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"Princess Diana, or as she was known to her loved ones, Diana Frances Spencer, would have turned 52 years old today. Unfortunately, she didn&amp;#x27;t live to celebrate this birthday as she tragically died in a car crash in the Pont de l&amp;#x27;Alma road tunnel in Paris, which also claimed the lives of her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and the driver, Henri Paul, on August 31, 1997. Hard to believe that it&amp;#x27;s already been 16 years since the People&amp;#x27;s Princess passed away. But I don&amp;#x27;t want to dwell on the sad way her life ended&amp;amp;#8212;instead, let&amp;#x27;s look back at the woman and the legacy she has left behind. Diana is remembered for many things: her wind-swept blond hair, her marriage (and subsequent divorce) from Prince Charles, and her dedication to charity work, but what I remember her most for is that she really was just a person. OK, well, maybe not a regular person. After all, she was born into the Spencer family, which is one of Britain&amp;#x27;s oldest and most important families, closely allied with the royal family for several generations. But as we witnessed once she was in the public limelight, she wasn&amp;#x27;t trying to play the game. She wanted to be happy. Wanted her privacy. Wanted to love and be loved. Didn&amp;#x27;t think that her lineage, fashion, fame, etc. defined her. Nor did she seem to want it to, despite the world&amp;#x27;s efforts to do so. &amp;quot;I am finding it very difficult to cope with the pressures of being Princess of Wales, but I am learning to cope.&amp;quot; Statements like this made Diana seem down to earth, and not just the wife of Prince Charles. She struggled like anyone would under the media scrutiny. No matter how hard things were for her, she always appeared to be working on herself. When her marriage got tough and the fame was too much, she tried to figure out how she could cope, and one of those ways was through charity work. More on that in a second. But first, let&amp;#x27;s just be honest here: Diana was an extremely public figure who was a fashion trendsetter for nearly two decades. Think Carrie Bradshaw times a million. Any designer she wore instantly became famous, and her style was automatically imitated by non-royalty. But the greatest thing about her penchant for fashion: It was never just about looking phenomenal. Diana often auctioned her clothing off for charity. For example, Christie&amp;#x27;s in New York City raised more than 2 million sterling (or 4 million U.S. dollars) by selling 79 of her dresses. This leads me to her biggest impact: her humanitarian work. From the mid-1980s onward, Princess Diana devoted much of her time to charity. She was often seen visiting schools and hospitals, and working with the homeless, aimless youth, and drug addicts. By the time she and Prince Charles divorced, she was associated with over 100 charities, which she eventually narrowed down to six, including being a patron of Centrepoint, the Leprosy Mission, the English National Ballet, and the National AIDS Trust. And if we thought that was impressive, let&amp;#x27;s not forget that the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, which was set up after her death, has raised almost $63 million and distributes funds to dozens of causes supported by Diana, including AIDS prevention. Without a shadow of a doubt, this will forever the most important thing about her legacy. But I have a sneaking suspicion that what Princes William and Harry are most fond is Diana, the mother. Just read this touching quote from Prince William about how difficult it was getting married without his mother there: &amp;quot;I sort of prepared myself beforehand, so that I was mentally prepared...I didn&amp;#x27;t want any wobbly lips or anything going on. It&amp;#x27;s the one time since she&amp;#x27;s died where I&amp;#x27;ve thought to myself, It would be fantastic if she was here, and just how sad really for her, more than anything, not being able to see it.&amp;quot; That right there, the impact she had on her children, alongside her humanitarian work, is what is more memorable about Princess Diana. Her passion for trying to change the world for the better, for wanting to raise young men who were going to attempt to leave an impact on the world the way their mother did. This is what I&amp;#x27;m thinking about today. Thank you, Princess Di. Happy birthday. What are your fondest memories of Princess Diana? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2013/07/remembering-princess-diana-on>