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Princess Diana was a royal feminist before her time. She was full of female empowerment and she was determined to leave the world better than she found it. Princess Diana believed she was destined for greater things than just being a royal wife and having children. She felt connected to the common people and wanted to help them in any way she could.

Princess Diana redefined her role

Prince Charles and Princess Diana
Prince Charles and Princess Diana | John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty Images

Diana was her own person and redefined what it meant to be a feminist as a royal. Women have more interests than just having children and what they’re wearing from day to day. Diana was convinced that she would redefine her role as Princess of Wales, and she did just that.

‘This needs a woman’s touch’

Princess Diana
Princess Diana | Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images

In Andrew Morton’s biography about Diana in which she was the secret source, Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words, it’s obvious that she was a feminist that wanted to change the world for the better. She was determined to help society and show what women can bring to the table.

“She aspired towards a more informal, relaxed and approachable royal style; ‘This needs a woman’s touch,’ was her common refrain,” Morton wrote. “Her view in essence was that so many issues and problems in a male-dominated world derive from the aggressive, secretive and often insensitive masculine ego.”

Princess Diana wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself and what she wanted

Prince Charles and Princess Diana
Prince Charles and Princess Diana | Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images

Diana wasn’t afraid to stand up to her husband either. She fought for what she felt was right and what she was entitled to. She didn’t just roll over and do what everyone expected her to do.

Diana even went so far as to confront Prince Charles about his infamous affair with Camilla Parker Bowles on more than one occasion. In the beginning, he denied the entire thing. Diana even confronted Camilla in a famous encounter that proclaimed that Princess Diana wasn’t going to take the disrespect any longer.

Diana participated in interviews that were condemned by the Royal Family

Prince Charles and Princess Diana in Hawaii
Prince Charles and Princess Diana in Hawaii | Douglas Peebles/Corbis via Getty Images

She wasn’t afraid to go her own way, proving this on multiple occasions. In the BBC’s Panorama Interview with Martin Bashir, in which she participated while still married to Charles in 1995, Diana was already showing a stronger self. She revealed jaw-dropping details about their unhappy marriage and Charles’ blatant affair.

Diana didn’t receive any help or sympathy from the monarchy, something she grew to live without. She became even stronger for it by standing on her own two feet. “I think every strong woman in history has had to walk down a similar path,” Diana said. “And I think it’s the strength that causes the confusion and the fear.”

She was an advocate and a humanitarian

Princess Diana was known for her charitable work. She was a patron of numerous projects and was determined to change the world. She was particularly interested in helping people in shelters, especially battered women and children. She was also fundamental in changing the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS patients. She also worked with leprosy charities and visited hospitals.

Diana would even take Prince William and Prince Harry with her on some of these occasions. It’s something that stuck with them both. Prince William is now the patron of Centrepoint, a charity that Diana was once the patron of and frequented with her boys.

Princess Diana earned her title as the “People’s Princess.” She was a feminist in a unique role. She used her force for good and helped change the world for the better.