On March 6 1996, Diana, who was patron of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in central London, toured the £32 million new Chandler wing and the revamped Queen Mary wing. A crowd of about 100 royal well-wishers gathered outside the hospital to see Diana, who officially opened the new wing in 1992. The new development was initiated in 1988 as part of an upgrading program replacing out-of-date facilities with larger and more modern technology.
Heart and lung disease accounted for a quarter of the annual deaths in the U.K. On March 7 1996, Diana attended another public engagement where she was the guest of honor at a charity reception and dinner held in honor of Professor Yacoub. The event raised £230,000 which went to the Harefield Hospital Science Centre in west London. It was there Professor Yacoub led research into the prevention of heart and lung disease.
The patron of Harefield Hospital was Egyptian ambassador Dr Mohamed I Shaker. The evening was hosted by Harrods owner and chairman Mohamed Al Fayed in the Egyptian Hall and Georgian restaurant of his London's Knightsbridge store. The then Hill End Road hospital chief executive, John Hunt, described the occasion as "quite spectacular."
In April 1996, Diana successfully raised the profile of the Paris-based Chain of Hope charity both nationally and internationally when she accepted the invitation to witness a four-hour heart operation on then seven-year-old patient Arnaud Rambo from the west African state of Cameroon. Diana underlined her support for Chain of Hope which helped sick children from developing nations. Arnaud Rambo was brought to Britain for the surgery which was carried out by the coronary surgeon Professor Yacoub at Harefield Hospital, Uxbridge.
Diana: "I'm here today (in April 1996) as a supporter of Chain of Hope and I hope that will develop more and other children will benefit from the Professor's magical talent. I do gather information much more from visual contact - not from reading books. So when I stand up and speak about the various subjects, whatever it is, I find it much more beneficial if I have seen it myself."
Then Chain of Hope spokeswoman Claudia von Platen told the press, "We didn't expect the publicity that the princess got because of the visit. We invited her because she has taken a special interest in our charity and because Sky TV wanted to make a program about the operations. Most of the criticism of her (that it was a publicity stunt) has been unfair, but it has helped create a greater awareness of what we do."
Hans Murmann, a close friend of Professor Yacoub and the trustee of the Ealing-based charity Chain of Hope told the press, "We didn't want to talk about the operation until afterwards when we knew Arnaud would be okay. Then all the Press were just interested in Princess Di. It was dreadful. It actually was the sixth operation she had attended, a point which was not made anywhere.
"Her concern for Arnaud was obvious. She was very kind and so down to earth. She did not give the impression she was the Princess of Wales. She even considered fostering a child herself for us (Hans and wife Uschi) but her schedule is far too busy. The 'Times' later said Arnaud had no idea who she was, which was completely untrue. He knew who she was, but never seemed overawed by that. He seemed to take all things in his stride." A week after the operation, Arnaud, Hans and Uschi were invited to Kensington Palace. "She even had heart-shaped balloons for Arnaud, which he loved."
In October 1996, Diana attended a charity reception hosted at Harrods to launch the book 'Heart of Britain' in aid of research into heart and lung disease. Diana, who wrote the special foreword in the book, said she was "fascinated by the workings of the heart" and fund raised for research would give a "second chance to those who will be in some need in the future."
