10th Anniversary
2007 marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales on 31 August 1997.
Within hours of the Princess's death, people began arriving at Kensington Palace with flowers and with envelopes containing notes and cheques. Finding the right home for the money was a challenging task, but by the following day the decision had been made: a charity would be set up in the Princess's memory.
On 4 September 1997, The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund received charitable status. The Founder Trustees - Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Michael Gibbins and Anthony Julius - then set about making the idea of a living memorial to the Princess a reality.
Small sums of money from the public rapidly built up. Within days, the Fund received a huge donation from Sir Elton John and Polygram's Candle in the Wind '97 - an act of spectacular generosity which assured the Fund's future.
In the first nine years of its existence, the Fund pledged some £71 million in grants to over 350 organisations around the world. Charities with which the Princess had a close connection in her lifetime were invited to submit proposals for funding, and more than 90 such organisations received money from the Fund in the first year. Since then, the Fund has sought to capture the spirit of the Princess's humanitarian work by focusing on the disadvantaged and the marginalised, providing them with support, a voice and an opportunity to realise their full potential.
The Fund welcomed the announcement of the concert celebrating the life of Diana, Princess of Wales which took place in 2007, the 10th anniversary of her death and of the Fund's establishment.
'We are delighted that Princes William and Harry have invited the Fund to be among the beneficiaries of the concert,' Dr Astrid Bonfield, Chief Executive of the Fund, said on 12 December 2006.
For further information about the concert, please visit http://www.concertfordiana.com/.
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