Diana’s legacy: The 25th Anniversary of death of the Princess of Wales

Steve Cain here takes a look at some of her greatest achievements and how they impacted on the royal family and British society.

She secured the Windsor line of succession to the British throne. Diana gave birth to her first son, and heir to the throne, at 9.30pm on June 21 1982.

As planned, he was delivered at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington with Prince Charles present.

The baby weighed a healthy 7lbs 10ozs. The Queen ordered a 41 gun salute both in Hyde Park and the Tower of London.

Prince William Arthur Philip Louis was christened on August 4 in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace. The date was chosen to coincide with the Queen Mother’s eighty-second birthday.

Some two years later, Diana gave birth to her second son, Prince Harry. He was born on September 15, 1984, and weighed 6lbs 14ozs.

Once again, Diana broke with convention and chose St Mary’s Hospital for the birth, rather than a royal residence as was the tradition.

Prince Henry Charles Albert David was christened on December 21 at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

By giving birth to two sons, Diana had accomplished what was expected of her – she had provided the monarchy with the “heir and the spare.”

The line of succession continued with the birth of Prince George Alexander Louis, William’s first son, who was born on July 22, 2013 and is currently third in line to the throne after his father and grandfather.

Prior to Diana entering into the royal family, upon her marriage to Prince Charles, the Queen had believed the monarchy was a modern institution, evolving gradually with social changes under her careful management.

Nowadays, Her Majesty acknowledges that Diana’s instincts and desire for reform were right.

She even acknowledged, in the aftermath of Diana’s death, that “there are lessons to be drawn from her life”.

During her time in the royal family, her unique empathy and connection with the public set Diana apart from her husband’s family.

This was something she was determined to instill in her children William and Harry.

In addition to her commitment to teaching them “an appreciation of the tradition into which they were born,” Diana wanted the two princes to “have an understanding of people’s emotions, people’s insecurities, people’s distress and people’s hopes and dreams.”

She took the boys with her on visits to hostels for the homeless and hospices for those dying of AIDS, admitting: “I’ve taken the children to all sorts of areas where I’m not sure anyone of that age in this family has been before.”

Consequently, rather than living cosseted royal lives, making speeches and cutting ribbons, William and Harry have chosen to make a difference in the world as their mother did.

The “Diana effect” is still a guiding principle for today’s modern British monarchy. Like any other working senior member of the royal family, Diana was expected to undertake a certain amount of charity work as part of her role.

In the early days of her public life, Diana’s main interests were with the very young and the very old – nice, respectable royal interests.

However, as she grew in confidence, her interests became broader and more controversial.

She became patron of Turning Point, an organisation that helps those recovering from drug or alcohol addiction.

During the 1980s she began her association with AIDS charities and was the first British royal figure to make physical contact with an AIDS patient.

It was rumoured that the Queen did not support this type of charity work and urged Diana to get involved in “something more pleasant”.

Although disappointed by this, it also made Diana more determined to “use the knowledge I’ve gathered to help other people in distress".

By the time of her decision to reduce her public role, in 1993, Diana was associated with 118 charities.

She resigned from more than 100 of them in order to concentrate on a few key areas, known as the “special six” ... Centrepoint; English National Ballet; Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children; The Leprosy Mission; National AIDS Trust and the Royal Marsden Hospital.

In 1997, having become patron of The Halo Trust, Diana toured an Angolan minefield to campaign for the banning of anti-personnel landmines.

She was accused of meddling in politics and called a “loose cannon” by Earl Howe, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence.

She refused to let the criticism shake her determination, declaring herself to be a humanitarian figure rather than a political one.

Her warmth and compassion for the forgotten and dispossessed made her an icon of caring in a selfish age.

Although she could never be described as merely a “clothes horse”, there is also no disputing that Diana was an international icon of fashion.

As Tasmin Blanchard, former fashion editor for The Independent, said: “No other woman had the power to generate so many front pages. She could not do anything to her appearance without comment from the newspapers. She was every designer’s dream.”

Diana took her role as fashion ambassador seriously and championed British designers – many of whom, arguably, owed their careers to her.

These included David and Elizabeth Emanuel (who designed her wedding dress), Zandra Rhodes, Arabella Pollen, Amanda Wakeley and Catherine Walker (who designed the high-collared “Elvis” beaded gown and who was reputedly her favourite designer).

Often Diana was able to combine her charity work with her interest in fashion. She attended fashion shows to raise money in Britain and around the world and was a regular at British fashion week and fashion awards ceremonies.

But perhaps Diana’s ultimate intertwining of fashion and charity came only two months prior to her untimely death. Inspired by her son William’s idea, she auctioned 79 of her evening gowns.

The auction was organised by Christie’s International in New York City and raised $3.25 million for Royal Marsden Hospital Cancer Fund and AIDS Crisis Trust.