Про принцессу диану на английском. Биография принцессы дианы на английском языке

Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, née Spencer) (1 July 1961 - 31 August 1997) was the first wife of HRH The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales.

From her marriage in 1981 to her divorce in 1996 she was styled Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales. She was generally called Princess Diana by the media despite having no right to that particular honorific, as it is reserved for a princess by birthright rather than marriage. Though she was noted for her pioneering charity work, the Princess"s philanthropic endeavours were overshadowed by a scandal-plagued marriage. Her bitter accusations of adultery, mental cruelty and emotional distress visited upon her by her husband riveted the world for much of the 1990s, spawning biographies, magazine articles and television movies.

From the time of her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in a car accident in 1997, Diana was arguably the most famous woman in the world, the pre-eminent female celebrity of her generation: a fashion icon, an ideal of feminine beauty, admired and emulated for her high-profile involvement in AIDS issues and the international campaign against landmines. During her lifetime, she was often referred to as the most photographed person in the world. To her admirers, Diana, Princess of Wales was a role model - after her death, there were even calls for her to be nominated for sainthood - while her detractors saw her life as a cautionary tale of how an obsession with publicity can ultimately destroy an individual.

The Honourable Diana Frances Spencer was born as the youngest daughter of Edward Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and his first wife, Frances Spencer, Viscountess Althorp (formerly the Honourable Frances Burke Roche). Partially American in ancestry - a great-grandmother was the American heiress Frances Work - she was also a descendant of King Charles I. During her parents" acrimonious divorce over Lady Althorp"s adultery with wallpaper heir Peter Shand Kydd, Diana"s mother sued for custody of her children, but Lord Althorp"s rank, aided by Lady Althorp"s mother"s testimony against her daughter during the trial, meant custody of Diana and her brother was awarded to their father. On the death of her paternal grandfather, Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, in 1975, Diana"s father became the 8th Earl Spencer, and she acquired the courtesy title of The Lady Diana Spencer. A year later, Lord Spencer married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, the only daughter of the romance novelist Barbara Cartland, after being named as the "other party" in the Earl and Countess of Dartmouth"s divorce.

Diana was educated at Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk and at West Heath School (later reorganized as the New School at West Heath) in Kent, where she was regarded as an academically below-average student, having failed all of her O-level examinations. At age 16 she briefly attended Institut Alpin Videmanette, a finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland. Diana was a talented amateur pianist, excelled in sports and reportedly longed to be a ballerina.

Marriage and family.

Diana"s family, the Spencers, had been close to the British Royal Family for decades. Her maternal grandmother, the Dowager Lady Fermoy, was a longtime friend of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The Prince of Wales briefly dated Lady Sarah Spencer, Diana"s older sister, in the 1970s.

The Prince"s love life had always been the subject of press speculation, and he was linked to numerous women. Nearing his mid-thirties, he was under increasing pressure to marry. In order to gain the approval of his family and their advisors, including his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten of Burma, any potential bride had to have an aristocratic background, could not have been previously married, should be Protestant and, preferably, a virgin. Diana fulfilled all of these qualifications.

Reportedly, the Prince"s former girlfriend (and, eventually, his second wife) Camilla Parker Bowles helped him select the 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer as a potential bride, who was working as an assistant at the Young England kindergarten in Pimlico. Buckingham Palace announced the engagement on 24 February 1981. Mrs. Parker Bowles had been dismissed by Lord Mountbatten of Burma as a potential spouse for the heir to throne some years before, reportedly due to her age (16 months the Prince"s senior), her sexual experience, and her lack of suitably aristocratic lineage.

The wedding took place at St Paul"s Cathedral in London on Wednesday 29 July 1981 before 3,500 invited guests (including Mrs. Parker Bowles and her husband, a godson of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) and an estimated 1 billion television viewers around the world. Diana was the first Englishwoman to marry an heir-apparent to the throne since 1659, when Lady Anne Hyde married the Duke of York and Albany, the future King James II. Upon her marriage, Diana became Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales and was ranked as the most senior royal woman in the United Kingdom after the Queen and the Queen Mother.

The Prince and Princess of Wales had two children, Prince William of Wales on 21 June 1982 and Prince Henry of Wales (commonly called Prince Harry) on 15 September 1984.

After the birth of Prince William, the Princess of Wales suffered from post-natal depression. She had previously suffered from bulimia nervosa, which recurred, and she made a number of suicide attempts. In one interview, released after her death, she claimed that, while pregnant with Prince William, she threw herself down a set of stairs and was discovered by her mother-in-law (that is, Queen Elizabeth II. It has been suggested she did not, in fact, intend to end her life (or that the suicide attempts never even took place) and that she was merely making a "cry for help". In the same interview in which she told of the suicide attempt while pregnant with Prince William, she said her husband had accused her of crying wolf when she threatened to kill herself. It has also been suggested that she suffered from borderline personality disorder.

In the mid 1980s her marriage fell apart, an event at first suppressed, but then sensationalised, by the world media. Both the Prince and Princess of Wales spoke to the press through friends, accusing each other of blame for the marriage"s demise. Charles resumed his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, whilst Diana became involved with James Hewitt and possibly later with James Gilbey, with whom she was involved in the so-called Squidgygate affair. She later confirmed (in a television interview with Martin Bashir) the affair with her riding instructor, James Hewitt. (Theoretically, such an affair constituted high treason by both parties.) Another alleged lover was a bodyguard assigned to the Princess"s security detail, although the Princess adamantly denied a sexual relationship with him. After her separation from Prince Charles, Diana was involved with married art dealer Oliver Hoare and, lastly, heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were separated on 9 December 1992; their divorce was finalised on 28 August 1996. The Princess lost the style Her Royal Highness, and became Diana, Princess of Wales, a titular distinction befitting a divorced peeress. However, at that time, and to this day, Buckingham Palace maintains, since the Princess was the mother of the second and third in line to The Throne, she remained a member of the Royal Family.

In 2004, the American TV network NBC broadcast tapes of Diana discussing her marriage to the Prince of Wales, including her description of her suicide attempts. The tapes were in the possession of the Princess during her lifetime; however, after her death, her butler took possession, and after numerous legal wranglings, they were given to the Princess"s voice coach, who had originally filmed them. These tapes have not been broadcast in the United Kingdom.

Starting in the mid-to-late 1980s, the Princess of Wales became well known for her support of charity projects, and is credited with considerable influence for her campaigns against the use of landmines and helping the victims of AIDS.

In April 1987, the Princess of Wales was the first high-profile celebrity to be photographed touching a person infected with the HIV virus. Her contribution to changing the public opinion of AIDS sufferers was summarised in December 2001 by Bill Clinton at the "Diana, Princess of Wales Lecture on AIDS", when he said:

In 1987, when so many still believed that AIDS could be contracted through casual contact, Princess Diana sat on the sickbed of a man with AIDS and held his hand. She showed the world that people with AIDS deserved not isolation, but compassion. It helped change world opinion, helped give hope to people with AIDS, and helped save lives of people at risk.

Perhaps her most widely publicised charity appearance was her visit to Angola in January 1997, when, serving as an International Red Cross VIP volunteer, she visited landmine survivors in hospitals, toured de-mining projects run by the HALO Trust, and attended mine awareness education classes about the dangers of mines immediately surrounding homes and villages.

The pictures of Diana touring a minefield, in a ballistic helmet and flak jacket, were seen worldwide. (Mine-clearance experts had already cleared the pre-planned walk that Diana took wearing the protective equipment.) In August that year, she visited Bosnia with the Landmine Survivors Network. Her interest in landmines was focused on the injuries they create, often to children, long after the conflict has finished.

She is widely acclaimed for her influence on the signing by the governments of the UK and other nations of the Ottawa Treaty in December 1997, after her death, which created an international ban on the use of anti-personnel landmines. Introducing the Second Reading of the Landmines Bill 1998 to the British House of Commons, the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, paid tribute to Diana"s work on landmines:

All Honourable Members will be aware from their postbags of the immense contribution made by Diana, Princess of Wales to bringing home to many of our constituents the human costs of landmines. The best way in which to record our appreciation of her work, and the work of NGOs that have campaigned against landmines, is to pass the Bill, and to pave the way towards a global ban on landmines.

As of January 2005, Diana"s legacy on landmines remained unfulfilled. The United Nations appealed to the nations which produced and stockpiled the largest numbers of landmines (China, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States) to sign the Ottawa Treaty forbidding their production and use, for which Diana had campaigned. Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children"s Fund (UNICEF), said that landmines remained "a deadly attraction for children, whose innate curiosity and need for play often lure them directly into harm"s way".

On 31 August 1997 Diana was involved in a car accident in the Pont de l"Alma road tunnel in Paris, along with her romantic companion Dodi Fayed, their driver Henri Paul, and Fayed"s bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.

Late in the evening of Saturday 30 August, Diana and Fayed departed the Hôtel Ritz in Place Vendome, Paris, and drove along the north bank of the Seine. Shortly after midnight on 31 August, their Mercedes-Benz S 280 entered the underpass below the Place de l"Alma, pursued in various vehicles by nine French photographers and a motorcycle courier.

At the entrance to the tunnel, their car struck a glancing blow to the right-hand wall. It swerved to the left of the two-lane carriageway and collided head-on with the thirteenth pillar supporting the roof, then spun to a stop.

As the casualties lay seriously injured in their wrecked car, the photographers continued to take pictures.

Dodi Fayed and Henri Paul were both declared dead at the scene of the crash. Trevor Rees-Jones was severely injured, but later recovered. Diana was freed, alive, from the wreckage, and after some delay due to attempts to stabilize her at the scene, she was taken by ambulance to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, arriving there shortly after 2.00 a.m. Despite attempts to save her, her internal injuries were too extensive. Two hours later, at 4.00 that morning, the doctors pronounced her dead. At 5.30, her death was announced at a press conference held by a hospital doctor, Jean-Pierre Chevènement (France"s Interior Minister) and Sir Michael Jay (Britain"s ambassador to France).

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Тема по английскому языку: Принцесса Диана

Топик по английскому языку: Принцесса Диана (Princess Diana). Данный текст может быть использован в качестве презентации, проекта, рассказа, эссе, сочинения или сообщения на тему.

Ранние годы

Диана Спенсер родилась 1 июля 1961 года в Сандринхэм в Англии. У нее были две старшие сестры и младший брат. Ее родители развелись, когда ей было 8 лет. В возрасте 16 Диана уехала в Швейцарию и закончила там школу. Вернувшись в Лондон, она зарабатывала на жизнь, работая поваром и няней, а затем воспитателем в детском саду.

Замужество и развод

Диана стала принцессой, когда принц Чарльз, королевский сын, попросил ее стать его женой, и они обвенчались в Кафедральном Соборе святого Павла 29 июля 1981. Сначала они казались счастливой парой. Однако после медового месяца их отношения стали ухудшаться. У Дианы и Чарльза родились два сына: принц Уильям в 1982 и принц Генри в 1984. Королевская семья надеялись, что с их рождением мир в семье восстановится. Однако этого не случилось. Официальный развод Дианы и Чарльза состоялся в августе 1996.

Популярность

Диана была самой знаменитой, красивой и фотографируемой женщиной в мире. Она завоевала сердца миллионов людей во многих странах. Тысячи людей говорили о доброте Дианы. Как принцесса Уэльса, Диана видела возможность делать добро на протяжении всей своей жизни, в то время как другие на ее месте были бы удовлетворены своим комфортным образом жизни и двумя здоровыми сыновьями. Когда ее уверенность усилилась, она осознала, что может использовать свою известность и влияние, чтобы сделать жизнь людей счастливее.

Общественная работа

Основные заботы Дианы были о старых, о молодых и о тех, кто находился в больницах и приютах. Она посещала больницы для больных СПИДом и прокаженных и не боялась дотрагиваться до них, разговаривать с ними, слушать их. Она была покровительницей «Поворотной точки», организации, которая помогала людям избавиться наркотической или алкогольной зависимости. Она много делала для бездомных. Проблема злоупотребления наркотиками также волновала Диану, и она хотела принимать участие в борьбе против этого. Она также выказывала обеспокоенность судьбой глухих и стала искусной в языке жестов, так чтобы можно было с ними общаться.

Смерть

31 августа 1997 года принцесса Диана погибла в автомобильной катастрофе. Ее смерть была огромной трагедией и потерей для всей британской нации.

Заключение

Она хотела давать людям не только деньги. Она хотела отдавать им часть своей души. У нее было много друзей среди знаменитостей, но еще больше среди обычных людей.

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Princess Diana

Early years

Diana Spencer was born on the first of July 1961 in Sandringham in England. She had two older sisters and a younger brother. Her parents divorced when she was eight. At the age of 16 Diana left for Switzerland and finished school there. Having returned to London, she earned her living working as a cook or nanny and then as a teacher in a kindergarten.

Marriage and divorce

Diana became princess, when Prince Charles, the Queen’s son, asked her to be his wife and they got married at St. Paul’s Cathedral on July 29, 1981. They seemed to be a happy couple at first. However, after the honeymoon their relations started getting worse. Diana and Charles had two sons: Prince William in 1982 and Prince Henry in 1984.The Royal family hoped that with their births peace would reign again in the family. However, it didn’t happen. The official divorce of Diana and Charles was held in August, 1996.

Popularity

Diana was the most famous, the most beautiful, and the most photographed woman in the world. She won the hearts of millions and millions of people in many countries anf became people’s princess. Thousands of people talked about Diana’s kindnesses. As the Princess of Wales, Diana saw the opportunity to do good throughout her life when others in her position might have been satisfied with a comfortable lifestyle and two healthy sons.

Support

As she grew in confidence, Diana realized that she could use her fame and her influence to make people’s lives better. Princess Diana’s main interests were with the very old, the very young, and those in hospitals or hospices. She visited hospitals for people with AIDS and for lepers and wasn’t afraid to touch them, talk to them, listen to them. She was patron of Turning Point, an organization that helps people recovering from drug or alcohol addiction. She did much work for the homeless. Drug abuse was of Diana’s concerns and she wanted to be involved in the fight against it. She also showed great concern for the deaf and became proficient in sign language so she would be able to communicate with them.

Death

On August 31, 1997 Princess Diana was killed in a car accident. Her death was a great tragedy and loss for the whole British Nation.

Conclusion

It wasn’t only money that she wanted to give people. She wanted to give them a part of her soul. She had lots of friends among stars but even more among ordinary people.

Diana Spencer was born on the first of July 1961 in Sandringham in England. She had two older sisters and a younger brother. In childhood she liked games, swimming, running and dancing. She wanted to become a dancer. Besides she loved children very much and at the age of sixteen she worked in schools for very young children.

Diana became princess, when Prince Charles, the Queen’s son, asked her to be his wife and they got married. They seemed to be a happy couple at first. They had two sons. They travelled a lot they worked a lot, they visited many countries together. But Diana was not quite happy because they did different things and Charles didn’t understand her.

Why was Diana the most famous, the most beautiful, the most photographed woman in the world? Why did she win the hearts of millions and millions of people in many countries? Why did so many people come to London to remember her when she died? Why did the car accident which took her life, become such a total shock to crowds of people? Why did people feel the need to be in London at the funeral? Why did the tears and love at the funeral move the world?

The answer is so simple. Matthew Wall, a student at St. Michael’s College in Burlington said: She was such a lovely lady.

She did so much for those people less fortunate that herself. She was a kind woman. Hundreds of people talked about Diana’s kindnesses. She liked ordinary people, though she was rich and had many rich friends. Wherever she was, she was always ready to lend a hand. She was devoted to the sick and the poor. She visited hospitals for people with AIDS and for lepers and wasn’t afraid to touch them, talk to them, listen to them. She worked on children’s charities, and had teamed up with Hillary Clinton in an effort to ban landmines. And it’s not only money, that she wanted to give people. She wanted to give them apart of her soul.to make them happy because she was unhappy herself. She wanted to give them love, because she needed love herself.

Diana was seen many times in floods of tears, because of the pressures of her loveless 15-year marriage. It is not a secret that Diana was hounded and humiliated to the point of mental breakdown and was able to pull through only because she knew she had the love of the people to buoy her in her darkest hours. She was, indeed, the People’s Princess.

Диана — народная принцесса (перевод)

Диана Спенсер родилась 1 июля 1961 года в Сандринхэме в Лондоне. У нее было две старшие сестры и младший брат. В детстве она любила игры, плавание, бег, танцы. Она хотела стать танцовщицей. Кроме того, она очень любила детей, и в шестнадцать лет работала в детском саду.

Диана стала принцессой, когда принц Чарльз, сын королевы, попросил ее стать его женой, и они поженились. Вначале они, казалось, были счастливой парой. У них было двое сыновей. Они много путешествовали, работали, посещали вместе многие страны. Но Диана была не совсем счастлива, т. к. они занимались разными вещами. Чарльз не понимал ее.

Почему Диана была самой известной, самой красивой, наиболее часто фотографируемой женщиной в мире? Почему она завоевала сердца миллионов и миллионов людей в разных странах? Почему так много людей приехало в Лондон почтить ее память, когда она погибла? Почему автокатастрофа, которая унесла ее жизнь, стала большим потрясением для множества людей? Почему люди почувствовали необходимость приехать в Лондон на похороны принцессы? Почему слезы и любовь во время похорон потрясли мир?

Ответ очень прост. Метью Уол, студент колледжа св. Майкла в Берлингтоне, сказал: Она была такой прекрасной женщиной.

Она так много делала для тех, кто был менее удачлив, чем она. Она была внимательной женщиной. Сотни людей отмечали доброту Дианы. Она любила простых людей, хотя была богата и имела богатых друзей. Где бы она ни была, она всегда была готова помочь людям. Она любила больных и бедных, посещала больницы для больных СПИДом и прокаженных, не боялась дотрагиваться до них, разговаривала с ними, слушала их. Она занималась благотворительностью и объединилась с Хиллари Клинтон в попытке запретить фугасы. Она хотела помогать людям не только деньгами, но отдавать им частицу своей души, делать их счастливыми, так как сама она была несчастна. Она хотела дарить им любовь, потому что любовь была нужна и ей самой.

Диану часто можно было видеть в слезах, т. к. 15-летний брак без любви оказал воздействие на ее психику. Не секрет, что Диану преследовали и унижали до такой степени, что у нее произошел нервный срыв, и она смогла справиться с этим только благодаря тому, что знала, что в самые тяжелые моменты ее поддерживала любовь народа. Действительно, Диана была народной принцессой.

Princess Diana

Diana Frances Spencer was born on 1 July, 1961 in the estate of the Spencers in Norfolk. Diana"s parents were from aristocratic families: her father"s name is Viscount Althrop and her mother"s name is Frances Roche. The ancestors of her father Earl Spencer were relatives of a royal dynasty. The mother had a noble title too. When Diana was six, her mother left the family and in 1969 the marriage of her parents was officially dissolved.

In 1975 Althrop inherited the title of Earl Spencer from his father and for the second/time married Raine, the Countess of Dartmouth, the daughter of the writer Barbara Cartland.

Diana was sent to the private school. She dreamt of being a ballerina, but, then, as she told herself, she had to give up this idea because it appeared that she was too tall for that. Diana studied at normal schools - at first in Norfolk, then in Kent. When she was 16 she left for Switzerland and finished school there. Having returned, she lived with her friends in London, earning as a cook or a nanny, and then found the job of a teacher in a kindergarten.

For the first time Diana met the Prince in 1977, in the estate of Diana"s father. Diana"s sister Sarah introduced them to each other. They began to date. At this time it was considered in Buckingham Palace that the heir should marry. Diana seemed to be a suitable candidate, though Spencers were not royal by descent. But Diana was not catholic, so one of the main conditions of a royal marriage was observed, and the decision was made. They were married at St. Paul"s Cathedral on July 29, 1981 and this wedding became rather most brilliant event in Britain. Diana was twenty, Charles - thirty-two.

However, after the honeymoon the relations between the couple started getting worse.

In June, 1982 the Princess of Wales gave birth to her first son, Prince William, and in September, 1984 she gave birth to her second child Prince Henry. The Royal family hoped that with birth of the sons peace would reign in the family. But the hopes appeared to be vain. Charles and Diana were moving away from each other. The situation became even worse, when the Princess understood, that heart of the Prince belongs to another woman - Camilla Parker-Bowles (later, in 1986, it became known, that he renewed the relations with her). Then Diana, in her turn, began to take lessons of horse riding from the major Hewitt, a heart breaker from the high society. The exposing scandalous photos and overheard telephone conversations of the husband and wife appeared in mass media.

Since autumn 1987 the couple began to spend practically all the time separately. In December, 1992 the Prime Minister John Major announced to the Parliament, that Diana and Charles were going to divorce. The official divorce was held in August, 1996.

Several last weeks of her life Princess Diana spent together with her friend Duddy Al-Fayed, 41 years old, the senior son of the Egyptian billionaire Mohammed Al-Fayed, the owner of the most fashionable London shop «Harrods», Paris hotel «Ritz», and a lot of others.

On August 31, 1997 Princess Diana was killed in a car accident together with Duddi. Diana"s death was a great tragedy and loss for the whole British nation. In her life she did a lot of charity all over the world and became the most popular and beloved figure of the royal family. Her death is still full of mysteries.

Принцесса Диана

Диана Франсес Спенсер родилась 1 июля 1961 года в имении Спенсеров в Норфолке. Родители Дианы были из аристократической семьи: имя ее отца - Вискаунт Альтроп, а ее матери - Франсес Роше. Предки ее отца графа Спенсера были родственниками королевской династии. У матери также был дворянский титул. Когда Диане было шесть лет, ее мать покинула семью и в 1969 году брак ее родителей был официально расторгнут.

В 1975 году Альтроп унаследовал титул графа династии Спенсеров от своего отца и во второй раз женился на Рейд, графине округа Дармоут, дочери писательницы Барбары Картланд.

Диана была отправлена в частную школу. Она мечтала стать балериной, но затем, как она сама рассказывала, ей пришлось отказаться от этого, так как она была слишком высокой. Диана училась в обычной школе, сначала в Норфолке, затем в Кенте. Когда ей было 16 лет, она уехала в Швейцарию и окончила там школу. Когда она вернулась, она жила с друзьями в Лондоне, подрабатывая поваром и няней, а затем нашла работу воспитателя в детском саду.

Впервые Диана познакомилась с принцем в 1977 году в поместье отца Дианы. Сестра Дианы - Сара познакомила их. Они начали встречаться. В то время в Букингемском ^ Дворце считали, что наследнику престола нужно жениться. Диана казалась подходящей кандидатурой, хотя Спен-1 серы не имели королевского происхождения. Но Диана не | была католичкой, поэтому одно из главных условий для] вступления в брак с членом королевской семьи было выполнено и решение было принято. Молодая пара обвенчалась в! Кафедральном Соборе святого Павла 29 июля 1981 года и их свадьба стала весьма ярким событием в Британии. Диане было 20, а Чарльзу 32 года.

Однако после окончания медового месяца отношения между супругами ухудшились.

В июне 1982 года принцесса Уэльская родила своего первого сына, принца Уильяма, а в сентябре 1984-го на свет появился второй ребенок - принц Генри. Королевская семья надеялась, что с рождением сыновей между супругами воцарится мир. Однако эти надежды оказались напрасными. Чарльз и Диана отдалялись друг от друга. Ситуация еще более ухудшилась, когда принцесса узнала, что сердце принца принадлежит другой женщине - Камиле Паркер Баулз (впоследствии, в 1986 году стало известно, что он возобновил с ней отношения). Затем Диана в свою очередь начала брать уроки верховой езды у майора Хевита, покорителя сердец в высшем обществе. Обнародованные скандальные фотографии и подслушанные телефонные разговоры мужа и жены появились в прессе.

Начиная с осени 1987 года супружеская пара стала проводить практически все время врозь. В декабре 1992 года премьер-министр Джон Мейджер заявил в парламенте, что Диана и Чарльз собираются развестись. Официальный развод состоялся в августе 1996 года.

Несколько последних недель жизни принцесса провела вместе со своим другом Дуди Аль-Фаедом, 41 года, старшим сыном египетского миллиардера Мохамеда Аль-Фаеда, владельца самого фешенебельного лондонского магазина «Херодс», отеля «Ритц» в Париже и многих других заведений.

31 августа 1997 года принцесса Диана погибла в автомобильной катастрофе вместе с Дуди. Смерть Дианы стала огромной трагедией и потерей для всей британской нации. В жизни Диана много занималась благотворительностью по всему миру и стала самой популярной и любимой фигурой в королевской семье. Ее смерть до сих пор полна загадок.

Questions:

1. What can you tell about Diana"s family?
2. When was Diana born?
3. Where did Diana study?
4. When and where did she first meet Charles?
5. What kind of relations did Diana and Charles have after getting married?
6. When did the situation become worse?
7. When was the official divorce held?
8. How did the Princess die?


Vocabulary:
estate - имение, поместье
ancestor - предок
royal - королевский
to dissolve - расторгать (брак)
to inherit - (у)наследовать
to give up - отказаться (от чего-либо)
nanny - няня
to give birth to - родить кого-л.
kindergarten - детский сад
suitable - подходящий
descent - происхождение
heir - наследник
wedding - свадьба
a brilliant event - яркое событие
honeymoon - медовый месяц
reign - правление
vain - напрасный, тщетный
horse riding - верховая езда
separately - отдельно, врозь
senior -старший
fashionable - модный

Princess Diana

Diana Frances Spencer was born on 1 July, 1961 in the estate of the Spencers in Norfolk. Diana"s parents were from aristocratic families: her father"s name is Viscount Althrop and her mother"s name is Frances Roche. The ancestors of her father Earl Spencer were relatives of a royal dynasty. The mother had a noble title too. When Diana was six, her mother left the family and in 1969 the marriage of her parents was officially dissolved.

In 1975 Althrop inherited the title of Earl Spencer from his father and for the second/time married Raine, the Countess of Dartmouth, the daughter of the writer Barbara Cartland.

Diana was sent to the private school. She dreamt of being a ballerina, but, then, as she told herself, she had to give up this idea because it appeared that she was too tall for that. Diana studied at normal schools - at first in Norfolk, then in Kent. When she was 16 she left for Switzerland and finished school there. Having returned, she lived with her friends in London, earning as a cook or a nanny, and then found the job of a teacher in a kindergarten.

For the first time Diana met the Prince in 1977, in the estate of Diana"s father. Diana"s sister Sarah introduced them to each other. They began to date. At this time it was considered in Buckingham Palace that the heir should marry. Diana seemed to be a suitable candidate, though Spencers were not royal by descent. But Diana was not catholic, so one of the main conditions of a royal marriage was observed, and the decision was made. They were married at St. Paul"s Cathedral on July 29, 1981 and this wedding became rather most brilliant event in Britain. Diana was twenty, Charles - thirty-two.

However, after the honeymoon the relations between the couple started getting worse.

In June, 1982 the Princess of Wales gave birth to her first son, Prince William, and in September, 1984 she gave birth to her second child Prince Henry. The Royal family hoped that with birth of the sons peace would reign in the family. But the hopes appeared to be vain. Charles and Diana were moving away from each other. The situation became even worse, when the Princess understood, that heart of the Prince belongs to another woman - Camilla Parker-Bowles (later, in 1986, it became known, that he renewed the relations with her). Then Diana, in her turn, began to take lessons of horse riding from the major Hewitt, a heart breaker from the high society. The exposing scandalous photos and overheard telephone conversations of the husband and wife appeared in mass media.

Since autumn 1987 the couple began to spend practically all the time separately. In December, 1992 the Prime Minister John Major announced to the Parliament, that Diana and Charles were going to divorce. The official divorce was held in August, 1996.

Several last weeks of her life Princess Diana spent together with her friend Duddy Al-Fayed, 41 years old, the senior son of the Egyptian billionaire Mohammed Al-Fayed, the owner of the most fashionable London shop «Harrods», Paris hotel «Ritz», and a lot of others.

On August 31, 1997 Princess Diana was killed in a car accident together with Duddi. Diana"s death was a great tragedy and loss for the whole British nation. In her life she did a lot of charity all over the world and became the most popular and beloved figure of the royal family. Her death is still full of mysteries.