Princess Diana Biography

After Princess Diana's father obtained the title of Earl Spencer in 1975, she was named Lady Diana Spencer. On July 29, 1981, she married Prince Charles, the heir to the British monarchy. In 1996, they divorced after having two boys. Diana died in an automobile accident in Paris on August 31, 1997, princess diana age was 36 at the time.. Because of her broad popularity and global humanitarian endeavours, she is known as the "People's Princess."

Princess Diana Information

Full Name: Diana Frances Spencer; 

Born: 1 July 1961

Died: 31 August 1997 (aged 36); Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

Burial: 6 September 1997

Spouse: Charles, Prince of Wales

House: Spencer (by birth); Windsor (by marriage)

Father: John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer

Mother: Frances Roche

Childhood and Teenage Years

Diana has been raised at Park House, a leased property on Queen Elizabeth II's Sandringham estate wherein she played with the queen's younger sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, as a kid. Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, heir to the 7th Earl Spencer, and his first wife, Frances Ruth Burke Roche, had three children, the youngest of whom was her. Diana, together with her brother and two sisters, lived with her father after her parents' tumultuous marriage ended in divorce, when she was a youngster. When her father was given the earldom in 1975, she became Lady Diana Spencer. Diana received her education at Riddlesworth Hall (near Thetford, Norfolk) and West Heath School (Sevenoaks, Kent). Diana traveled to England after attending the Chateau d'Oex finishing school in Montreux, Switzerland, and worked as a kindergarten assistant at the famous Young England school which was located in Pimlico.

Marriage and Divorce

In 1980, she reestablished touch with the royal family, and her connection with Prince Charles (princess diana husband) developed. Their engagement was announced on February 24, 1981, and her beauty and modest demeanor—which gave her the nickname "Shy Di"—made her an instant media and popular sensation. On July 29, 1981, the pair married in St. Paul's Cathedral in front of hundreds of millions of people in a worldwide televised event. Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales, their first child, born on 21 June 1982, and Prince Henry ("Harry") Charles Albert David, on 15 September 1984.

“Princess Di” quickly became a symbol of grace, elegance, and glitz. She exploited her celebrity profile to support a variety of charity causes, and her ever-changing haircuts and attire made her a fashion trailblazer. However, behind the scenes, the princess and prince were having marital problems. Diana suffered from severe postpartum depression, poor self-esteem, disordered eating, and the stress of being followed by both the official media and the tabloid press, especially the paparazzi, at all times.

The pair officially separated in 1992 after mutual recriminations, tell-all biographies, and confessions of infidelity from both sides revealed the marital breakdown. Diana gave her version of the storey in Andrew Morton's tumultuous book Diana: Her True Story (1992), as well as in an unusually honest televised interview in 1995. The couple's divorce was finalised on August 28, 1996, after lengthy talks that resulted in Diana receiving a considerable cash settlement but not the title of Her Royal Highness.

Personal Life after Divorce

Diana leased the double apartment on the north side of Kensington Palace which she had shared with Charles during their first year of marriage after their divorce in 1996; the property stayed her home till her death the following year. She also relocated her offices to Kensington Palace, however she was allowed to "use the state apartments in St James's Palace." Paul Burrell stated that Diana's confidential letters indicated that her brother, Lord Spencer, had declined to let her dwell at Althorp against her demand in a book published in 2003.

She has also been provided a stipend to manage her private office, that was in charge of her charity work and royal duties, but she has been obligated to pay her bills and "any expenditure" spent by her or on her account beginning in September 1996.

Diana dated Hasnat Khan, a British-Pakistani cardiac surgeon who has been dubbed "the love of her life" by several of her best mates after her death, and who she is reported to have praised as "Mr Wonderful" by her friends. Diana toured Lahore in May 1996 at the call of Imran Khan, a relative of Hasnat Khan, and paid a secret visit to the latter's family.

“The People’s Princess” and Charity Work

Diana retained her prominent public presence after the divorce and maintained numerous of the activities she had previously undertaken in service of charities, including the children's issues, arts, and AIDS victims. She has also been involved in the campaign to ban landmines. Diana took her sons to hospitals, orphanages and homeless shelters to guarantee that they had "a knowledge of people's feelings, their uncertainties, people's anguish, and their hopes and dreams." She drove them to fast food restaurants and public transportation to familiarise them with life outside of royal luxury. She was dubbed "the People's Princess" for her compassion, humility, personal warmth, and accessibility.

Death and Funeral

Diana's remarkable popularity in the United Kingdom and worldwide remained after her divorce, making her among the most photographed women around the world. The media (particularly the paparazzi) have often been invasive, despite the fact that she was using her popularity to great use in promoting her philanthropic efforts. 

Diana and Dodi Fayed were engaged in a car accident while visiting Paris on August 31, 1997, after attempting to flee the paparazzi. At the scene, both Fayed and the driver have been declared dead. Diana withstood the incident at first, but perished to her injuries several hours later in a Paris hospital. She was 36 years old at the time. 

The world was shocked to learn of her untimely passing. On September 5, Queen Elizabeth II, who had been chastised for not publicly addressing Diana's death, delivered a broadcast address from Buckingham Palace, in which she said: "No one who knew Diana will ever forget her." Millions of people will remember her, even if they never met her. I assume there are lessons to be learned from both her life and the exceptional and moving response to her death. I appreciate your desire to keep her memory alive.

The driver was found to be responsible for driving at a fast speed and being under the influence of drugs or alcohol and antidepressant medicines, according to a report published in 1999 following an investigation into Diana's deadly vehicle accident. Many photographers who were once accused of triggering the crash have had their charges dropped. Despite the report, suspicions regarding alternate causes for the disaster remained for years. One conspiracy theory claimed it was part of a royal family-planned assassination, but no further evidence was found to corroborate that idea.

Funeral and Gravesite

Diana's burial procession began at Kensington Palace on September 6th, with her casket laying on a gun carriage drawn by six black horses. Thousands of mourners lined the streets to witness, with William, 15, and Harry, 12, attending the final length of their mother's four-mile procession. The event at Westminster Abbey, which had a passionate eulogy from Diana's brother, Earl Charles Spencer, and a performance by Elton John, was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people on television.

Diana's remains were laid to rest at her family's estate, Althorp, on a tiny island.

Memorials and Charities:

William and Harry (princess diana children) paid tribute to their loving mother, queen diana, with a magnificent concert on what would have been her 46th birthday in 2007, a little before the 10th anniversary of her death. The event's proceeds went to charity that Diana and her sons promote.

Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, William and Kate Middleton's second child, was born on May 2, 2015, and was named in honour of Diana.

Following her death, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was established to give funding for palliative care, criminal justice reform, asylum, and other causes. The fund became part of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry in 2013.