Princess Diana’s 1989 trip was hugely anticipated in the Big Apple

Princess Diana Princess Diana
Princess Diana 1989 trip to New York City sent Americans in the Big Apple crazy for the British Royal Family but will her son, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, be able to repeat the feat 35 years later?

The late Princess attended the City in what was her first royal engagement without the company of her husband, Prince Charles (now King), in what was not forecast to be a huge hit with the natives.

But the 28-year-old mother of two turned out to be a pleasant surprise as The Daily Mail wrote at the time that, “enchanted hardened New Yorkers and turned thousands of ordinary Americans into avid royalists.”

Now the Duke of Sussex looks to replicate that same energy after Prince Harry attended the African Parks, the HALO Trust and the Diana Award in a series of engagements from September 22 through to September 29.

“In our 25th year, The Diana Award is delighted to be leading an event with Prince Harry,” a statement from The Diana Award read. “The Duke of Sussex in New York this September.

“The event will be driven by young people and their insights on the biggest issues facing their generation today.”

What did Princess Diana do in New York?

Princess Diana, known for her human touch and compassion, stunned the world when she hugged a terminally ill AIDS patient at the peak of hysteria surrounding the condition as she visited a housing project for the homeless.

Her first engagement was light as she attended a party at the Dawson International before she performed her stunning act by hugging the dying child, struck by AIDS.

It was a massive breach of convention for the Royal Family but it did them a world of good from a public relations point of view as Diana became instantly beloved from the New Yorkers inside the Big Apple.

The trip had begun under caution after she jetted in via Concorde with the risk of IRA action, Irish freedom fighters considered a terrorist organization by the UK, against the wife of Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son.

But thousands of locals lined the streets to greet the young woman, in what was said to have gained more media attention than when the world leaders came to town.

She also visited a day care centre with the then-First Lady of New York before heading to a gala dinner at the Brooklyn Academy of Music before making several visits back to the city in the following years until she died in 1997 in France.