Diana, Princess of Wales, offered hope of a better future to some of the people whose lives she touched during her global travels.
Her untimely death in 1997 brought that to an end.
Now, on the eve of what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday, some of the organisations she visited have been reflecting on how things might have turned out if she hadn’t died.
One such place is an old people’s home in Zimbabwe run by the Society for the Destitute Aged in Highfield Township in the capital, Harare.
Diana visited the facility in 1993 to open a new residential block that’s still in use today.
But the care home has fallen on hard times because of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Paint is peeling from the ceilings, and the bathrooms are in a particularly poor state, says Emilia Mukaratirwa, the manager.
Hopes of better funding in the wake of the royal visit fell apart after Diana’s death, she believes.
“We feel that had she lived longer, this place would have been way better than it is today through her foundation,” Mukaratirwa says,
“It’s sad that she passed on way before her time, considering how kind hearted she was and the philanthropic work that she was doing all over the world, that had her ending up here at this very place.” – AP
