“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you” - Princess Diana
Guided/Essential Questions:
- What is compassion?
- How can compassion drive one’s understanding of empathy?
Vocab:
- Royal Family
- Leprosy
- AIDS
Standing out amongst the Royal Family
Married at the early age of 20, Diana Frances Spencer or better known as Princess Diana became an English princess. Often, this meant a life prescribed with an enormous list of dos and don'ts. However, as time grew she often pushed on these boundaries. With the facade of a happy marriage, Diana endured a turbulent union with Prince George, and the sake of her children, she tried to keep the family together for as long as she could. Her compassion for her children stood out amongst royal traditions. She wanted to be as close as possible to her children, despite the paparazzi and her Royal schedule, she wanted to be a mother first before a princess.
Despite strict royal protocols, she wanted her children to live outside the royal and aristocrat bubble and brought them along with her as much as possible, from charity events, dinners, to amusement parks with the public. Unlike any other royal, Diana wanted her children to be empathic with the public, she wanted the children to exposed to the world in ways that prior royal families had not
Humanitarian Work
It wasn’t shortly after her honeymoon that Diana’s compassion compelled her to begin her charity and humanitarian work around the world. With her celebrity and compassion, she knew that by traveling to see humanitarian crises she would help expose the rest of the world to issues that were not regularly on the news. She often visited countries within Africa that were pressed with critical health issues. In the early 90s, she visited hospitals that had numerous leprosy patients, and to prove that the disease wasn’t transmitted through touch, she bravely shook hands with the patients in hopes of getting them more help from others.
Even more daring was another trip to Africa in which she visited war-torn countries that were riddled with landmines and thousands of people who have either been innocently killed or left limbless as a result. As nerve-wracking and dangerous this humanitarian cause was, Princess Diana felt compelled she needed to bring light to the issue. With numerous reporters watching, she took steps through the active landmines and visited numerous people who were affected by the explosions on live television so that millions could witness the horrors in which these people were living. After her visit, many world leaders would credit her for the help and removal of landmines from their countries as well.
Another notable cause Diana worked to shed light on was the issue and perception of those affected by the AIDS viruses. Similar to the situation with leprosy, for a long time people were misinformed about how viruses like AIDS and HIV could travel and be transmitted. In order to combat these claims, Diana would travel about to see patients with the viruses and shook their hands, held them, and even carried children without any sort of protection. Her boldness and compassion would be the starting point to change the stigma.
Life Cut Short
As her marriage with Prince Charles took a turn for the worse, the media began to shift away from the compassionate side of Diana and placed more pressure on her private marriage life. As more media grew around the issue, it gave her little time to do the things she compassionately cared for; being a mother for not only her children but for those who were in need of help from their own sufferings. Instead of focusing on this important work, she had to defend herself constantly to the media. It wouldn't be until her death would the media change their tone back to the positive work Diana focused on.
Further investigation activities: Using resources to gain a deeper insight and broader perspective
- With such a heavy media presence around Princess Diana as she went about her humanitarian work, create a photo essay that goes in detail about her visits around the world combating the issues she worked on.
- Nearing the end of her life, the media quickly changed its tone from focusing on Princess Diana’s humanitarian work to her personal challenges with her husband. As the situation deepened it ultimately consumed her time and took away from her humanitarian work. In a short essay reflect on her situation and think about the following question; why is it important that we don't allow people’s perception of ourselves to change or affect our way of life?