Diana, Princess of Wales, consort of Charles, Prince of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales was a member of the British royal family as the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry.

Diana Frances Spencer was born on 1 July 1961 at Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk, to (Edward) John Spencer, Viscount Althorp and his first wife, Frances Ruth Roche. She was educated at Silfield Nursery School, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, Riddlesworth Hall School at Diss in Norfolk, West Heath boarding-school at Sevenoaks, Kent and finally the Institut Alpin Videmanette in Switzerland. She became Lady Diana Spencer in 1975 when her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer.

At the age of eighteen Diana moved to a flat in Kensington and took on a series of jobs working with children, while doing the rounds of parties and commitments of the upper class social scene. Having previously met Prince Charles in 1977, the two met again in 1980 and soon became engaged. The engagement was officially announced on 24 February 1981 and the married on 29 July 1981 at St Paul’s Cathedral. It was broadcast by the BBC to an audience of 750 million people in seventy-four counties, by which time a large part of the nation had been whipped up into a frenzy of ‘royal wedding fever’ by the press. She gave birth to Prince William in 1982 and Harry in 1984.

Diana’s popularity in the UK and around the world continued throughout her life as she was seen to have a natural repartee with ordinary people and a great deal of empathy, which showed strongest in her charity work. She devoted herself to many causes dedicated to suffering people, and her public image shifted from that of a beautiful princess and glamorous wife to a dedicated humanitarian, although praise for her efforts was tempered by accusations of publicity-seeking. Nevertheless, she continued to be greatly admired by the public, who were frequently on her side against other members of the royal family.

Charles and Diana’s marriage was troubled from the start, with rumours of affairs circulating from the early 1990s. The publication of her biography, Diana: her True Story in 1992 caused a sensation and portrayed the princess as a wronged wife who had been badly treated by the royal family. The couple formerly separated towards the end of that year. Media fascination with Diana continued unabated with constant scrutiny of her private life and relationships. While she was constantly harassed by the press, especially ‘paparazzi’ photographers, she sometimes used the media to get across her side of the story, most famously in an interview with Martin Bashir on the BBC’s Panorama programme in 1995. The couple divorced on 15 July 1996.

Although Diana reduced her involvement with charities following the divorce, she nevertheless played a prominent role in the Red Cross’s campaign to ban the use of landmines. She continued to be hounded by the press, who reported her romance with Dodi Al Fayed and followed the couple around during a trip to Paris. During the early hours of 31 August 1997, in an attempt to escape the paparazzi Diana’s driver sped through the tunnel under the Point de L’Alma, the car crashed and Diana, along with Dodi, a bodyguard and the driver were all killed. Her funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 6 September and her body was interred on an island in a lake on the Spencer family estate at Althorp in Northamptonshire.