Diana's sensitive nature was obvious early on3. [Teacher] Jean remembers she used to get concerned4 if other children were upset. “When her brother Charles started in the nursery,” Jean can remember, “Diana was very anxious. In one lesson I was teaching I could see Diana was very restless and she actually kept saying, ‘Do you think Charles is all right? Do you think he's happy?’ and I said, ‘Well, why don't you go and see?’ and she went out and came back and said, ‘He's fine’, and she settled back to the lesson.”
...
Diana went to the boarding school5 Riddlesworth Hall aged nine. She had been “busy looking after my father most of the time and then suddenly realized I was going to be away from him”, because of having to attend boarding school. This made her feel rejected. [Says former headmistress6 Patricia Wood:] “It may have stemmed from [her parents'] divorce7, but [Diana] wanted to feel that she was useful [at Riddlesworth], so that anything that she could do that proved her worth, she participated8 in. I used to have the ‘Most Helpful Girl’ cup and I don't know how many times she won it. She would always remain behind to help clear up9 the [classroom], clear away10 books. ‘Is there anything I can do?’ She was the same with all of the other members of staff as well—to the point at times11 you would say, ‘Look, Diana, why don't you go off and play?’”
Reginald [Latin teacher]: “The divorce obviously deeply affected her. And she was very torn12. She had a little cry on several occasions about why doesn't Mummy love Daddy? And why doesn't Daddy love Mummy? It's very difficult to explain to a child.”
...
Diana was the only child in the school that Penny Walker asked to babysit13 her newborn child. “In 1977, my son was born in the holiday. And the first day of term she was on the doorstep with a cuddly14 toy for him. And she just stood there and said, ‘Quick, take it, before I have to keep it, because I think it's lovely.’ Then she kept coming over saying, ‘Can I help?’ and she became the babysitter. There was certainly nobody else of her age in the school that I could possibly have trusted with a newborn, but she knew exactly what to do.”
In the spring of 1978, Diana moved to London to work as a kindergarten assistant．．．
Diana's mother always saw that her daughter was concerned for others even after she started working. “For instance, when she was in London, she shared my flat with an other girl, and one night, the occupant of the ground floor was burgled15. Diana rang me in the morning and said, ‘She's very upset, and her flat is very messy16, do you mind if I try to make her more comfortable?’ and then she rang in the evening and she said she'd tidied the whole flat and she'd taken down my television, stayed with her and made her a meal. It was all quite natural to her.”
Kay King, who ran the Young England Kindergarten where Diana worked: “She was the youngest of the team and very willing17. She helped with the things that she really enjoyed, like painting and music, but she also did boring things like taking children to the toilet and wiping noses and she was very happy doing that. She never minded that kind of things at all.”
Diana clearly took to her new role as a royal and later, as a mother:
[At her early royal engagements18, photographer] Jayne noticed Diana often went straight to where the children were. “She didn't mean to, it was just that she felt more at ease19 with children around her. If she could find a child that she could touch or bend down to, she didn't feel all self-conscious20, unlike having to stand with her hands by her side.”
“Right from the start,” adds Jayne, “she seemed a very motherly21 person to me. With her own children, she couldn't stop touching them, cuddling them, and making sure they looked presentable22 in public. You could always see the bond with the boys.”
Diana＇s charity work was the one constant for her; over the years, she showed an unusual ability in getting strangers to trust her:
In 1986 Diana met Simon Barnes, who following an accident two years previously23, was paraplegic24. [Barnes and two healthy friends had raised funds for spinal25 research by pushing themselves 1200 miles from England to Scotland in their wheelchairs. Invited to meet Diana at Kensington Palace, Barnes later became a friend.]
“When we were first introducing ourselves, three of us sat round in a semicircle26 in front of her, and she said, ‘My God, look at all these muscles. I'm surrounded by men with great big muscles.’ Well, we were looking fit, and totally not what people expect when they get introduced to three wheelchair users. But it was so kind of her to comment on something unrelated27 to our injuries. She was very much like that.”
The late Reverend Tony Lloyd, who was executive director28 of the Leprosy29 Mission, accompanied her on visits to hospitals in Nepal, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe. “Diana had an ability to detect30 people's suffering. She always seemed able to find the patient most in need, or the loneliest.”
“But Diana was also great fun. I once saw her going into a leprosy ward31, one of the least happy places to be in, but she would have them all laughing in five minutes. There was one old lady who asked her ‘How old are you?’ And the princess said, ‘None of your business, old lady!’ The old lady had enough English to understand. And there was this woman with leprosy and without any teeth just giggling32 like a schoolgirl. Then the Indian director told the rest of the ward what she'd said and they all started laughing. I'd never seen anything like that before.”
戴安娜敏感的天性在幼年时就表露无遗。[教师]琼记得，假如别的孩子不开心了，戴安娜就会主动关心他们。“她的弟弟查尔斯刚上托儿所的时候，”琼回忆道，“戴安娜显得很焦急。在我的一堂课上我看到戴安娜心神不宁，她居然不停地问，‘您觉得查尔斯现在好吗？您认为他高兴吗？’我说，‘喔，你何不去看一看呢？’她出去了一会儿回来说，‘他很好’，然后才又安心听课。”
……
戴安娜9岁时就读瑞德斯女子寄宿学校。此前的“大部分时间我一直忙着照顾爸爸，突然有一天我意识到就要离开他了”，因为不得不去寄宿学校。这使她有一种被抛弃的感觉。[前女校长帕特里夏·伍德说]： “这也许源于[她父母]的离异。但[戴安娜]需要确定在瑞德斯她是个有用的人，所以任何她力所能及的可以证明她价值的事情，她都会参与。我从前设立了一个‘最乐于助人的女孩’ 奖，她获奖的次数不计其数。她总是在放学后留下来帮助打扫[教室]，收拾书本。‘我能做点什么吗？’她在所有其他教师眼里也是如此——以至于有时候你会忍不住问，‘喂，戴安娜，你为什么不出去玩呢？’”
拉丁文教师雷金纳德说：“父母离异显然对她影响很深，她内心非常痛苦。有几次她哭着问我，为什么妈妈不爱爸爸？为什么爸爸不爱妈妈？很难对一个孩子解释这些。”
……
在学校，戴安娜是惟一一个彭妮·沃克敢把她新生婴儿给其照料的孩子。“1977年的假期，我儿子出生了。开学头一天，戴安娜出现在门前台阶上，手里拿着一个为他准备的可爱的玩具。她站在那儿说，‘快来拿，要不我就留给自己了，因为我觉得它好可爱。’然后她不停地跑过来问，‘我能帮忙吗？’就这样她成了临时小保姆。在与她同龄的学生当中，除了她我绝不可能把小婴儿托付给第二个人，可她却完全知道该怎么做。”
1978年春，戴安娜迁居伦敦，当上了一名幼儿园助理教师……
戴安娜的母亲总能看到女儿对他人的关心，即便工作以后也是如此。“例如，她在伦敦的时候，她和另一个租了我公寓的女孩合住。一天晚上，一楼的房客被盗，戴安娜早上打电话给我说，‘她很难过，她的房间乱糟糟的，您介意我让她住得舒服些吗？’到晚上她打电话告诉我，她把整个公寓收拾了一遍，把我的电视机搬到楼下，和那个女孩做伴，还为她做了一顿饭。所有这些对她来说都自然不过。”
戴安娜曾经工作过的“年轻英格兰”幼儿园的园长凯·金说：“她是我们团队中最年轻的一个，而且积极肯干。她不仅帮忙做那些她真正喜欢的事情，如绘画和音乐，她还做一些单调的事，比如带孩子们上厕所，为他们擦鼻涕，而且心甘情愿。她从不介意这些琐碎的事情。”
戴安娜显然喜欢上了作为王室成员以及后来的母亲这两个新角色：
[曾见证她早期王室活动的摄影师]杰恩注意到戴安娜常常径直走向孩子们所在的地方。“她并非有意这么做，而是她觉得有孩子们在身边更自在。如果她能找到一个可以抚摸或俯身交谈的孩子，她就不会感到那么难为情，不像有时得直直地站着，双手下垂。”
“从一开始，”杰恩补充道，“她在我眼里就是一个充满母爱的人。对自己的孩子她总也摸不够，抱不够，精心照顾，让他们在公共场合看起来大方得体。你总能看到她与孩子们之间的亲昵之情。”
戴安娜的慈善事业是她不变的追求；多年来，她展现出一种非凡的亲和力，能迅速赢得陌生人的信任：
1986年，戴安娜会见了西蒙·巴恩斯，后者因两年前的一次事故而截瘫。[巴恩斯和两个身体健康的朋友为了给脊髓研究募集资金，滚着轮椅从英格兰到苏格兰行走了1200英里。巴恩斯应邀到肯辛顿宫会见戴安娜，此后他们成了朋友。]
“我们作自我介绍的时候，三个人在她面前围成一个半圆形，她说，‘天啊，瞧瞧这些肌肉。我置身在一群肌肉发达的男人中间。’的确，我们看上去很壮实，完全不是人们想象中坐轮椅的人的样子。而她是那么善良，只评说与我们的伤残无关的东西。她就是这样的人。”
已故牧师、曾任“麻风病救济会”执行理事的托尼·劳埃德陪同戴安娜出访过尼泊尔、香港和津巴布韦的医院。“戴安娜具有觉察人们痛苦的能力。她似乎总能发现那个最需要帮助或最孤独的病人。”
“可是戴安娜也很风趣。有一次我看见她走进一间麻风病房，虽然那是最不快乐的地方之一，但她却只用五分钟就让所有人笑了起来。有一位老太太问她‘您有多大了？’王妃回答说，‘不关你的事，老婆子！’老太太能听懂这句英语，只见这个没牙齿的麻风病老人咯咯地笑个不停，像个女学生。随后，印度理事把她刚说的话告诉病房的其他人，他们全都大笑起来。我从没见过这么逗趣的事情。”
1. as yet （多用于否定句）迄今
2． charity n． 慈善机构，慈善事业
3． early on 在早期，初始
4． concerned adj． 关切的，关心的
5． boarding school 寄宿学校
6． headmistress n． 私立学校女校长
7． divorce n． 离婚
8． participate ] v． 参加，参与
9． clear up 清理，整顿
10． clear away 收拾干净
11． at times 有时，不时
12． torn adj． 受折磨
13． babysit v． 代人临时照看婴儿
14． cuddly adj． 令人想拥抱的，可爱的
15． burgle v． 偷窃
16． messy adj． 凌乱的；肮脏的
17． willing adj． 心甘情愿的，积极肯干的
18． engagement n． 约定，约会
19． at ease 安逸，自在
20． self－conscious adj． 忸怩的，难为情的
21． motherly adj． 母亲的，慈爱的
22． presentable adj． 像样的，拿得出去的
23． previously ] adv． 先前，以前
24． paraplegic adj． 截瘫的
25． spinal adj． 脊骨的，脊髓的
26． semicircle n． 半圆形
27． unrelated adj． 不相干的
28． executive director 执行理事，常务董事
29． leprosy n． 麻风病
30． detect v． 察觉，侦查
31． ward n． 病房
32． giggle v． 咯咯地笑，痴笑