Diana of Wales's birthday. Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana, Princess of Wales), née Diana Francis Spencer (July 1, 1961, Sandringham, Norfolk - August 31, 1997, Paris) - from 1981 to 1996, the first wife of Prince Charles of Wales, heir to the British throne. Popularly known as Princess Diana, Lady Diana or Lady Di. According to a 2002 poll conducted by the BBC, Diana was ranked third on the list of the hundred greatest Britons in history.
Diana was born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham, Norfolk to John Spencer. Her father was Viscount Althorp, a branch of the same Spencer-Churchill family as the Duke of Marlborough, and.
Diana's paternal ancestors were of royal blood through the illegitimate sons of King Charles II and the illegitimate daughter of his brother and successor, King James II. The Earls Spencer have long lived in the very center of London, in Spencer House.
Diana spent her childhood in Sandringham, where she received her primary education at home. Her teacher was governess Gertrude Allen, who also taught Diana's mother. She continued her education in Sealfield, at a private school near King's Line, and then at Riddlesworth Hall preparatory school.
When Diana was 8 years old, her parents divorced. She stayed to live with her father, along with her sisters and brother. The divorce had a profound impact on the girl, and soon a stepmother appeared in the house, who disliked the children.
In 1975, after the death of her grandfather, Diana's father became the 8th Earl Spencer and she received the courtesy title "Lady", reserved for the daughters of high peers. During this period, the family moved to the ancient ancestral castle of Althorp House in Notthrogtonshire.
At the age of 12, the future princess was accepted into a privileged girls' school at West Hill, in Sevenoaks, Kent. Here she turned out to be a bad student and could not graduate. At the same time, her musical abilities were beyond doubt. The girl was also interested in dancing.
In 1977, she briefly attended school in the Swiss city of Rougemont. Once in Switzerland, Diana soon began to miss home and returned to England ahead of schedule.
Princess Diana's height: 178 centimeters.
Personal life of Princess Diana:
In the winter of 1977, before leaving for training, I met my future husband for the first time - when he came to Althorp to hunt.
In 1978 she moved to London, where she first stayed in her mother’s apartment (who then spent most of her time in Scotland). As a gift for her 18th birthday, she received her own apartment worth £100,000 in Earls Court, where she lived with three friends. During this period, Diana, who had previously adored children, began working as an assistant teacher at the Young England kindergarten in Pimilico.
The wedding of Charles and Diana, which took place on July 29, 1981, attracted a lot of public and media attention. In 1982 and 1984, the sons of Diana and Charles were born - the Princes and the Princes of Wales, who are next in line to inherit the British crown after their father.
By the early 1990s, relations between the spouses were upset, in particular due to Charles's ongoing relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles (later, after the death of Diana, who became his second wife).
Diana herself had a close relationship with her riding instructor, James Hewitt, for some time, which she admitted in a 1995 television interview (a year earlier, Charles made a similar admission about his relationship with Camilla).
The marriage broke up in 1992, after which the couple lived separately, ending in divorce in 1996 on the initiative of the Queen.
Shortly before her death, in June 1997, Diana began dating film producer Dodi al-Fayed, the son of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed al-Fayed, but apart from the press, this fact was not confirmed by any of her friends, and this is also denied in the book of Lady Diana’s butler, Paul. Barrel, who was a close friend of the princess.
Diana was actively involved in charitable and peacekeeping activities (in particular, she was an activist in the fight against AIDS and the movement to stop the production of anti-personnel mines).
She was one of the most popular women of her time in the world. In Great Britain she has always been considered the most popular member of the royal family, she was called the “Queen of Hearts” or “Queen of Hearts”.
On June 15-16, 1995, Princess Diana made a short visit to Moscow. She visited the Tushino Children's Hospital, to which she had previously provided charitable assistance (the princess donated medical equipment to the hospital), and Primary School No. 751, where she inaugurated a branch of the fund for helping disabled children "Waverly House."
On June 16, 1995, a ceremony was held to present Princess Diana with the International Leonardo Prize at the British Embassy in Moscow.
Death of Princess Diana
On August 31, 1997, Diana died in Paris in a car accident along with Dodi al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul. Al-Fayed and Paul died instantly, Diana, taken from the scene (in the tunnel in front of the Alma bridge on the Seine embankment) to the Salpêtrière hospital, died two hours later.
The cause of the accident is not entirely clear; there are a number of versions (the driver was intoxicated, the need to escape at speed from being pursued by paparazzi, as well as various conspiracy theories). The only surviving passenger of the Mercedes S280 with the number "688 LTV 75", bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones, who was seriously injured (his face had to be reconstructed by surgeons), does not remember the events.
On December 14, 2007, a report was presented by the ex-Commissioner of Scotland Yard, Lord John Stevens, who stated that the British investigation confirmed the findings that the amount of alcohol in the blood of the car driver, Henri Paul, at the time of his death was three times higher than the French limit. legislation In addition, the speed of the car exceeded the permissible speed in this place twice. Lord Stevens also noted that the passengers, including Diana, were not wearing seat belts, which also played a role in their deaths.
Princess Diana was buried on September 6 at the Spencer family estate of Althorp in Northamptonshire, on a secluded island.
Who did Princess Diana interfere with?
Diana was repeatedly called "the most photographed woman in the world" (some sources share this title between her and Grace Kelly).
Many books have been written about Diana in various languages. Almost all of her friends and close collaborators spoke with their memories. There are several documentaries and even feature films. There are both fanatical admirers of the memory of the princess, who even insist on her holiness, and critics of her personality and the pop cult that has arisen around her.
As part of the album Black Celebration (1986) by Depeche Mode, the composition “New Dress” was released, in which the author of the words and music, Martin Gore, ironically plays on the close attention the media paid to the life of Princess Diana.
Although Princess Diana died in 1997, the world will never forget her. There was everything in her life, from charity to personal secrets and problems that people know nothing about and do not suspect, since everything was carefully hidden by the royal family.
20. Diana never promised to obey Prince Charles
During their lavish wedding to Prince Charles in 1981, Charles and Diana removed the part of the ceremony where Diana had to promise to obey her husband. At that time, this act had already caused a storm of criticism. In 2011, during the wedding ceremony, Kate Middleton repeated Diana's action and omitted the words of the oath of obedience to her husband, Prince William.
19. She wasn't a good student
Princess Diana twice failed O-levels, the equivalent of a high school diploma in the United States, and was considered a non-academic child at her alma mater, West Heath Girls' School. But, nevertheless, the future princess was interested in music and sports.
18. Sister Diana was the first to date Prince Charles
Diana's sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, actually dated Prince Charles before Diana met him. Her relationship with the prince did not go far, and Sarah told the press that she did not think about marrying Charles, even if he became the king of England. Despite Charles's former relationship with her sister, Diana remained close to Sarah.
17. She fought backlash against AIDS, despite the Queen's disapproval
In the 80s, there was a rapid growth of the disease AIDS on the planet, and many then believed that this disease was transmitted through touch. Diana tried to refute this opinion, she could often be seen holding the hands of AIDS patients and speaking out in support of research in this area. But the Queen of Great Britain did not approve of Diana’s activities and believed that she could “get into trouble.”
16. She suffered from bulimia and depression
Diana did not hide the fact that her husband thought she was overweight, and this hurt her. Because her relationship with Charles was strained, she chose bulimia as the only way to keep her weight under control, damaging her health and suffering from deep depression.
15. Diana's engagement ring was bought from a catalog
It's common for royal families to have their jewelry made to order, but Diana broke that tradition by choosing her engagement ring from the Garrard catalog. The cost of the ring was $42,000, but the most important thing is that anyone who pays that amount can buy it. After Diana's death, the ring went to William, who gave it to his beloved, Kate Middleton, during their engagement.
14. Diana was godmother to 17 children
Diana had 17 godchildren and goddaughters, and very often she was taken as a godparent without her consent or presence. Godchildren include Lady Edwina Grosvenor, daughter of the Duke of Westminster, George Frost, son of the famous journalist David, and Domenica Lawson, a little girl with Down syndrome.
13. Diana found herself at odds with her mother
By the time Diana died, she had not communicated with her mother for a long time, since she did not approve of her divorce from Prince Charles and new relationships with other men. Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, later stated that shortly before the disaster, Diana's mother telephoned to accuse her daughter of cheating with other men after her divorce from the prince.
12. She called Camilla Parker Bowles a "Rottweiler"
Diana never hesitated to give nicknames to women who appeared in her husband's field of interest. Camilla considered Diana a “pathetic creature.” But in this confrontation, Britain sided with Diana. After the death of the princess, a negative attitude towards Camilla remained in society to this day.
11. Princess Diana appeared more often than others on the cover of People magazine
Throughout her life, and even after her death, Diana appeared 55 times on the cover of the world's popular People magazine. This is an impressive record that has yet to be broken by Diana's son, Prince William. As of October 2014, he has appeared on the cover of the magazine 29 times.
10. Diana did not reveal the gender of her second child
Diana once said that her relationship with Charles was strengthened by her second pregnancy with Prince Henry. Despite this, she did not tell Charles the sex of her unborn child - and not only to him. Most likely, this was an attempt to at least gain control, although not significant, over his life.
9. One of the campaigns in which Princess Diana took part won a Nobel Prize.
Many people are aware of Diana’s active peacekeeping activities and position, her negative attitude towards the use of mines against civilians during military conflicts. But in the princess’s life there was a campaign to ban the use of mines, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. Unfortunately, this became known only a few weeks after Diana's death.
8. Her wedding dress was completely ruined on her wedding day.
Princess Diana's wedding dress was beautiful and incredibly expensive, but, unfortunately, the designers did not think through all the nuances, including the fact that Diana would be taken to church in a small carriage. The fairy-tale effect was completely ruined after Diana arrived at St. Paul's Cathedral in a rumpled dress.
7. While pregnant with Prince William, Princess Diana fell down the stairs
In 1982, Diana made everyone worry, including Queen Elizabeth. The fact is that in the third month of pregnancy, Diana fell down the stairs. Fortunately, both she and the child remained alive and healthy. Many believed that Diana did this deliberately to attract the attention of her family due to mental illness.
6. Among Diana’s relatives there are many famous personalities
Despite her non-royal origins, Diana would have been proud of her family tree. Among her relatives were Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Queen of Scots, Mary, a British duchess who lived in the 18th century, and Georgiana Cavendish, about whose life a film was made in Hollywood. Diana was related to Audrey Hepburn and George Bush.
5. Princess Diana once invited Cindy Crawford to Buckingham Palace
Even those who disliked Diana considered her a real mother. Diana was a good and loving mother. In 1996, she invited supermodel Cindy Crawforth to Buckingham Palace only because her son William was secretly in love with her. Diana and the American star remained friends after this meeting until the end of their days.
4. During the wedding ceremony, Diana said the name of Prince Charles incorrectly
During her wedding ceremony in 1981, Diana misspelled her fiancé's long name and pronounced it Philip Charles Arthur George instead of Charles Philip Arthur George.
3. Diana voluntarily renounced her royal title
After the divorce, Diana did not want to be called "Your Highness." She became the first princess to choose to renounce her title in order to gain absolute freedom from royal control. Although, as she herself admitted, she did it with regret.
2. Diana was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
Perhaps Diana could have been saved from that terrible car accident if she had worn a seat belt. But not a single Mercedes-Benz passenger was using seat belts that fateful day, including the drunk driver. An attempt to break away from the paparazzi cost Diana Spencer her life.
1. Freddie Mercury took Diana to a gay club
Princess Diana was friends with the leader of the rock group Queen, Freddie Mercury, and he, according to comedian Cleo Rokos, once took the princess to a gay bar, while she was wearing a man's outfit. As Rokos recalls, Diana looked like a handsome young man and no one recognized her. Unfortunately, there is no other evidence about this case; even Freddie Mercury himself kept silent about it.
The tragic death of Diana was perceived by many as a personal tragedy; a huge number of books, films and musical works are dedicated to it. Why Princess Diana was so popular among ordinary people, we will try to understand this material.
Childhood and family
Diana Frances Spencer is a representative of an old aristocratic dynasty, the founders of which were the descendants of kings Charles II and James II. The Duke of Marlborough, Winston Churchill and many other famous Englishmen belonged to her noble family. Her father, John Spencer, was Viscount Elthrop. The future princess's mother, Frances Ruth (née Roche), was also of noble birth - her father held a baronial title, and her mother was a confidant and lady-in-waiting of Queen Elizabeth. 
Diana became the third girl in the Spencer family; she has two older sisters - Sarah (1955) and Jane (1957). A year before her birth, a tragedy occurred in the family - a boy born on January 12, 1960 died ten hours after birth. This event seriously affected the already less than ideal relationship between the parents, and the birth of Diana could no longer correct this situation. In May 1964, the Spencer couple gave birth to the long-awaited heir Charles, but their marriage was already falling apart at the seams, the father spent all his time hunting and playing cricket, and the mother took a lover.
From early childhood, Diana felt like an unwanted and unloved child, deprived of attention and love. Neither her mother nor her father ever said to her the simple words: “We love you.” The divorce of her parents was a shock for the eight-year-old girl, her heart was torn between her father and mother, who no longer wanted to live as one family. Frances left the children to her husband and left with her new chosen one for Scotland; Diana’s next meeting with her mother took place only at the wedding ceremony with Prince Charles.
In early childhood, Diana was raised and educated by governesses and home teachers. In 1968, the girl was sent to the prestigious private school West Hill, where her older sisters were already studying. Diana loved to dance, drew beautifully, and went in for swimming, but other subjects were difficult for her. She was unable to pass her final exams and was left without a matriculation certificate. School failure was caused more by a lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem, rather than by low intellectual abilities.
In 1975, John Spencer inherited the title of Earl from his deceased father, and a year later he married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth. The children disliked their stepmother, boycotted her and refused to sit at the same table. Only after the death of her father in 1992, Diana changed her attitude towards this woman and began to communicate warmly with her.
In 1977, the future princess went to Switzerland to continue her education. Homesickness forced her to return without graduating from school. The girl moved to London and got a job.
In English aristocratic families, it is customary for grown-up children to work on an equal basis with ordinary citizens, so Diana, despite her noble origins, worked as a teacher in the Young England kindergarten, which still exists in the respectable London district of Pimlico and is proud of its connection with the royal family .
She lived in a small apartment, given to her by her father when she came of age, and led a lifestyle typical of English youth. At the same time, she was a modest and well-mannered girl, avoided noisy London parties with marijuana and alcohol, and did not start serious affairs.
Meeting Prince Charles
Diana's first meeting with Prince Charles took place in 1977 at the Spencer family estate in Althorp. The heir to the British crown was then dating her older sister Sarah, the girl was even invited to the palace, which indicated serious plans for her. However, Sarah was not eager to become a princess; she did not hide her passion for alcohol, because of which she was expelled from school, and hinted at infertility. 
The Queen was not satisfied with this state of affairs, and she began to consider Diana as a possible bride for her son. And Sarah happily married a calm, reliable man with a wonderful sense of humor, bore him three children and lived a happy family life.
The queen's desire to quickly marry her son was caused by his relationship with Camilla Shand, an intelligent, energetic and sexy blonde, but not well-born enough to become the heir to the throne. And Charles liked such women: experienced, sophisticated and ready to carry him in their arms. Camilla was also not averse to becoming a member of the royal family, however, as a smart woman, she had a backup option in the person of officer Andrew Parker-Bowles. But Andrew’s heart was occupied for a long time by Princess Anne, Charles’s sister.
The marriage of Camilla and Bowles became a solution to two problems at once for the royal family - at that time Charles served in the navy, and when he returned, he met his beloved as a married lady. This did not stop them from continuing their love relationship, which did not stop with the appearance of Lady Diana’s prince in her life. Looking ahead, we add that eight years after the death of Lady Spencer, the prince married Camilla.
Diana was a modest, pretty girl without a trail of scandals and with an excellent pedigree - an excellent match for the future heir to the throne. The queen persistently suggested that her son pay attention to her, and Camilla was not against her lover’s marriage to a young, inexperienced person who did not pose any threat to her. Submitting to the will of his mother and realizing his duty to the dynasty, the prince invited Diana first to the royal yacht, and then to the palace, where, in the presence of members of the royal family, he proposed to her.
The official announcement of the engagement took place on February 24, 1981. Lady Di showed the public a luxurious sapphire and diamond ring, which now adorns the finger of Kate Middleton, the wife of her eldest son.
After the engagement, Diana left her job as a teacher and moved first to the royal residence in Westminster, and then to Buckingham Palace. It was an unpleasant surprise for her that the prince lived in separate apartments, continued to lead his usual lifestyle and rarely spoiled the bride with attention. 
The coldness and aloofness of the royal family negatively affected Diana’s psyche, her childhood fears and insecurities returned, and her attacks of bulimia became more frequent. Before the wedding, the girl lost 12 kilograms; her wedding dress had to be sewn in several times. She felt like a stranger in the royal palace, it was difficult for her to get used to the new rules, and the environment seemed cold and hostile.
On July 29, 1981, a magnificent wedding ceremony took place, which was seen on television screens by about a million people. Another 600 thousand spectators greeted the wedding procession on the streets of London, all the way to St. Paul's Cathedral. On that day, the grounds of Westminster Abbey could barely accommodate everyone who wanted to take part in this historical event.
Princess Diana's wedding. Chronicles
There were some incidents - the luxurious taffeta dress was badly wrinkled during a ride in a horse-drawn carriage and did not look its best. In addition, the bride, during the traditional speech at the altar, mixed up the order of Prince Charles's names, which violated etiquette, and also did not swear to her future husband of eternal obedience. Royal press attaches pretended that this was the plan, forever changing the text of the wedding vows for members of the British court.
Birth of heirs and problems in family life
After a gala reception at Buckingham Palace, the newlyweds retired to the Broadlands estate, from where a few days later they set off on a honeymoon cruise to the Mediterranean. When they returned, they settled in Kensington Palace in west London. The prince returned to his usual way of life, and Diana began to expect the birth of her first child. 
The Princess of Wales's pregnancy was officially announced on November 5, 1981. This news caused rejoicing in English society, people were eager to see the heir to the royal dynasty.
Diana spent almost her entire pregnancy in the palace, gloomy and deserted. She was surrounded only by doctors and servants, her husband rarely came to her chambers, and the princess suspected something was wrong. She soon learned of his ongoing relationship with Camilla, which Charles did not even try to hide. Her husband's infidelities depressed the princess; she suffered from jealousy and self-doubt, and was almost always sad and depressed.
The birth of the first-born William (06/21/1982) and the second son Harry (09/15/1984) did not change anything in their relationship. Charles continued to seek solace in the arms of his mistress, and Lady Di shed bitter tears, suffered from depression and bulimia, and drank sedative pills by the handful.
The intimate life of the couple practically disappeared, and the princess had no choice but to find another man. He became Captain James Hewitt, a former military man, courageous and sexy. In order to have a reason to see him without arousing suspicion, Diana began taking riding lessons.
James gave her what a woman could not get from her own husband - love, care and the joy of physical intimacy. Their romance lasted nine years, it became known in 1992 from Andrew Morton’s book “Diana: Her True Story.” Around the same time, recordings of intimate conversations between Charles and Camilla were made public, which inevitably led to a loud scandal in the royal family.
Divorce of Diana and Charles
The reputation of the British monarchy was under serious threat, protest sentiments were brewing in society, and it was necessary to urgently solve this problem. The situation was aggravated by the fact that in just over ten years Diana had become the favorite of not only the British people, but also the world community, so many came to her defense and accused Charles of inappropriate behavior.At first, Diana's popularity benefited the royal court. She was called the “queen of hearts”, “the sun of Britain” and “the people’s princess” and was put on a par with Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor and other great women of the 20th century.
But over time, this universal love finally destroyed the marriage of Charles and Diana - the prince became jealous of his wife for her fame, and Lady Di, feeling the support of millions, began to boldly and confidently declare her rights. She decided to show the whole world evidence of her husband’s infidelity, told her story on a tape recorder and handed over the recordings to the press.
After this, Queen Elizabeth disliked Princess Diana, but the royal family could not stay away from the scandal, and on December 9, 1992, Prime Minister John Major officially announced Diana and Charles' decision to live separately.
In November 1995, Lady Di gave a sensational interview to the BBC channel, in which she spoke in detail about her suffering caused by her husband's infidelities, palace intrigues and other unworthy actions of members of the royal family.
Candid interview with Princess Diana (1995)
Charles responded by portraying her as a psychopath and hysterical and demanding an official divorce. The Queen supported her son, awarded her former daughter-in-law a generous allowance, but deprived her of the title Your Royal Highness. On August 28, 1996, the divorce proceedings were completed, and Diana again became a free woman.
last years of life
After her divorce from Charles, Lady Di tried to arrange her personal life again in order to finally find female happiness. By that time she had already broken up with James Hewitt, suspecting him of hypocrisy and greed.Diana really wanted to believe that men loved her not only for her title, but also for her personal qualities, and the Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan seemed to her to be just such a person. She fell in love with him without looking back, met his parents and even covered her head as a sign of respect for Muslim traditions.
It seemed to her that in the Islamic world a woman was protected and surrounded by love and care, and this was exactly what she had been looking for all her life. However, Dr. Khan understood that next to such a woman he would always have to remain on the sidelines, and was in no hurry to propose marriage.
In the summer of 1997, Diana accepted an invitation from Egyptian billionaire Mohammed al-Fayed to relax on his yacht. An influential businessman, owner of luxury real estate in London, wanted to get to know such a popular person better.
So that Diana would not get bored, he invited his son, film producer Dodi al-Fayed, to the yacht. Lady Di at first considered this trip as a way to make Dr. Khan jealous, but she herself did not notice how she fell in love with the charming and courteous Dodi.
The tragic death of Princess Diana
On August 31, 1997, Lady Di and her new lover died in a fatal accident in the center of Paris. Their car crashed at breakneck speed into one of the supports of the underground tunnel, Dodi and driver Henri Paul died on the spot, and the princess died two hours later in the Salpêtrière clinic. 
The driver's blood contained an alcohol content several times higher than the permissible limit, and the car was moving at great speed, trying to break away from the paparazzi pursuing it.
Diana's death was a huge shock for the world community and gave rise to many rumors and speculation. Many blamed the royal family for the death of the princess, believing that the accident was staged by the British intelligence services. Information appeared in the press that the driver was blinded by a laser by a man on a motorcycle in order to avoid Diana’s pregnancy from a Muslim and the subsequent scandal. However, all this is from the field of conspiracy theories.
Princess Diana's funeral
All of England mourned the death of the “people's princess”, because before this no person of royal blood had been so loved by the common people. Under public pressure, Elizabeth was forced to interrupt her vacation in Scotland and give her former daughter-in-law the necessary honors.
Diana was buried on September 6, 1997 at the Spencer family estate in Althorp in Northamptonshire. Her grave is hidden from prying eyes on a secluded island in the middle of the lake, access to it is limited. Those wishing to honor the memory of the “people’s princess” can visit the memorial located not far from the burial.
Reasons for popular love
Princess Diana enjoyed the support of the British not only because she gave birth to two heirs and dared to expose the vices of the crown prince. This is largely the result of her charitable activities.For example, Diana became one of the first famous people to talk about the problem of AIDS. The disease was discovered in the early 1980s, and even ten years later, little was known about the virus and how it spreads. Not all doctors decided to contact people infected with HIV, for fear of contracting a fatal disease.
But Diana was not afraid. She visited AIDS treatment centers without a mask or gloves, shook hands with patients, sat on their beds, asked about their families, hugged and kissed them. “HIV does not turn people into a source of danger. You can shake their hands and hug them, because only God knows how much they need it,” the princess urged. 
Traveling through third world countries, Diana communicated with leprosy patients: “When meeting them, I always tried to touch them, hug them, to show them that they were not outcasts, not outcasts.”
Having visited Angola in 1997 (there was a civil war there at that time), Diana walked through a field that had just been cleared of mines. No one guaranteed complete safety - the likelihood that mines remained in the ground was very high. Returning to Britain, Diana launched an anti-mine campaign, calling on the army to abandon this type of weapon. “Angola has the highest percentage of amputees. Think about it: one in 333 Angolans lost a limb to mines.”
During her lifetime, Diana did not achieve “deminization,” but her son, Prince Harry, continues her work. He is a patron of the charity The HALO Trust, whose goal is to free the world from mines by 2025, that is, to neutralize all old shells and stop the production of new ones. Volunteers cleared mines in Chechnya, Kosovo, Abkhazia, Ukraine, Angola, and Afghanistan.
In her native London, the princess regularly visited homeless centers and took Harry and William with her so that they could see with their own eyes the other side of life and learn compassion. Prince William later claimed that these visits were a revelation for him and he was grateful to his mother for this opportunity. After Diana's death, he became a patron of the charities that she had previously supported.
At least three times a week she went to children's hospices, where children dying of cancer were kept. Diana spent at least four hours with them. “Some will live, others will die, but while they are alive, they need love. And I will love them,” the princess believed.
Diana changed the face of the British monarchy. If earlier they were associated among ordinary people with yet another suffocating measures like tax increases, then after her actions, as well as a 1995 BBC interview (“I would like monarchs to have more contact with the people”), the monarchy turned into a defender of the disadvantaged. After Lady Di's tragic death, her mission continued.
Diana Frances Spencer, Her Highness Princess of Wales, was born on July 1, 1961 in Norfolk into an English aristocratic family. Her father John Spencer, holder of the title Viscount Elthorp, came from the ancient Spencer-Churchill family, bearers of royal blood descended from Charles the Second, famous as the “Merry King”. Charles had 14 recognized illegitimate sons who received the title, a large number of unrecognized children and not a single heir born in an official marriage. However, thanks to this king, the list of aristocratic families in England has significantly expanded.
The dynasty to which Princess Diana belonged can be proud of such eminent sons as Sir and the Duke of Marlborough. The ancestral home of the Spencer family is Spencer House, located in the Westminster quarter of central London. Diana's mother Frances Shand Kydd also comes from an aristocratic family. Diana's maternal grandmother was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
The biography of the future princess was also beyond claims. The future Princess Diana received her primary education at Sandringham, where she spent her childhood. Lady Di's first teacher was Gertrude Allen, a governess who had previously taught the girl's mother. Diana received further education at Silfield private school, and later studied at Riddlesworth Hall. As a child, the character of the future princess was not difficult, but she was always quite stubborn.
According to the teachers’ recollections, the girl read and drew well, dedicating her drawings to her mother and father. Diana's parents divorced when she was 8 years old, which was a great shock for the child. As a result of the divorce proceedings, Diana remained with her father, and her mother went to Scotland, where she lived with her new husband.
The next place of study for the future Princess of Wales is the exclusive West Hill School for Girls in Kent. Here Diana did not prove herself to be a diligent student, but music and dancing became her hobbies, and, according to rumors, in her youth Lady Di was not good at exact sciences, and she even failed her exams several times.
In 1977, Diana and Prince Charles met in Althorp, but at that time the future spouses did not pay serious attention to each other. In the same year, Diana studied in Switzerland for a short time, but returned home due to severe homesickness. After completing her studies, Diana began working as a nanny and kindergarten teacher in the prestigious London area of Knightsbridge.
Prince Charles and the wedding
In 1980, Diana again entered the social circle of Prince Charles. The single life of the heir to the throne at that time was a serious cause for concern for his parents. Queen Elizabeth was especially worried about her son’s relationship with a noble married lady, a relationship with whom the prince did not even try to hide. In the current situation, Diana Spencer's candidacy for the role of princess was happily approved by the royal family, Charles and, according to some rumors, even Camilla Parker-Bowles.
The prince first invited Diana to the royal yacht, after which an invitation was received to Balmoral Castle to meet the royal family. Charles proposed at Windsor Castle, but the engagement was kept secret for some time. The official announcement took place on February 24, 1981. The symbol of this event was the famous ring of Princess Diana - a precious sapphire surrounded by fourteen diamonds.
Lady Di became the first Englishwoman in 300 years to marry the heir to the throne.
The wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer became the most expensive wedding ceremony in British history. The celebration took place at St. Paul's Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981. The wedding ceremony was preceded by a ceremonial passage through the streets of London of carriages with members of the royal family, a march of Commonwealth regiments and the “Glass Carriage” in which Diana and her father arrived.
Prince Charles was dressed in the full uniform of a Commander of Her Majesty's Fleet. Diana wore a dress with an 8-meter train costing 9,000 pounds, designed by young English designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel. The design of the dress was kept in the strictest confidence from the public and the press, and the dress was delivered to the palace in a sealed envelope. The head of the future princess was decorated with a family heirloom - a tiara.
Diana and Charles's wedding has been called a "fairytale wedding" and "the wedding of the century." According to experts, the audience who watched the live broadcast of the celebrations on the world's main television channels amounted to more than 750 million people. After a gala dinner at Buckingham Palace, the couple traveled by royal train to the Broadlands estate and then flew to Gibraltar, from where Charles and Princess Diana began their Mediterranean cruise. At the end of the cruise, another reception was given in Scotland, where members of the press were given permission to photograph the newlyweds.
The wedding celebrations cost taxpayers almost three million pounds.
Divorce
The personal life of the crowned family was not so fabulous and soon attracted public attention with several scandals in which, according to the press, various lovers and mistresses constantly appeared. According to rumors, even at the time of Charles’ marriage proposal, Diana knew about his relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles. Subsequently, it became increasingly difficult for the princess to contain her jealousy and protect the family’s reputation, since Prince Charles not only did not interrupt the extramarital affair, but also openly admitted it. The situation was complicated by the fact that in the person who took her son’s side in this conflict, Princess Diana received an influential opponent.
By 1990, the delicate situation could no longer be hidden and the situation became widely publicized. During this period, Princess Diana also admitted her relationship with riding coach James Hewitt.
In 1995, according to rumors, Diana met her true love. While visiting a friend in the hospital, the princess accidentally met cardiac surgeon Hasnat Khan. The feelings were mutual, but the constant attention of the public, from which the couple even fled to Khan’s homeland, Pakistan, and the active condemnation by Khan’s parents of both his role as the princess’s de facto lover and the freedom-loving views of the woman herself, did not allow the romance to develop and, perhaps, deprived a chance for happiness between two people truly in love.
At the insistence of Queen Elizabeth, Charles and Diana officially divorced in 1996, four years after the effective breakup of their family. Her marriage to Prince Charles produced two sons: Welsh and Welsh.
After the divorce, Diana, according to journalists, begins a relationship with film producer, the son of Egyptian billionaire Dodi al-Fayed. This connection was not officially confirmed by any of the princess's close friends, and in the book written by Diana's butler, the fact of their relationship is directly denied.
Death
On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana died in a car accident. During Diana's visit to Paris, a car, in which, in addition to the princess herself, there were Dodi al-Fayed, bodyguard Trevor Rhys Jones and driver Henri Paul, driving in the tunnel under the Alma bridge, collided with a concrete support. The driver and Dodi al-Fayed died instantly at the scene. Princess Diana died two hours later in the Salpêtrière hospital. The princess's bodyguard survived, but received severe head injuries, as a result of which he does not remember anything about the moment of the accident itself.
Princess Diana's wrecked car The death of Princess Diana was a shock not only for the people of Great Britain, but also for the whole world. In France, mourners turned a Parisian replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch into a spontaneous memorial to Diana. The princess's funeral took place on September 6. Lady Di's grave is on a secluded island on Althorp Manor (the Spencer family estate) in Northamptonshire.
Among the causes of the car accident, many factors are cited, starting with the version according to which the princess’s car tried to break away from the car with the paparazzi pursuing them, and ending with the version regarding. There are still many rumors and theories about the causes of the death of everyone's favorite princess.
A Scotland Yard report published ten years later confirmed the fact that the investigation found that the speed limit for driving on the section of road under the Alma Bridge was twice the speed limit, as well as the fact that the driver had alcohol in his blood that was three times the legal limit.
Memory
Princess Diana enjoyed the sincere love of the people of Great Britain, who affectionately called her Lady Di. The princess did a lot of charity work, donating significant funds to various foundations, was an activist in the movement that sought to ban anti-personnel mines, and provided people with material and moral assistance.
Sir dedicated the song “Candle in the Wind” to her memory, and the song “Privacy”, in which he not only expressed grief for the princess, but also talked about the burden of constant attention and gossip, which may be indirectly to blame for Lady Di’s death.
10 years after her death, a film was made dedicated to the last hours of the princess’s life. The songs “Depeche mode” and “Aquarium” are dedicated to her. Postage stamps are issued in her honor in many countries around the world.
According to a BBC poll, Princess Diana is one of the most popular people in British history, ahead of other English monarchs in this ranking.
Awards
- Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown
- Order of Virtue Special Class
A bright, amazing woman, an extraordinary personality, one of the most famous people of her time - that’s exactly what Diana, Princess of Wales was. The people of Great Britain adored her, calling her the Queen of Hearts, and the sympathy of the whole world was manifested in the short but warm nickname Lady Di, which also went down in history. A number of films have been made about her, many books have been written in all languages. But the answer to the most important question - whether Diana was ever really happy in her bright, but very difficult and such a short life - will forever remain hidden behind a veil of secrecy...
Princess Diana: biography of her early years
On July 1, 1963, their third daughter was born in the house of Viscount and Viscountess Althorp, rented by them in the royal estate of Sandrigham (Norfolk).
The birth of a girl somewhat disappointed her father, Edward John Spencer, the heir to an ancient earl's family. Two daughters, Sarah and Jane, were already growing up in the family, and the title of nobility could only be passed on to the son. The baby was named Diana Francis - and it was she who was later destined to become her father's favorite. And soon after the birth of Diana, the family was replenished with the long-awaited boy, Charles.
Earl Spencer's wife, Frances Ruth (Roche), also came from a noble Fermoy family; her mother was a lady-in-waiting at the queen's court. The future English princess Diana spent her childhood in Sandrigham. The children of the aristocratic couple were brought up in strict rules, more typical of old England than of the country of the mid-twentieth century: governesses and nannies, strict schedules, walks in the park, riding lessons...
Diana grew up as a kind and open child. However, when she was only six years old, life caused the girl serious mental trauma: her father and mother filed for divorce. Countess Spencer moved to London to live with businessman Peter Shand-Kyd, who left his wife and three children for her. About a year later they got married.
After a lengthy legal battle, the Spencer children remained in the care of their father. He also took the incident very hard, but tried to support the children in every possible way - he occupied himself with singing and dancing, organized holidays, and personally hired tutors and servants. He meticulously selected an educational institution for his eldest daughters and, when the time came, sent them to Sealfield Primary School in King Lees.
At school, Diana was loved for her responsiveness and kind character. She was not the best in her studies, but she made great progress in history and literature, was fond of drawing, dancing, singing, swimming, and was always ready to help her fellow students. Close people noted her tendency to fantasize - obviously, this made it easier for the girl to deal with her experiences. “I will definitely become someone outstanding!” - she liked to repeat.
Meeting Prince Charles
In 1975, the story of Princess Diana moves to a new stage. Her father accepts the hereditary title of Earl and moves the family to Northamptonshire, where the Spencer family estate, Althorp House, is located. It was here that Diana first met Prince Charles when he came to these places to hunt. However, they did not make an impression on each other then. Sixteen-year-old Diana found the intelligent Charles with impeccable manners “cute and funny.” The Prince of Wales seemed completely infatuated with Sarah, her older sister. And soon Diana went to continue her studies in Switzerland.
However, she quickly grew tired of the boarding house. Having begged her parents to take her away from there, at the age of eighteen she returns home. Her father gave Diana an apartment in the capital, and the future princess plunged into an independent life. Earning money to support herself, she worked for wealthy friends, cleaning their apartments and babysitting children, and then got a job as a teacher at the Young England kindergarten.
In 1980, at a picnic at Althorp House, fate again confronted her with the Prince of Wales, and this meeting became fateful. Diana expressed sincere sympathy to Charles in connection with the recent death of his grandfather, Earl Mountbaden. The Prince of Wales was touched; a conversation ensued. All evening after that, Charles did not leave Diana’s side...
They continued to meet, and soon Charles secretly told one of his friends that he seemed to have met the girl he would like to marry. From that time on, the press drew attention to Diana. Photojournalists began a real hunt for her.
Wedding
In February 1981, Prince Charles made an official proposal to Lady Diana, to which she agreed. And almost six months later, in July, the young Countess Diana Spencer was already walking down the aisle with the heir to the British throne in St. Paul's Cathedral.
A married couple of designers - David and Elizabeth Emmanuel - created a masterpiece outfit in which Diana walked to the altar. The princess was dressed in a snow-white dress made from three hundred and fifty meters of silk. About ten thousand pearls, thousands of rhinestones, and tens of meters of gold threads were used to decorate it. To avoid misunderstandings, three copies of the wedding dress were made at once, one of which is now kept in Madame Tussauds.
Twenty-eight cakes were prepared for the festive banquet, which were baked over fourteen weeks.
The newlyweds received many valuable and memorable gifts. Among them were twenty silver dishes presented by the Australian government and silver jewelry from the heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia. A New Zealand representative presented the couple with a luxurious carpet.
Journalists dubbed the wedding of Diana and Charles “the greatest and loudest in the history of the twentieth century.” Seven hundred and fifty million people around the world had the opportunity to watch the magnificent ceremony on television. It was one of the most widely broadcast events in television history.
Princess of Wales: first steps
Almost from the very beginning, married life turned out to be not at all what Diana dreamed of. Princess of Wales - the high-profile title she acquired after her marriage - was cold and prim, like the whole atmosphere in the royal family's house. The crowned mother-in-law, Elizabeth the Second, did not take any steps to ensure that the young daughter-in-law fit into the family more easily.
Open, emotional and sincere, it was very difficult for Diana to accept the external isolation, hypocrisy, flattery and impenetrability of emotions that govern life in Kensington Palace.
Princess Diana's love for music, dancing and fashion was at odds with the way people in the palace used to spend their leisure time. But hunting, horse riding, fishing and shooting - the recognized entertainment of crowned persons - interested her little. In her desire to be closer to ordinary Britons, she often violated the unspoken rules that dictate how a member of the royal family should behave.
She was different - people saw it and accepted her with admiration and joy. Diana's popularity among the country's population grew steadily. But in the royal family they often did not understand her - and, most likely, they did not really strive to understand.
Birth of sons
Diana's main passion was her sons. William, the future heir to the British throne, was born on June 21, 1982. Two years later, on September 15, 1984, his younger brother Harry was born.
From the very beginning, Princess Diana tried to do everything to prevent her sons from becoming unhappy hostages of their own origin. She tried in every possible way to ensure that the little princes had as much contact as possible with simple, ordinary life, filled with impressions and joys familiar to all children.
She spent much more time with her sons than the etiquette of the royal house prescribed. On vacation, she allowed them to wear jeans, sweatpants and T-shirts. She took them to the cinemas and to the park, where the princes had fun and ran around, ate hamburgers and popcorn, and stood in line for their favorite rides just like other little Britons.
When the time came for William and Harry to begin their primary education, it was Diana who strongly opposed their being brought up in the closed world of the royal house. The princes began attending preschool classes and then went to a regular British school.
Divorce
The dissimilarity of the characters of Prince Charles and Princess Diana manifested itself from the very beginning of their life together. By the beginning of the 1990s, a final discord occurred between the spouses. A significant role in this was played by the prince’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, which began even before his marriage to Diana.
At the end of 1992, Prime Minister John Major made an official statement in the British Parliament that Diana and Charles were living separately, but had no plans to divorce. However, three and a half years later, their marriage was officially dissolved by a court order.
Diana, Princess of Wales, officially retained her lifelong right to this title, although she ceased to be Her Highness. She continued to live and work at Kensington Palace, remaining mother to the heirs to the throne, and her business schedule was officially included in the official routine of the royal family.
Social activity
After the divorce, Princess Diana devoted almost entirely her time to charity and social activities. Her ideal was Mother Teresa, whom the princess considered her spiritual mentor.
Taking advantage of her enormous popularity, she focused people's attention on the really important problems of modern society: AIDS, leukemia, the lives of people with incurable spinal injuries, children with heart defects. On her charity trips she visited almost the whole world.
She was recognized everywhere, greeted warmly, and thousands of letters were written to her, answering which the princess sometimes went to bed long after midnight. Diana's film about anti-personnel mines in the fields of Angola prompted diplomats from many countries to prepare reports for their governments to ban the purchase of these weapons. At the invitation of Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, Diana made a report on Angola at the assembly of this organization. And in her native country, many suggested that she become a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.
Trendsetter
For many years, Diana, Princess of Wales, was also considered a style icon in Great Britain. Being a crowned person, she traditionally wore outfits exclusively from British designers, but later significantly expanded the geography of her own wardrobe.
Her style, makeup and hairstyle instantly became popular not only among ordinary British women, but also among designers, as well as movie and pop stars. Stories about Princess Diana's outfits and interesting incidents related to them still appear in the press.
So, back in 1985, Diana appeared at the White House at a reception with the presidential couple Reagan in a luxurious dark blue silk velvet dress. It was in it that she danced together with John Travolta.
And the magnificent black evening dress, in which Diana visited the Palace of Versailles in 1994, awarded her the title “Sun Princess”, which sounded from the lips of the famous designer Pierre Cardin.
Diana's hats, handbags, gloves, and accessories have always been evidence of her impeccable taste. The princess sold a significant part of her clothes at auctions, donating the money to charity.
Dodi Al-Fayed and Princess Diana: a love story with a tragic end
Lady Di's personal life was also constantly under the radar of reporters' cameras. Their intrusive attention did not leave such an extraordinary personality as Princess Diana alone for a moment. The love story of her and Dodi Al-Fayed, the son of an Arab millionaire, instantly became the topic of numerous newspaper articles.
By the time they became close in 1997, Diana and Dodi had already known each other for several years. It was Dodi who became the first man with whom the English princess openly went out into the world after her divorce. She visited him at a villa in St. Tropez with his sons, and later met him in London. Some time later, the Al-Fayeds' luxury yacht, Jonicap, set off on a cruise in the Mediterranean. On board were Dodi and Diana.
The princess's last days coincided with the weekend that marked the end of their romantic trip. On August 30, 1997, the couple went to Paris. After dinner at the restaurant of the Ritz Hotel, owned by Dodi, at one o'clock in the morning they got ready to go home. Not wanting to be the center of attention of the paparazzi crowding at the doors of the establishment, Diana and Dodi left the hotel through the service entrance and, accompanied by a bodyguard and driver, hurried away from the hotel...
The details of what happened a few minutes later are still not clear enough. However, in an underground tunnel under Delalma Square, the car had a terrible accident, crashing into one of the supporting columns. The driver and Dodi al-Fayed died on the spot. Diana, unconscious, was taken to the Salpêtrière hospital. Doctors fought for her life for several hours, but could not save the princess.
Funeral
The death of Princess Diana shook the whole world. On the day of her funeral, national mourning was declared and national flags were flown at half-mast throughout the UK. Two huge screens were installed in Hyde Park for those who could not attend the funeral ceremony and memorial service. For young couples who had a wedding scheduled for this date, English insurance companies paid significant amounts of compensation for its cancellation. The square in front of Buckingham Palace was littered with flowers, and thousands of memorial candles burned on the asphalt.
Princess Diana's funeral took place at Althorp House, the family estate of the Spencer family. Lady Di found her last refuge in the middle of a small secluded island on the lake, which she loved to visit during her lifetime. By personal order of Prince Charles, Princess Diana's coffin was covered with the royal standard - an honor reserved exclusively for members of the royal family...
Investigation and causes of death
Court hearings to establish the circumstances of Princess Diana's death took place in 2004. They were then temporarily postponed while an investigation into the circumstances of the car accident in Paris was carried out and resumed three years later at the Royal Court in London. The jury heard testimony from more than two hundred and fifty witnesses from eight countries.
As a result of the hearings, the court came to the conclusion that the cause of death of Diana, her companion Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul was the illegal actions of the paparazzi pursuing their car, and Paul driving the vehicle while intoxicated.
These days, there are several versions of why Princess Diana actually died. However, none of them have been proven.
Real, kind, alive, generously giving people the warmth of her soul - that’s how she was, Princess Diana. The biography and life path of this extraordinary woman still remains a subject of undying interest to millions of people. In the memory of descendants, she is destined to forever remain the Queen of Hearts, not only in her native country, but throughout the world...
