Diana Memorial Fund in Tatters....and Sarah is to blame

Within hours of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in August 1997 financial donations where flowing in. So much so that very quickly The Diana Memorial Fund was established. At that time it was announced that the charities that Diana supported, as well as others, would still be helped financially via the Princess's fund, so that they would not suffer now that her patronage had been lost.

Fast forward ten years and it's in a utter mess. Recently, it was published that a great deal of the money was helping immigrants settle in the UK. Although the intentions were all good, it has backfired on the fund as we are now, in the UK, reaching crisis point with the level of immigrants arriving, and staying, in the country and the issue needs to be addressed. Bad timing for the fund.

However, even as far back as 1998 the fund seemed to have lost it's way. We have had the famous lawsuit against Franklin Mint. The fund had unsuccessfully attempted to stop production of the highly desired 'Princess Diana doll' as well as other types of memorabilia. The legal cost's were sky high and a great deal of the money donated was not spent on charities but was used to pay lawyers and other fees in relation to the case. If the memorabilia that the Franklin Mint produced was tacky and rubbish one could understand this move. However, it is not, and in fact produces some of the classier items of memorabilia that one can buy.

Another scandal that occur ed in the first year was the very public sacking of Diana's 'rock' Paul Burrell. The memorial fund publicly said that his contract had come to a end and his job was to be made redundant. He says that he was sacked, and according to him, Diana's sister, Sarah, who runs the memorial fund was jealous of the attention that he, and he alone was getting. I think his departure was probably a mixture of both, although I am sure his exit was hastened after he agreed to put Diana's signature on tubs of Flora margarine and National Lottery scratch cards.

But what of Sarah? Does she rule the memorial fund with a iron fist, or is she constantly being misrepresented by the media. She has certainly come in for bad press when it was revealed that she had scraped Diana's letter that was added to her will saying that all Diana's godchildren would get a set amount from her will, and instead dropped off to each godchild a single object that came from Diana's possessions. One child even got a china rooster. How were they to remember Diana from such a item? I think as Diana's eldest sister she genuinely thought she was in best position to head the fund, but I think she has made some dreadful mistakes and it may be wise of her to step down from the fund.

But what of the fund? I think with all the hiccups, misuse of donations etc, I feel ten years is the right time to wind the fund up. With the money that is remaining, couldn't the fund agree to finally honour one of Diana's wishes? She often said that she would like to be remember by having a children's hospital named after her, and I think that would be a 'high' on which the fund could really leave on. There are many areas in the UK that are desperately short of premature baby units, and families have to travel from London from as far away as Manchester and Liverpool, so why then can't the money be used to build the Diana, Princess of Wales Premature Baby Hospital and situate it in part of the country that needs it the most. Maybe then, even the Countess of Wessex, whose own child had to go into a unit, could be responsible for raising more funds for the hospital in the future.

I cant think of a nicer way to wind up the fund. And it would be something that Diana, wherever she is, could be hugely proud of.