The first British citizen to marry an heir to the British throne in over 300 years, Lady Diana Spencer’s nuptials to Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1981 was called the “wedding of the century.”
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Diana remembered at 50, as mom
On her 50th birthday, honoring Princess Di's proudest achievement: motherhood
"She's always there," Prince William said in an interview with Matt Lauer, 10 years after his mother's tragic death. "She was massively strong and gave us both reservoirs of strength."William was just 15 when Diana died in a car wreck at 36. If she were alive today, she would be celebrating her 50th birthday with William, his new wife Kate, and her second son Harry, just 12 when she passed away.
"It still upsets me now, the fact that we didn't have much of a chance as children to spend time with her," the young prince told Lauer in 2007. "The time we did spend with her was amazing."
In 1980, she was a Kindergarten teacher, beloved by her students. But in the months that followed, her engagement to Prince Charles prohibited her from pursing a career in teaching.
William was born in 1982 and by 1984 he had a brother named Harry.
Much of Diana's philanthropic efforts focused on the health and education of children.
"She didn't want praise for it," said William. "She did it because she cared. And it was a massive quality of hers which was why she became so big. She wanted to give so much love and give so much care to people who really needed it."
"After our mother's death, there was so much of us being in the public," recalled Harry in the NBC interview. "And then seeing stuff on TV and reading stuff saying, 'Oh, they show no emotion,' that sort of stuff. You know, that's our public side. If we don't feel comfortable pouring our eyes out in front of thousands of people, then that's our problem. You know, we got each other to talk to."
They still do. Harry was William's best man at his wedding and continues to be his closest confidant, sharing each other's friends, triumphs, and milestones. Their friendship is one of the greatest gifts she gave them and part of the legacy she left behind.
They still do. Harry was William's best man at his wedding and continues to be his closest confidant, sharing each other's friends, triumphs, and milestones. Their friendship is one of the greatest gifts she gave them and part of the legacy she left behind.
Princess Coocoola of Sikkim
Princess Coocoola of Sikkim, who has died aged 84, was the beautiful widow of a Tibetan governor and a champion of the distinct culture of the northern Indian state of Sikkim.
Embodying a combination of oriental charm and western sophistication, she relayed messages to the outside world as the Chinese invasion of Tibet began in 1950, then devoted 10 years to running a rehabilitation centre for Tibetan refugees in Sikkim. Twenty-five years later, when Sikkim became an Indian state, she played an active role in trying to retain its separate political status and unique character, giving a press conference in Hong Kong to protest at its loss of independence.
Embodying a combination of oriental charm and western sophistication, she relayed messages to the outside world as the Chinese invasion of Tibet began in 1950, then devoted 10 years to running a rehabilitation centre for Tibetan refugees in Sikkim. Twenty-five years later, when Sikkim became an Indian state, she played an active role in trying to retain its separate political status and unique character, giving a press conference in Hong Kong to protest at its loss of independence. Acting as the hostess for her brother, the Chogyal (King) of Sikkim, at State functions until he married his American wife, she travelled widely to lobby politicians in New Delhi. She mixed with John Kenneth Galbraith, Senator Edward Kennedy and presidential aides in Washington and presented an 18-in high Buddha to a Tibetan children's village at Sedlescome, Sussex.
In 1941 the princess duly set off on the three-week journey to Lhasa with two maids, one bearer and two horses. She rode while going through the countryside, but retreated to her palanquin when passing through towns. When she arrived she found the two sons sitting next to her at the wedding ceremony, but repeated to her intended that she would marry only him. She and her husband settled down to enjoy the leisured life of the Tibetan gentry, with parties, picnics and festivals. The few visitors who arrived in Tibet – known as "the roof of the world" – were mesmerised by her.
In his book Seven Years in Tibet Heinrich Harrer hailed her as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and more interesting than her husband: "She possessed the indescribable charm of Asian women and the stamp of age-old oriental culture. At the same time she was clever, well-educated, and thoroughly moderne_SLps In conversation she was the equal of the most intelligent woman you would be likely to meet in a European salon. She was interested in politics, culture and all that was happening in the world. She often talked about equal rights for women… but Tibet has a long way to go before reaching that point."
Another visitor compared her to an exotic butterfly, saying her qualities showed in the quizzical way she looked up through her long lashes, and in the slow manner in which she exhaled her cigarette smoke or murmured a few words in her low, clear, musical voice. She entertained far more regally than her homely brother, the Chogyal, offering sparkling conversation as the best French wines were poured from heavy decanters. Her place at table was set with golden coasters and cutlery to remind even the most honoured guests of their inferior rank. Nevertheless, she liked to say: "Money didn't make me – I made money."
When travelling the dangerous trade route between Tibet and Gangtok, the largest town in Sikkim, with her small children bundled up in windowed boxes on horses or mules, she insisted on riding a horse with a rifle slung across her shoulder and a revolver in her pocket to repel bandits.
Princess Coocoola and her husband were founding members of the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, to which they donated manuscripts and a large silver-plated stupa to hold the relics of two Ashokan monks, which were a gift from the Indian government. She allowed the institute to scan her photographic collection.
In her last years she lived in a modest cottage on the outskirts of Gangtok, keeping up with events in Sikkim and world politics and continuing to enjoy discussions with scholars who came knocking at her door. When one completed a book on Sikkimese village religion she insisted they celebrate with a bottle of champagne. Princess Coocoola was widowed in 1973, and is survived by three of her children. When she died on December 2 four tremors were felt in Sikkim, which, according to local belief, signals the passing of a great soul.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3709947/Princess-Coocoola-of-Sikkim.html
When the Indian president Pandit Nehru offered her a pension, the princess turned it down, and asked instead for trading rights. Working from a single room in Calcutta, she and her younger sister Kula started a business importing turquoise from Iran. Later she joined the boards of a company which produced jewels for watches and of the State Bank of Sikkim.
Princess Pema Tsedeun Yapshi Pheunkhang Lacham Kusho (known as Coocoola) was the daughter of Sir Tashi Namgyal, KCSI, KCIE, the 11th Chogyal, and the granddaughter of a Tibetan general. She was born at Darjeeling on September 6 1924, when the Himalayan kingdom, which had been established in the 1640s, was a protectorate of the British Empire.
Young Coocoola was educated by the nuns of St Joseph's convent at Kalimpong, a hill station near Darjeeling. The Tibetan Pheunkhang family then wrote to the palace, saying that they wanted a Sikkimese princess to marry their 23-year-old eldest son. Her father did not force her to accept, and she asked a secretary to reply that she wanted to go to university first. On being pressed, she accepted Sey Kusho Gompo Tsering Yapshi Pheunkhang, the governor of the Tibetan city of Gyantse and a son of one of the four ministers of Tibet. But she broke precedent by declining to marry both the bridegroom and his brother, as was the custom. "I replied that I would only marry the eldest," she recalled in later life. In 1941 the princess duly set off on the three-week journey to Lhasa with two maids, one bearer and two horses. She rode while going through the countryside, but retreated to her palanquin when passing through towns. When she arrived she found the two sons sitting next to her at the wedding ceremony, but repeated to her intended that she would marry only him. She and her husband settled down to enjoy the leisured life of the Tibetan gentry, with parties, picnics and festivals. The few visitors who arrived in Tibet – known as "the roof of the world" – were mesmerised by her.
In his book Seven Years in Tibet Heinrich Harrer hailed her as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and more interesting than her husband: "She possessed the indescribable charm of Asian women and the stamp of age-old oriental culture. At the same time she was clever, well-educated, and thoroughly moderne_SLps In conversation she was the equal of the most intelligent woman you would be likely to meet in a European salon. She was interested in politics, culture and all that was happening in the world. She often talked about equal rights for women… but Tibet has a long way to go before reaching that point."
Another visitor compared her to an exotic butterfly, saying her qualities showed in the quizzical way she looked up through her long lashes, and in the slow manner in which she exhaled her cigarette smoke or murmured a few words in her low, clear, musical voice. She entertained far more regally than her homely brother, the Chogyal, offering sparkling conversation as the best French wines were poured from heavy decanters. Her place at table was set with golden coasters and cutlery to remind even the most honoured guests of their inferior rank. Nevertheless, she liked to say: "Money didn't make me – I made money."
When travelling the dangerous trade route between Tibet and Gangtok, the largest town in Sikkim, with her small children bundled up in windowed boxes on horses or mules, she insisted on riding a horse with a rifle slung across her shoulder and a revolver in her pocket to repel bandits.
Princess Coocoola and her husband were founding members of the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, to which they donated manuscripts and a large silver-plated stupa to hold the relics of two Ashokan monks, which were a gift from the Indian government. She allowed the institute to scan her photographic collection.
In her last years she lived in a modest cottage on the outskirts of Gangtok, keeping up with events in Sikkim and world politics and continuing to enjoy discussions with scholars who came knocking at her door. When one completed a book on Sikkimese village religion she insisted they celebrate with a bottle of champagne. Princess Coocoola was widowed in 1973, and is survived by three of her children. When she died on December 2 four tremors were felt in Sikkim, which, according to local belief, signals the passing of a great soul.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3709947/Princess-Coocoola-of-Sikkim.html
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