LONDON, July 16 -- Princess Diana has quit as patron or president of almost 100 charities, retaining links with just six groups, her office said in a statement Tuesday. The move comes just one day after a London court granted a decree nisi, the first step to ending the 15-year marriage between Prince Charles and Diana. The princess loses the title Her Royal Highness as part of the divorce settlement and will technically no longer be a part of the royal family. 'Following Friday's announcement of her divorce...the Princess of Wales has written to a number of her charities to explain that she is longer able to give them her formal patronage,' the statement said. The charities included Help the Aged and Barnardo's for children, which said they were very sorry to lose her. Diana, the princess of Wales, as she will be known, will remain patron of Centrepoint for the homeless, the English National Ballet, The Leprosy Mission and the National Aids Trust. She will also remain president of the Great Ormond Street Hospital for children and the Royal Marsden Hospital, which specializes in cancer treatment. Charles and Diana should be granted a decree absolute within six weeks if neither party objects, ending a marriage that began with a fairy tale wedding in St. Paul's Cathedral. The princess was expected to go on holiday later this week with her two sons, William and Harry. Royal watchers speculated that she would be accompanied by Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, whose divorce from Charles' younger brother, Prince Andrew, was recently finalized.
Diana, who will get a lump sum of some $17 million as part of the divorce package, last attempted to withdraw from the public arena some 2 1/2 years ago, when she said she needed time and space. She made a similar plea last weekend after constant press harassment and after newspapers had published pictures of her looking upset and tearful. Her future plans were said to include more private charity work and several high-profile, foreign fund-raising trips. There were rumors that she might give a television interview to the duchess of York, who is reportedly considering a career as a talk-show host, but their spokesmen rejected such speculation. Charles and Diana's divorce settlement is said to contain a confidentiality clause preventing either from confessing to further infidelities or other details of their marriage. In the media war played out by the estranged couple during their separation, both gave highly publicized television interviews in which they admitted committing adultery. Charles, who is reported to still enjoy a close relationship with his mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles, is likely to pursue his architectural and charity interests until he ascends the throne.
