Diana, Princess of Wales

Author’s Notes:

1. Scrapbook- Because Diana was the most photographed woman in the world, I wanted to share just a handful of the millions of pictures that were taken of her throughout her life. Diana was a very beautiful and tantalizing female figure in the media. The paparazzi absolutely indulged on the notion of taking photographs of her every movement. It is assumed that this is the primary reason of her death, but there is not appropriate justification of this assumption at this time. Even though Diana was considered the “People’s Princess”, she was faced with many trials and tribulations throughout her life that caused her to become depressed and very sick, but her pictures never depicted her feelings. She was always smiling, and absolutely invigorating. She shared her warm heart through her charity work with over 100 charities around the world. This, in itself, compelled to her viewers and it was apparent that she was more-liked than the Prince of Wales, himself!  I placed the pictures in the scrapbook more or less in the order of her life. Her photographs are captivating and riveting. No wonder she was called the “People’s Princess”!

2. Interview- This is a full-transcript of Princess Diana’s one-hour television interview with Martin Bashir, a journalist for BBC (British Broadcasting Company). It was taken in November 1995 without the permission of the Palace. Diana talks openly about her life, her children, Princes William and Harry, her failed marriage to Prince Charles, her eating disorders and depression, her husband’s relationship with long-time lover Camilla Parker-Bowles, as well as her own infidelity.  This interview was her “ticket” out of this terrible life she was unfortunately leading. She wanted the people to know of her unhappiness as the wife of Prince Charles and a member of the Royal Family. I included this particular artifact in my project to effectively portray Diana’s turning point in her life as a Princess, wife, and mother.
3. Letter- After Diana’s death, there were millions upon millions of letters, flowers, and gifts left outside of Kensington and Buckingham Palaces in remembrance of her life. People around the world absolutely adored Princess Diana regardless of her choice to divorce Prince Charles. She was indeed the “People’s Princess”, and that would never change as long as time moves on. In these letters, people expressed their true feelings of the Princess. They shared intimate thoughts of her life, her love for her children, work for charities, and other amazing experiences. I wrote a letter similar to what might have been written and found at the footstep of the Palace gates. The letter expresses a sincere thanks to the Princess, as well as warm expressions of love and sympathy for her sons.
4. Obituary- This obituary was the announcement found on an England Obituary website. It was only one of the hundreds that were written for her tragic death. This particular article summarized her life and final burial events. After the terrible car accident with companion Dodi Al Fayad, she was immediately taken to the nearest hospital in Paris and pronounced dead at 3:00am on Sunday, August 31, 1997. Her funeral arrangements were noted and held on September 6, 1997 at the Westminster Abbey. She was buried at the Spencer family estate on a small lake island in Althorp. The article also noted her amazing achievements as a role model, high-profile charity promoter, and mother. It speaks of her sons, Princes William and Harry, her marriage, separation, and divorce to Prince Charles, as well as her younger years. Princess Diana was loved by an international audience. Her impact on the world will never be forgotten.
5. Tabloids- The paparazzi was assumed as being the primary reason for Diana’s death. It has not been confirmed to this day, but continues to be a thought in the back of thousands of people’s minds. What many do not know is that Diana was addicted to the Tabloid Newspapers. She read the Daily Mail, the Sun, Daily Mirror, and the Express every morning at breakfast. Diana loved to read about the gossip that was generated about the public and private lives of people around her. She found great entertainment in this idea. She also had close relationships with the editors of these particular newspapers, especially the Daily Mail. She would even invite them over for lunch to the Kensington Palace. She would confide in them, being open and honest and giving them information that would later be used as her best weapon to revealing her true feelings about her life. An anonymous editor of a tabloid paper noted, “Her conversations were laced with confessions and revelations with understanding that you wouldn’t pass them on…we were never friends, be we weren’t enemies either”. It was obvious that Diana knew how to work the media to her own advantage, and she used it quite nicely towards the end of her struggling life. I created a “tabloid page” that would be similar to one that was found on the front of the Daily Mail during her troubling marriage to Prince Charles.

Classroom Project Plan

• 4^th Grade
• Group project (3-4 students)
• Materials:

* Computer Lab

* Art supplies

* School Library

• Assign a specific North Carolina History important person, place, or event to research as a group.

Examples: Native tribes, Kitty Hawk, lighthouses, Andrew Johnson, or state symbols

• Visit the library as a class twice a week for 3 weeks before project due date to ensure students’ research time.
• Introduce research methods of attaining information about their specific topic (Newpapers, internet, journals, books, etc)
• Explain how to reference a source that they use information from. Remind the students of copyright laws and the importance of paraphrasing.
• Explain what “genres or articles” entail. Give examples of artifacts. Have access to art supplies and give students ample class time to brainstorm and design artifacts.
• Visit the computer lab 3 times per week for 30 minutes a day 2 weeks before project due date to introduce Microsoft Word documents and other software that students may want to experiment with. The students will definitely need to understand and be knowledgeable of Microsoft Word because they will be writing their Author’s Notes with this software.
• An author’s note will be a brief paragraph telling why the group chose the artifact, what does it mean, and how does it reflect on the topic that was researched.
• Review rubric qualifications with the class(See Grading Rubric on the following page)
•  Each group will present their topic. (This will give the students a brief experience with public speaking.)  Each child will have a small speaking part explaining and telling about their research and the artifacts that they designed. The presentation should be around 10-15 minutes per group.
• Each group must have artifacts, Author’s Notes, and references to turn in at the presentation due date.

Grading Rubric