A charitable memorial fund set up in honor of Britain's late Diana, Princess of Wales, said yesterday its funds had been frozen due to a lawsuit from a US firm.
"The fund is legally obliged to freeze not only new grants but also payment of existing grants," said a statement from the Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, which has funded scores of projects including for AIDS, the homeless and landmine victims.
PHOTO: AP
The fund, first set up to channel donations after Diana's death in a 1997 car crash, said its money was being frozen as part of a transatlantic spat over memorial trinkets that led to a US$25 million lawsuit from US firm Franklin Mint Co.
The Diana Memorial Fund lost a 1998 lawsuit trying to stop the mint using Diana's name and likeness for souvenir items in the US.
The American company is counter-suing in Los Angeles courts for "malicious prosecution."
The Diana fund said it was appealing to other organizations to underwrite some US$16 million worth of existing obligations to more than 120 organizations, some of which were the famously caring princess' pet projects.
The fund, which has administered US$65 million since Diana's death, said 500 jobs within its structure and among beneficiaries were under threat from the freeze.
Franklin Mint says its lawsuit is not a fight about money and would donate to charity any damages awarded after court costs.
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