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ThisnAustralian holiday is in honor of the late Princess Diana, who diednin a tragic auto accident on this date in 1997. She was a good personnwho worked for international charities, and there was extensivenmourning all over the world when she died. I remember being in Parisnin 1999, at a memorial for Diana near the tunnel where she died, and even though it wasnalmost two years later, there were tons of flowers and stuffednanimals and other offerings at the site.
ThisnAustralian holiday is in honor of the late Princess Diana, who diednin a tragic auto accident on this date in 1997. She was a good personnwho worked for international charities, and there was extensivenmourning all over the world when she died. I remember being in Parisnin 1999, at a memorial for Diana near the tunnel where she died, and even though it wasnalmost two years later, there were tons of flowers and stuffednanimals and other offerings at the site.n
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nSo…Diananwas English, Princess of Wales (basically, Great Britain or UnitednKingdom), and she died in France. Why is her death commemorated withnwhite roses in Australia? n
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nAustralianis part of the Commonwealth of Nations. That means that, althoughnAustralia is a wholly separate and independent nation from the U.K.,nthe British royalty serves as its royalty, too. In other words, QueennElizabeth II is not just the Queen of England, she is the Queen ofnAustralia, too. Therefore, Princess Di (as she was often called) wasna princess of Australia.
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n(OthernCommonwealth realms include Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, and PapuanNew Guinea. There are 16 Commonwealth realms in all.)
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nPrincessnDiana was widely thought of as classy and fashionable, caring andnkind. She once said, “Being a princess isn’t all it’s cracked up tonbe.” Indeed, her days as a princess were not happy, and her famenlikely brought her more problems than joys. On the other hand, ofncourse she adored her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry!
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversary of the first tennis championship in the U.S.
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nIndependence Day in Trinidad and Tobago