In January 1997, Princess Diana’s historic journey to Angola to advocate for a global prohibition on landmines ignited significant political debate.

Clad in protective gear, the Princess of Wales confidently walked a path flanked by landmines from East Germany, Russia, and China. She was accompanied by Paul Heslop, a mine removal expert from The Halo Trust charity.

Reflecting on the event, Mr. Heslop told the BBC, “My mind was racing with thoughts of ensuring I wouldn’t become infamous for causing harm to the Princess of Wales.”

During her visit, Diana also had the opportunity to detonate a live landmine remotely, famously stating, “One down, 17 million to go,” after pressing the button on January 15, 1997.

However, her actions received a backlash from Conservative government officials, who criticized her for seemingly aligning with the Labour Party’s stance on enacting a worldwide landmine ban.

At that moment, the Conservative Party maintained that a global ban would only be feasible if every nation reached a unanimous agreement.

In response to the princess’s visit, Earl Howe, then junior defence minister for the Conservatives, reportedly described Diana, then 35, as a ‘loose cannon’ who was ‘ill-informed on the issue of anti-personnel landmines’.

Yet, British ambassador Roger Hart claimed that Diana saw such criticism as an ‘unnecessary distraction’, while Mike Whitlam, then director general of the Red Cross, thought they were merely a ‘piece of mischief’.

In January 1997, Princess Diana (pictured) visited Angola and strode down a path surrounded by landmines from East Germany, Russia and China to campaign for a global ban on their usage

At the time, the Daily Mail described her famous landmine walk as an effort to ‘focus worldwide attention on the menace of anti-personnel mines and the plight of their victims’.

Meanwhile, Diana herself pledged: ‘All I am trying to do is help. I am trying to highlight a problem that is going on all around the world, that’s all.’

‘I’m not a political figure, nor do I want to be one. I come with my heart and I want to bring awareness to people in distress, whether it is in Angola or any part of the world,’ the princess told reporters at the time. 

‘The fact is I am a humanitarian figure, always have been and always will be.’

According to a Foreign Office dispatch document from Angola released by the National Archives in 2020, the ‘furore’ over Diana’s seemingly controversial presence in Angola ‘had little local impact on the visit’.

‘The Angolan authorities were delighted that the Princess made the visit. The British Red Cross were pleased and so too was the Princess of Wales,’ added Mr Hart. 

Images of the princess walking through the minefield sent shockwaves around the globe and the high-profile coverage helped raise global awareness of landmines and the repercussions they caused for innocent people. 

The princess was brought to tears when she met then 16-year-old Sandra Thijika, a victim of a landmine explosion, and watched on as the young teenager was measured for a prosthetic leg after a nine-year wait. 

Conservative government ministers spearheaded a deluge of criticism towards the Princess of Wales. Earl Howe, then junior defence minister for the Conservative Party, reportedly described Diana, then 35, as a ‘loose cannon’ who was ‘ill-informed’

The princess was brought to tears when she met then 16-year-old Sandra Thijika (pictured), a victim of a landmine explosion, and watched on as the young teenager was measured for a prosthetic leg after a nine-year wait

Pictured: The Daily Mail’s front page coverage of Diana’s historic trip. British ambassador Roger Hart claimed that Diana saw public criticism towards her Angola visit as an an ‘unnecessary distraction’, according to files released by the National Archives in 2020

A poignant image of Sandra sat on the princess’s knee underneath a fig tree at a orthopaedic centre was broadcast around the globe and highlighted the exponentially high death and disability rates the country was enduring due to landmines.

22 years later, Sandra revealed that she had named her young daughter after Diana in a loving tribute to the princess who she fondly described as a ‘friend’. 

‘I gave my daughter the name Diana because I loved her and she was such a good person. I loved her way with people. She was famous and she made me feel famous — I will never forget her,’ she emotionally recalled.

‘We were not together long but when she left I felt I was saying goodbye to a friend.’

At the time of the princess’s visit, one in every 300 people in Angola had lost a limb due to the more than 15 million landmines across the country. 

For Diana, her trip to Angola marked just the beginning of her landmine campaign work, with the princess also making a three-day visit to Bosnia in August of that year. Heartbreakingly, it would be her final humanitarian trip. 

‘She was talking about following it up with visits to other heavily-mined countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Kuwait,’ added Mr Hart. 

These future campaigning trips never occurred. Just seven months later, on August 31, 1997, Diana tragically died in a car crash in Paris.

Yet the impact of her high-profile landmine visit would live on in the aftermath of her death.

At the time, the Daily Mail described her famous landmine walk as an effort to ‘focus worldwide attention on the menace of anti-personnel mines and the plight of their victims’. Meanwhile, Diana herself pledged: ‘All I am trying to do is help’

According to a Foreign Office dispatch document from Angola released by the National Archives in 2020, the ‘furore’ over Diana’s seemingly controversial presence in Angola ‘had little local impact on the visit’

According to Lou McGrath, who co-launched Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in 1989, Diana’s trip marked a ‘turning point’ in the campaign for a global landmine treaty. In December 1997, 122 governments signed up to the Ottawa Treaty

According to Lou McGrath, who co-launched Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in 1989, Diana’s trip marked a ‘turning point’ in the campaign for a global landmine treaty.

Speaking to the BBC on the 20th anniversary of the princess’s death, Mr McGrath said: ‘She’d been heavily criticised by MPs for being political, but actually governments of the world had agreed it was a humanitarian issue.

‘Without her we couldn’t have brought forward what was the fastest arms control treaty in the world.’

Shortly after Diana’s death, recently elected Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to ratify the Ottawa Treaty, a key international agreement that bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, by the first anniversary.

In December 1997, 122 governments signed up to the Ottawa Treaty.

Officially known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, the life-changing policy entered into force on March 1, 1999.

At the time of writing, 164 countries are parties to the treaty. However, notable countries, including the United States, Russia and China, have not yet signed the agreement to ban their use.

While it is unknown exactly how many landmines there still are globally, as of November 2025, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq and Ukraine are still significantly contaminated, according to MAG. 

Now, 29 years since Diana’s famous Angola trip, the minefield where she walked has  been cleared and re-developed by The Halo Trust into a ‘thriving community hub’, known as Avenida 28 de Maio. 

The site is also home to the Princess Diana School, where children can now learn and play in safety, free from the fear and danger of landmines.