Rebecca Smithers and Owen Bowcott
THE ambitions of Princess Diana to become an ambassador for Britain suffered a severe setback during her visit to Angola this week after she was accused of straying into the political arena by failing to back the British government’s policy in her call for a worldwide ban on anti-personnel landmines.
The princess appeared to exacerbate the situation by pledging to extend her mission to other world trouble spots.
With her high-profile move into a highly sensitive political area, it was claimed that she was directly backing the policy of the British Labour Party – which is for a total ban on trade and manufacture of landmines in Britain – rather than the government’s official line.
Although the British government is committed to an eventual worldwide ban on mines, in the short term it is prepared to concede the retention of “smart mines” that self-destruct after a time.
One British minister was quoted in two newspaper reports in the United Kingdom as having called the princess “ill-advised and … not being helpful or realistic … Britain is one of the goodies on landmines and we are helping to draw up a sensible worldwide compromise package. We do not need a loose cannon like her.”
A spokesman for the British Foreign Office said: “The Princess of Wales was briefed fully on our policy before she left on her trip and as far as we are concerned she is sticking to that policy.” He said that after her divorce from Prince Charles, “a mechanism” was put in place to ensure that the princess was always briefed by Foreign Office officials on any relevant aspects of government policy before setting off on any non-holiday trip abroad.