Princess of Wales/Minefield 1997

Diana, Princess of Wales, tours a minefield in body armour to see for herself the carnage mines cause, during her visit to Angola where she pleaded with MPs to end the wrangling over her Red Cross-organised visit of the stricken African state. * 09/03/98: Trustees of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund announced the first round of grants, worth 13 million, to her favourite charities. Organisations involved with people affected by landmines will receive a grant of 1 million. 18/9/99 : The Ministry of Defence has launched an investigation into claims that illegal anti-personnel mines were on sale at a Government-backed arms fair. A Romanian company is said to have offered the banned mines for sale during the Defence Systems Equipment International exhibition in Chertsey, Surrey. The possession or sale of the weapons in Britain was banned under the 1998 Landmines Act, following a campaign highlighted by the Princess. *11/08/2000 The British mine-clearing charity, the Halo trust, a favourite charity of the Princess, denied accusations by Russia's main intelligence agency of spying on Russian forces in Chechnya and training rebels in the breakaway republic. Halo says it began mine clearance work in Chechnya after the 1994-96 war and had built up a staff of 150 Chechens. It insists that its goals were humanitarian.