years after. She finally found happiness with an Egyptian film producer, Dodi Al-Fayed. Their romance was closely followed by the paparazzi, which led to the fatal car crash that killed her in Paris in 1997. At her funeral, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called her the “People’s Princess". To many, she was simply the “Queen of Hearts".