Diana Meets First Lady to Discuss AIDS

Barbara Bush welcomed Princess Diana to the White House today for coffee and a discussion of the AIDS epidemic the morning after a controversial $3,500-a-ticket charity gala.

“Good morning,” the First Lady cheerily greeted the princess as she left her limousine in front of the White House on a sunny morning. They posed briefly for pictures before going in for coffee with the Bushes’ daughter, Dorothy LeBlond, and daughter-in-law Margaret Bush, the wife of the Bushes’ son Marvin.

Diana was accompanied by Lady Jennifer Acland, wife of the British ambassador, Sir Antony Acland.

The princess planned to discuss her interest in AIDS patients with the First Lady before heading to Grandma’s House, a Washington home for young AIDS patients.

Diana attended a charity gala Thursday night to benefit the home. Several prominent organizers boycotted the event on the ground that the ticket prices were too high.

The princess was aware of the controversy, said British Embassy spokesman Francis Cornish. He said he did not know her opinion of the ticket prices. But, he said, “You can’t wander into somebody else’s country and say something’s too steep.”

The minimum ticket price was $2,500, but most people paid $3,500, which included the honor of shaking Diana’s hand.

A number of women on the event’s organizing committee did not attend, among them television personality Barbara Walters and Georgette Mosbacher, wife of Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher, who reportedly asked for her money back.