Voice 1
Hello. I’m Marina Santee.
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And I’m Rachel Hobson. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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The thirty-first of August, 1997. Many people remember where they were on that day. They remember what they were doing when they heard the terrible news - Princess Diana had died. No one was more affected than her two sons Prince William and Prince Harry. Ten years later the princes have become men. And they wanted to remember their mother in a special way. So they planned a concert and a memorial service in her honour.
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In today’s Spotlight we tell of the memorial service. We remember the life of the princess. We tell of the aid organizations that she supported. Is progress still being made? Is her life’s work continuing?
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On the thirty-first of August, 2007, five hundred people arrived for the special memorial service at the Guards’ Chapel in London. Many of them were important to Diana. They were her friends and family members. They were people from the aid groups that she represented. Other people came too - famous politicians and singers. They were all invited by the princes. This day was a very important day to them. They wanted everything to be the way their mother would have wanted.
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William was only fifteen when his mother died. Harry was twelve. Now as a twenty-five year old man, William stood before the people gathered in the church. With a calm voice he read from the Christian Bible. For Spotlight, Tony Ford reads a shortened version of what William read:
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“I pray that... God may strengthen you in your inner being with power through his Spirit. And that Christ Jesus may live in your hearts through faith. May you have power... to understand Christ’s love. May you know how wide and long and high and deep it is... God is able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine. Give God glory through all time. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:14-21
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Then Prince Harry stood up. He went to the front of the church. He had prepared a speech in honour of his mother. Again, Tony Ford tells part of what he said:
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“Our mother will always be remembered for her amazing public work. But behind the fame, to us, just two loving children, she was… simply the best mother in the world...
“Put simply, she made us, and so many other people, happy. May this be the way that she is remembered.”
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The memorial service lasted for one hour. The final song was a special one. It is called ‘I Vow to Thee My Country’ - I promise to be true to my country. This song was played years before at her marriage.
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Prince Harry said that Diana made so many people happy. But why do so many people still remember Diana with such love? Maybe it was because of her kindness and gentle way. Maybe it was because she seemed to care so much for powerless people.
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Diana was involved with over one-hundred and fifty [150] aid organizations during her life. Included in this group were the National AIDS Trust that works with HIV and AIDS sufferers, and the Leprosy Mission, which treats sufferers of the disease leprosy.
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Leprosy is caused by bacteria. It causes people to lose feeling in their bodies. And often they injure their hands, faces and other body parts. Other people become frightened by the way leprosy sufferers look. And they believe they can get sick just from touching someone with leprosy. But Diana knew that this was not true. She went to a hospital in Indonesia to visit people with this disease. The director of the Leprosy Mission, Keith Nicholson, said:
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“Diana changed the way that people thought about leprosy. She would touch people with this condition, and she sat and talked to them. She treated them like human beings. That was not always how they were treated before. She showed the world a good example.’
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After her visit to the leprosy hospital, aid workers believe many more people came to be examined. They no longer felt such shame about their condition.
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Similarly, Diana visited and touched HIV and AIDS sufferers in hospital. Rachel Bruce of the National AIDS Trust said:
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“It really made people understand that those with HIV should not be treated like they were different. They need kindness and sympathy.”
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In 1997, Diana visited Angola and later Bosnia. She was very concerned about landmines. Landmines are bombs buried in the ground to kill or injure enemy soldiers. But after conflicts are over, the landmines remain. Many innocent people walk on landmines and are badly hurt.
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Diana helped to make landmines an important issue to many powerful people. In December 1997, one-hundred and twenty-two [122] countries signed the Mine Ban Treaty. They promised not to use mines anymore.
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But is her work continuing? The Diana Memorial Trust Fund was started after Diana’s death. This aid organization aims to support powerless people. It raises money for many aid groups. One of these groups is Landmine Action. Landmine Action worked on a recent project to get rid of cluster bombs. These bombs are containers filled with lots of smaller bombs. The containers break open in the air. Then the smaller bombs are released. Landmine Action and other groups are worried that these bombs kill many innocent people. In 2007, forty-six [46] countries signed an agreement not to use cluster bombs.
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But not everyone believes the Diana Memorial Trust Fund truly represents the princess. Some reports claim that the Trust wasted a lot of money in a legal battle about the rights to use Diana’s image. And critics say that some of the Trust’s recent projects support a particular political point of view.
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Other aid groups say that, since Diana’s death, people are not as interested in their projects. They are not able to raise as much money or public interest. These groups are feeling her loss.
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Maybe it is her sons who will best continue her work. Prince William became the main supporter of Centrepoint, a group that helps homeless young people. He is working with Centrepoint in the same way his mother did. And Prince Harry helped to start the aid group Sentebale. This group helps poor children in the country of Lesotho in Africa. The princes are only young men. Their future is not known. But could they be the best hope to champion the powerless? Could they hold the key to keeping alive the public’s interest in important causes?
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