After her marriage, The Princess of Wales
quickly became involved in the official duties of the Royal family. Her first
tour with The Prince was a three-day visit to Wales in October 1981. In 1983
she accompanied The Prince on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and they
took the infant Prince William with them. Prince William, with Prince Harry,
again joined The Prince and Princess at the end of their tour to Italy in
1985. Other official overseas visits undertaken with The Prince included
Australia (for the bicentenary celebrations in 1988), Brazil, India, Canada,
Nigeria, Cameroon, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Japan (for
the enthronement of Emperor Akihito). Their last joint overseas visit was to
South Korea in 1992.
The Princess's first official visit overseas on
her own was in September 1982, when she represented The Queen at the state
funeral of Princess Grace of Monaco. The Princess's first solo overseas tour
was in February 1984 when she travelled to Norway to attend a performance of
Carmen by the London City Ballet, of which she was patron. The Princess
subsequently visited many countries including Germany, the United States,
Pakistan, Switzerland, Hungary, Egypt, Belgium, France, South Africa, Zimbabwe
and Nepal.
Although the Princess was renowned for her
style and was closely associated with the fashion world, patronising and
raising the profile of younger British designers, she was best known for her
charitable work.
During her marriage, the Princess was president
or patron of over 100 charities. The Princess did much to publicise work on
behalf of homeless and also disabled people, children and people with HIV/Aids.
In December 1993, the Princess announced that she would be reducing the extent
of her public life in order to combine 'a meaningful public role with a more
private life'.
After her separation from The Prince, the Princess
continued to appear with the Royal family on major national occasions, such as
the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) and VJ (Victory
over Japan) Days in 1995.
Following her divorce, the Princess resigned most
of her charity and other patronages, and relinquished all her Service
appointments with military units. The Princess remained as patron of
Centrepoint (homeless charity), English National Ballet, Leprosy Mission and
National Aids Trust, and as President of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great
Ormond Street and of the Royal Marsden Hospital. In June 1997, the Princess
attended receptions in London and New York as previews of the sale of a number
of dresses and suits worn by her on official engagements, with the proceeds
going to charity.
The Princess spent her 36th and last birthday on
1 July 1997 attending the Tate Gallery's 100th Anniversary celebrations. Her
last official engagement in Britain was on 21 July, when she visited Northwick
Park Hospital, London (children's accident and emergency unit).
In the year before her death, the Princess was an active
campaigner for a ban on the manufacture and use of land mines. In January
1997, she visited Angola as part of her campaign. in June, the Princess spoke
at the landmines conference at the Royal Geographical Society in London, and
this was followed by a visit to Washington DC in the United States on 17/18
June to promote the American Red Cross landmines campaign (separately, she
also met Mother Teresa in The Bronx).
The Princess's last public engagements were during her
visit to Bosnia from 7 to 10 August, when she visited landmine projects in
Travnic, Sarajevo and Zenezica.
It was in recognition of her charity work that
representatives of the charities with which she worked during her life were
invited to walk behind her coffin with her family from St James's Palace to
Westminster Abbey on the day of her funeral.