edHelper.com
The 1990's

The Death of a Princess

The Death of a Princess
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    telecast, worldwide, centerpiece, royalty, billion, majority, bodyguard, traces, military, divorce, security, thirteenth, july, head-on, investigation, wealthy
     content words:    Prince Charles, Diana Spencer, Princess Diana, Dodi Al Fayed, Al Fayed, Ritz Hotel, Henri Paul, Trevor Rees-Jones, Dodi Al-Fayed, Elton John

Print The Death of a Princess
edHelper.com subscriber options:
     Print The Death of a Princess  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
     Quickly print reading comprehension
     Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on The Death of a Princess
     Leave your feedback on The Death of a Princess  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

The Death of a Princess
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     July 29, 1981, was a fairy tale come true for millions of people. They witnessed the wedding of England's Prince Charles to their beloved Diana Spencer. Princess Diana became the centerpiece of British royalty. The people loved her. She was kind. She was gentle. She was generous with her time and assets. She gave the British two strapping young princes that would take their place in line for the throne. Diana wasn't afraid to fight for those she felt were being treated unfairly. She sat with AIDS victims and held their hands when the majority of people were afraid to be in the same room with them. She donned a military flak jacket and helmet while looking at damage at a minefield in Angola.
 
2     The marriage of the prince and princess came to a halt in 1996. Accusations of infidelity had been made about both Charles and Diana. The marriage was dissolved in a divorce. That didn't mean that Diana disappeared from the British view. She was still their beloved princess. The British press and journalists from all over the world kept her every move in the newspapers. There were few places that Diana could go that a photographer didn't have a camera in her face.
 
3     Diana didn't need to worry about living her life alone. There were always gentlemen who were fascinated with her beauty and kind spirit. In the year following her divorce, many names were linked with the princess. One name quite often appeared with the princess's in 1997. His name was Dodi Al Fayed. Al Fayed's father was quite wealthy. He owned the largest department store in England, Harrod's. The Al Fayed family had the means to treat Diana like the princess she was. They were also able to provide security for the couple against the push of photographers, or paparazzi, as they are called.

Paragraphs 4 to 8:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
Copyright © 2008 edHelper