“They say it’s better to be poor and happy than rich and unhappy. Well, what about a compromise – moderately rich and moderately capricious?” - Princess Diana.

Princess Diana Spencer born July 1, 1961, on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Diana was perhaps the most beloved and respected member of the British royal family, earning herself the nickname "The People's Princess." She was born into a family of English aristocrats - Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and Frances Ruth Burke Roche, Viscountess Althorp (later Frances Shand Kydd).

Both of Diana’s parents were close to the royal court, and in Edward’s biography there was even an episode with his marriage proposal to Queen Elizabeth II, which she did not immediately reject, promising to “think about it.” However, to the great disappointment of Diana's father, Elizabeth soon met the Greek Prince Philip, with whom she fell madly in love and whom she eventually married. However, despite unfulfilled hopes, Edward maintained warm, friendly relations with Elizabeth, thanks to which the Spencers always occupied a special position at court.

Diana became the third daughter in the Spencer family, while her father desperately wanted a male heir. Therefore, the birth of another girl was a huge disappointment for both parents. “I should have been born a boy!” - Lady Di admitted with a bitter smile many years later.

However, an heir did appear in the family, but by that time the relationship between the spouses was so undermined by mutual discontent that the marriage soon broke up. Frances remarried wallpaper business owner Peter Shand-Kydd, who, although fabulously rich, did not have a title, which caused her mother's endless displeasure. A true aristocrat and devoted royalist, Frances's mother could not believe that her daughter left her husband and four children for the sake of some “upholsterer.” She confronted her daughter in court, and as a result, Edward received custody of all four children.

Although both parents tried their best to brighten up their children’s lives with trips and entertainment, Diana often lacked simple human attention and participation, and sometimes she felt lonely.

She received an excellent education, first in private school Riddlesworth Hall(Riddlesworth Hall), and then to prestigious boarding school West Heath(West Heath School).

Lady Diana Spencer acquired the title after her father inherited the title of Earl in 1975. Despite the fact that Diana was known as a shy girl, she showed a genuine interest in music and dancing. But, alas, the future princess’s dreams of ballet were not destined to come true, because one day, while on vacation in Switzerland, she seriously injured her knee. However, many years later, Diana demonstrated brilliant dancing skills when she performed a number on the stage of Covent Garden paired with professional dancer Wayne Sleep, on the occasion of her husband's birthday.

In addition to dancing and music, Diana enjoyed spending time with children: she happily looked after her younger brother Charles and took care of her older sisters. Therefore, after graduating from a boarding school for noble maidens in Rougemont, Switzerland, Diana moved to London and began looking for work with children. Eventually, Lady Di received a position as a teacher at the Young England School in Pimlico, London.

Generally speaking, Diana never shunned any, even the most menial, work: she worked as a nanny, a cook and even a cleaner. The future princess cleaned the apartments of her friends and her older sister, Sarah, for $2 an hour.

In the photo: Lady Diana and Prince Charles

Since the Spencer family was close to the royal family, as a child Diana often played with Prince Charles's younger brothers, Princes Andrew and Edward. At that time, the Spencers rented Park House, an estate that belonged to Elizabeth II. And in 1977, Diana’s older sister, Sarah, introduced her to Prince Charles, who was 13 years older than the young lady.

As heir to the British throne, Prince Charles has always been the subject of intense media attention, and his courtship of Diana certainly did not go unnoticed. The press and public were fascinated by this odd couple: a reserved prince, a big fan of gardening, and a shy young girl, passionate about fashion and pop culture. On the day the couple got married - July 29, 1981 - the wedding ceremony was broadcast by television channels around the world. Millions of people watched the event, hailed as the “Wedding of the Century.”

Marriage and divorce

On June 21, 1982, their first child, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, was born into the family of Diana and Charles. And 2 years later, on September 15, 1984, the couple had a second heir - Prince Henry Charles Albert David, known to the general public as Prince Harry.

Shocked to the core by the pressure that befell her along with her marriage, and the relentless attention of the press to literally her every step, Diana decided to defend the right to her own life.

In the photo: Princess Diana and Prince Charles with their sons Prince William and Prince Harry

She began supporting many charities, helping the homeless, children in need, and people suffering from HIV and AIDS.

Unfortunately, the fairytale wedding of the prince and princess was not the beginning of a happy marriage. Over the years, the couple grew apart and both sides were suspected of infidelity. Unhappy in her marriage, Diana suffered from bouts of depression and bulimia. Ultimately, in December 1992, British Prime Minister John Major announced the separation of the couple, reading the text of the royal family's address in the House of Commons. The divorce was finalized in 1996.

Death and legacy of Diana

Even after the divorce, Diana remained popular. She devoted herself entirely to her sons, and also participated in humanitarian projects such as the fight against landmines. Lady Di used her worldwide fame to raise public awareness of pressing issues. However, her popularity also had a downside: Diana's affair with Egyptian producer and playboy Dodi Al-Fayed in 1997 caused a real stir and incredible hype in the press. As a tragic result, on the night of August 31, 1997, a loving couple died in a car accident in Paris when the driver tried to break away from the paparazzi pursuing them.

In the photo: Memorial in honor of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed
at Harrods store in London

Diana did not die immediately, but only a few hours later in a Paris hospital as a result of her injuries. Diana's lover, Dodi Al-Fayed, and his driver were also killed, and the security guard was seriously injured. There are still many rumors surrounding Diana’s death: it was even rumored that she was killed by British intelligence services at the direction of the royal family, which supposedly could not come to terms with the fact that the mother of the heirs to the throne had a relationship with a Muslim. By the way, Diana’s mother, Frances, was also not happy with this relationship, once calling Diana a “whore” for “getting mixed up with Muslim men.”

French authorities conducted their own investigation into the car accident and found a high level of alcohol in the blood of the driver, who was subsequently found to be the main culprit of the accident.

News of Diana's sudden and absurd death shocked the world. Thousands of people wanted to pay their last respects to the “people’s princess” at the farewell ceremony. The ceremony took place in Westminster Abbey and was broadcast on television. Diana's body was later buried at her family estate, Althorp.

In 2007, 10 years after the death of their beloved mother, Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry, organized a concert dedicated to the 46th anniversary of her birth. All proceeds from the event were donated to charities that Diana and her sons supported.

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton also paid tribute to Diana by naming their daughter, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, who was born on May 2, 2015, after her.

The Memorial Fund in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales continues her endeavors. Established after her death, the foundation provides grants to various organizations and supports many humanitarian causes, including caring for the sick in Africa, helping refugees, and ending the use of landmines.

The memory of the Princess of Wales and her good deeds still lives in the hearts of millions of people. And no other title in the world has such high value as the title " Queens of people's hearts", forever assigned to Diana.

In the photo: Princess Diana devoted a lot of time to charitable work

Based on materials from biography.com. Part of the photo taken from biography.com.

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Born Diana Frances Spencer, she died at the age of 36, a year after divorcing her first and only legal husband, Prince Charles. Princess Diana was one of the most popular women in the world. She was called "Lady Di", "people's princess", "queen of hearts". On the night of August 31, 1997, the “People's Princess” died in a car accident in an underground tunnel under Place Alma in Paris. Was it murder or an accident? Until now, the answer to this question excites the hearts and minds of many people.

Paparazzi

The first version of the death of Princess Diana, which was expressed by the investigation: several reporters who were riding scooters were to blame for the accident. They were chasing Diana's black Mercedes, and one of them may have interfered with the princess's car. The Mercedes driver, trying to avoid a collision, crashed into a concrete bridge support.

But, according to eyewitnesses, they entered the tunnel a few seconds after Diana’s Mercedes, which means they could not have caused the accident.

According to lawyer Virginie Bardet, in fact there is no evidence of the photographers' guilt.

Mystery car

The investigation put forward another version: the cause of the accident was a car, which by that time was already in the tunnel. In the immediate vicinity of the crashed Mercedes, detective police discovered fragments of a Fiat Uno.

When interviewing eyewitnesses, the police allegedly found out that a white Fiat Uno drove out of the tunnel in a zigzag a few seconds after the accident. Moreover, the driver looked not at the road, but in the rearview mirror, as if he saw something, for example, a crashed car.

The detective police also determined the exact characteristics of the car, its color and year of manufacture. But, even having information about the car and a description of the driver’s appearance, the investigation was unable to find either the car or the driver.

Frances Gillery, the author of her own independent investigation into the death of Lady Di, once wrote: “All the cars of this brand in the country were checked, but none of them had traces of a similar collision. The white Fiat Uno seemed to disappear into thin air! And eyewitnesses of the accident, those who saw him began to get confused in the testimony, from which it was not clear whether the white Fiat was at the scene of the tragedy at the ill-fated moment.”

It is also interesting that the version about the white Fiat that allegedly caused the accident was not made public immediately, but only two weeks after the incident.

British intelligence services

Later, other details of the accident became known and more and more new versions of the death of Princess Diana were put forward.

For example, as many media reported, when a black Mercedes drove into the tunnel, suddenly the twilight was cut by a bright flash of light, so strong that everyone who observed it was blinded for several seconds. And a moment later, the silence of the night is shattered by the squeal of brakes and the sound of a terrible impact.

According to the media, the version was spread at the suggestion of one former British intelligence agent, who said that the circumstances of the death of Princess Diana reminded him of the assassination plan of Slobodan Milosevic, developed by the British intelligence services. They were going to blind the Yugoslav president in the tunnel with a powerful flash.

A few months later, British and French newspapers published a sensational statement by former British intelligence agent Richard Tomplison that the latest laser weapons, which are in service with the intelligence services, may have been used in the Alma tunnel.

After this statement, the media suggested that the fragments of the Fiat were planted by those who prepared this accident in advance and wanted to disguise it as a regular accident. The press insisted for a long time that these were British intelligence services.

"Lucky" photographer

There is another version associated with the mysterious Fiat. The media version is that the fragments of the Fiat were planted by those who prepared this accident in advance and wanted to disguise it as a regular accident.

There were rumors in the press that the intelligence services knew that the white Fiat would definitely be next to Princess Diana's car that night. It was in the white Fiat that one of the most famous and successful paparazzi in Paris, James Andanson, drove.

The media suggested that the services simply could not prove the involvement of the photographer and his car in the accident, although they really hoped. Andanson was indeed in the tunnel that night. True, according to some of his colleagues who were at the Ritz Hotel on the evening of August 30, 1997, this was a rare case when the photographer arrived at work without a car. Andanson repeatedly came to the attention of the al-Fayed family's security service, and for them, of course, it was no secret that Andanson was not only a successful photographer. Al-Fayed's security service allegedly managed to obtain evidence that the photographer was an agent of the British intelligence service. But Dodi’s father, for some reason, now does not consider it necessary to present them to the investigation. James Andanson was not a random figure in this tragedy.

Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed

Andanson was seen in the tunnel, and he was actually one of the first there. They also saw a car at the scene of the tragedy that was very similar to his car, albeit with different license plates, possibly fake.

After the accident, Andanson, without even waiting for the outcome, when a crowd just began to gather in the tunnel, suddenly disappears. Literally in the middle of the night - at 4 o'clock in the morning - he flies from Paris on the next flight to Corsica.

Some time later, in the French Pyrenees, his body will be found in a burnt car. While the police are establishing the identity of the deceased, unknown persons steal all the papers, photographs and computer disks related to the death of Princess Diana from the office of his Parisian photo agency.

The media assumed that if this was not a fatal coincidence, then Andanson was eliminated either as an unwanted witness or as a perpetrator of the murder.

Drunk Driver

On July 5, 1999, almost two years later, newspapers from all over the world published a sensational statement from the investigation: the main blame for what happened in the Alma tunnel lies with the Mercedes driver Henri Paul. He was the chief of security at the Ritz Hotel and also died in this disaster. Investigators accused him of driving drunk.

The statement that the driver was drunk sounded like a bolt from the blue. The examination data, indicating a state of severe intoxication, was ready within 24 hours after the autopsy. But this was officially announced only two years later. For 24 months, the investigation worked on the obviously weaker version of the guilt of the paparazzi or the presence of the Fiat Uno.

Jacques Mules, who was the first representative of the investigative authorities to arrive at the scene of the tragedy, said that a blood test showed the true state of affairs, which means that Henri Paul was indeed very drunk. According to him, before leaving the Ritz, Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed were nervous. But the main thing that indicated an accident was the presence of alcohol - 1.78 ppm in the blood of the driver, Mr. Henri Paul, and in addition, the fact that he was taking antidepressants.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Diana Frances Spencer was born at Sandrigham Castle into a family of noble origin. Her father, John Spencer, was Viscount Althorp, a member of an old aristocratic family of the same Spencer-Churchill family as the Duke of Marlborough and Winston Churchill. 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.

Mother, Frances Ruth, was also not easy. Diana's grandmother, Lady Fermoy, was a lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. In addition to Diana, there were three more children in the family. All four Spencer children received a lot of attention and grew up surrounded by numerous governesses, servants and educators.

When the future princess was only eight years old, her parents divorced. The divorce process was very complex and lengthy, as a result, all four children remained to live with their father. Mother moved to London, where she quickly found a man and got married. The divorce had a strong impact on Diana, and besides, her father brought a woman into the house who became the children’s stepmother, with all the “quirks” that are described in fairy tales. The stepmother hated Spencer's children, annoyed them in every possible way and wanted to get rid of them by sending them to a boarding school.

For a long time she was home-schooled, and Gertrude Allen, the former governess of Diana’s mother, helped her gnaw on the granite of science. At the age of 12, Dee was accepted into the exclusive girls' school at West Hill, in Sevenoaks, Kent. Here the future princess showed all her wayward character, often skipped lessons, was rude to teachers and did not study well. As a result, the girl was expelled. At the same time, Diana’s musical abilities revealed herself, and she also became interested in dancing.

In 1977, Dee entered school in Switzerland, but unable to bear the separation from her home and loved ones, the girl quickly returned to her native England. In the same year, an acquaintance took place in Althorp, but the young people did not pay any attention to each other.

In 1978, she finally completed her studies and moved to London, where she first stayed in her mother’s apartment. For her 18th birthday, the girl was given her own apartment in Earls Court, where she lived with three friends. At the same time, Diana got a job as an assistant at the Young England kindergarten in Pimlico.

In 1980, the future. At that time, the heir to the throne was 32 years old and his parents were very worried about the fate of their son, who did not want to settle down. In addition, Queen Elizabeth was especially concerned about Charles's relationship with, a married lady, marriage with whom at that time was considered impossible. Diana, who was distinguished by her modesty, decency and noble origin, liked her, approved her candidacy and literally forced her son to take the poor girl as his wife.

First, Charles invited Diana to the royal yacht, then to Balmoral Castle to meet the royal family. The marriage proposal itself followed on February 6, 1981 at Windsor Castle. Prince Spencer's wedding was the most expensive ceremony in British history. The celebration took place on July 29, 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, after which the newlyweds went on a cruise along the Mediterranean Sea.

But the happiness did not last long... Charles did not love his wife, while she tried with all her might to save the marriage, but in vain. The princess's only outlet was her beloved sons - in the private wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London's Paddington district and Harry, who was born on September 15, 1984 in the same hospital. Diana devoted more time to her sons than befits a princess. She refused nannies and governesses, raised them herself, chose schools and clothes for them, planned their excursions, and took them to school herself, as much as her busy schedule allowed.

End of 1980. Life has turned into a real nightmare. Charles did not hide his feelings and ignored his wife’s requests to settle down. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the princess to remain calm in public and to hide her emotions at ceremonies. She began to quarrel with Elizabeth II, who took her son’s side and did not want to listen to her daughter-in-law’s reproaches. The more passions heated up in the royal family, the closer Lady Di became to the people. She switched her attention from her husband’s infidelities to charity, helping those in need not only financially, but also morally.

In 1990, she stopped hiding problems with her husband from the public, for which she became enemy No. 1 for the queen. The divorce was a serious step and promised many problems for the royal family, but Diana could not come to terms with the betrayal and did not consider it necessary to follow the lead of Charles and the queen. Wanting to take revenge on her husband and put everyone in their place, Diana decided to tarnish her impeccable reputation and began having affairs left and right, not hiding them from anyone.

The couple separated only in 1992, but only in 1996, having received official permission from Elizabeth, they divorced. Having gained freedom, Diana managed to retain not only her title of Princess of Wales, but also the rights to raise children. She continued her charitable and peacekeeping activities, took a deep breath and got the opportunity to start all over again, to find a person who would truly love her.

After several short novels, in June 1997, Diana met the son of an Egyptian billionaire, film producer Dodi al-Fayed. Only two months will pass and the paparazzi will be able to capture the lovers together, turning an ordinary photo into a real sensation. Diana thought that her life would finally get better, that she would become Dodi’s beloved wife and join the most powerful Muslim family in the world. But these dreams were not destined to come true.

On August 31, 1997, in Paris, a car in which Dodi al-Fayed was trying to escape from being pursued by the paparazzi flew at high speed into the tunnel in front of the Alma bridge on the Seine embankment and crashed into a support. Dodi died instantly, and Diana, taken from the scene to the Salpetriere hospital, died two hours later.

The only survivor of this accident was bodyguard Trevor Rhys-Jones. He was seriously injured and has no memory of the events. This tragedy shocked not only the people of Great Britain, but the whole world. The princess was buried on September 6 at the Spencer family estate of Althorp in Northamptonshire, on a secluded island.

Interesting facts about Princess Diana

Before becoming romantically involved with Diana, Prince Charles dated her older sister, Sarah Spencer.

For some time, Diana worked as a cleaner.

Diana deleted from her wedding oath the words about unquestioning obedience to her husband.

Diana had sharp mood swings: the servants repeatedly said that the princess could both reward the staff and reprimand them to the fullest extent for the slightest offense, or even for nothing, depending on her mood.

In one of the interviews, the princess said that she made two suicide attempts, one of which was during her first pregnancy.

Diana seriously considered the possibility of converting to Islam and moving to Pakistan, to the heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, whom she met and whom she was going to marry.

More than a million people attended, lining from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey. And on television, more than 2.5 billion viewers around the world watched the funeral procedure.

In 1991, Diana became the first member of the royal family to have direct contact with people infected with HIV - then it was considered valor because people did not yet know that HIV cannot be transmitted by shaking hands.

During the divorce, Diana received a record compensation of $37 million.

There are at least 50 different versions of Princess Diana's death. The official blames her driver Henri Paul, who was intoxicated.

More than 100 different songs are dedicated to Diana.

With actors John Travolta and Jack Nicholson, as well as writer John Fowles.

The princess's favorite dish was cream pudding.

Diana often violated royal etiquette and dress code.

Lady Diana was afraid of horses.

In honor of Princess Diana, postage stamps were issued in Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, North Korea, Moldova, Romania, the Pitcairn Islands, and Tuvalu.

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.

In 2002, according to a BBC poll, Diana was ranked third on the list of Great Britons, ahead of the Queen and other British monarchs.

In the 2000s, a memorial complex dedicated to Diana was created in London, including a walking route, a memorial fountain and a children's playground.

On July 1, Diana would have turned 55 years old. The famous princess, with her open demeanor, became a breath of fresh air in the royal palace.

When she married Prince Charles in St. Paul's Cathedral, the wedding ceremony (according to Wikipedia) was watched by 750 million viewers around the world. Diana was in the center of public attention throughout her life. Everything connected with her, from clothes to hairstyle, immediately became an international trend. And even almost two decades after her tragic death, public interest in the personality of the Princess of Wales does not fade. In memory of the beloved princess, here are twenty-six little-known facts about her life.

1. Studying at school

Diana was not good at science, and after she failed two exams at West Heath Girls' School at the age of 16, her education ended. Her father intended to send her to study in Sweden, but she insisted on returning home.

2. Meeting Charles and getting engaged

Prince Charles and Diana met when he was dating Sarah, Diana's older sister. Sarah and Charles' relationship came to a standstill after she publicly announced that she did not love the prince. Diana, on the other hand, really liked Charles and even hung his photograph above her bed at boarding school. “I want to become a dancer or the Princess of Wales,” she once admitted to her classmate.

Diana was just 16 when she first saw Charles (who was then 28) hunting in Norfolk. According to the recollections of her former music teacher, Diana was very excited and could not talk about anything else: “Finally, I met him!” Two years later, their engagement was officially announced, when Sarah proudly declared: “I introduced them, I am Cupid.”

After finishing school and until the official announcement of her engagement, the young aristocrat worked first as a nanny and then as a kindergarten teacher in Knightsbridge, one of the most prestigious areas of London.

4. An Englishwoman among royal wives

As surprising as it may sound, over the past 300 years, Lady Diana Frances Spencer was the first Englishwoman to become the wife of the heir to the British throne. Before her, the wives of English kings were mainly representatives of German royal dynasties, there was also a Danish woman (Alexandra of Denmark, wife of Edward VII), and even the Queen Mother, wife of George VI and grandmother of Charles, was Scottish.

Princess Diana's wedding dress was decorated with 10,000 pearls and ended with an 8-meter train - the longest in the history of royal weddings. To support the English fashion industry, Diana turned to young designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, whom she accidentally met through a Vogue editor. “We knew that the dress had to go down in history and at the same time please Diana. The ceremony was at St. Paul's Cathedral, so we needed something that would fill the center aisle and look impressive." For five months, the windows of the Emanuel boutique in central London were tightly closed with blinds, and the boutique itself was carefully guarded so that no one could see the silk taffeta creation ahead of time. On the wedding day it was delivered in a sealed envelope. But, just in case, a spare dress was sewn. “We didn’t try it on Diana, we didn’t even discuss it,” Elizabeth admitted in 2011, when the second dress became known.

6. "Commoner's Sapphire"

Diana chose a sapphire ring from the Garrard catalog for her engagement, instead of ordering one, as was customary in the royal environment. The 12-carat sapphire, surrounded by 14 diamonds in white gold, was called the “commoner's sapphire” because, despite the price of $60,000, anyone could buy it. “Many people wanted a ring like Diana’s,” a Cartier representative told The New York Times. Since then, the "commoner's sapphire" has become associated with Princess Diana. After her death, Prince Harry inherited the ring, but gave it to Prince William before his engagement to Kate Middleton in 2010. William is rumored to have taken the sapphire from the royal safe and carried it in his backpack during a three-week trip to Africa before giving it to Kate. The ring is now valued at ten times its original cost.

7. Oath at the altar

For the first time in history, Diana arbitrarily changed the words of her wedding vow, deliberately omitting the phrase “obey her husband.” Thirty years later, William and Kate repeated this vow.

8. Favorite dish

Diana's personal chef Darren McGrady recalls that one of her favorite foods was cream pudding, and when he was making it, she would often go into the kitchen and remove the raisins from the top. Diana liked stuffed peppers and eggplant; When dining alone, she preferred lean meat, a large bowl of salad and yogurt for dessert.

Some biographers claim that Diana's favorite color was pink, and she often wore dresses in various shades, from pale pink to deep crimson.

10. Favorite perfume

Her favorite perfume after the divorce was the French perfume 24 Faubourg from Hermès - a delicate solemn aroma with a bouquet of jasmine and gardenia, iris and vanilla, giving off peach, bergamot, sandalwood and patchouli.

Diana herself chose the names for her children and insisted that the eldest son be named William, despite the fact that Charles chose the name Arthur, and the youngest - Henry (that's how he was baptized, although everyone calls him Harry), while his father wanted name your son Albert. Diana breastfed her children, although this is not customary in the royal family. Diana and Charles were the first royal parents who, contrary to established tradition, traveled with their young children. During their six-week tour of Australia and New Zealand, they took nine-month-old William with them. Royal biographer Christopher Warwick claims that William and Harry were very happy with Diana, as her approach to raising children was radically different from that adopted at court.

12. William – the first prince to attend kindergarten

The preschool education of royal children was traditionally provided by private teachers and governesses. Princess Diana changed this order, insisting that Prince William be sent to a regular kindergarten. Thus, he became the first heir to the throne to attend a preschool outside the palace. And although Diana, who was extremely attached to her children, considered it important, if possible, to create ordinary conditions for their upbringing, there were exceptions. She once invited Cindy Crawford to lunch at Buckingham Palace because 13-year-old Prince William was crazy about the model. “It was a little awkward, he was still very young, and I didn’t want to look too confident, but at the same time I had to be stylish so that the child felt that he was a supermodel,” Cindy later admitted.

13. The usual childhood of the heirs to the throne

Diana tried to show her children the diversity of life outside the palace. They ate hamburgers together at McDonald's, rode the subway and bus, wore jeans and baseball caps, went down inflatable boats down mountain rivers and rode bicycles. At Disneyland, like ordinary visitors, we stood in line for tickets.

Diana showed children another side of life when she took them with her to hospitals and homeless shelters. “She really wanted to show us all the hardships of ordinary life, and I’m very grateful to her, it was a good lesson, that’s when I realized how far away many of us are from real life, especially myself,” William told ABC News in 2012 .

14. Not a royal demeanor

Diana preferred round tables to large royal banquets, so she could communicate more closely with her guests. However, if she was alone, she often dined in the kitchen, which is completely uncharacteristic of royalty. “No one else did it like that,” her personal chef Darren McGrady admitted in 2014. Elizabeth II visited the kitchen of Buckingham Palace once a year, for her ceremonial tour everything had to be cleaned to a shine, and the chefs lined up to greet the queen. If anyone else from the royal family entered the kitchen, everyone had to immediately stop working, put the pots and pans on the stove, take three steps back and bow. Diana was simpler. “Darren, I want coffee. Oh, you're busy, then I'll do it myself. Should I do it? True, she didn’t like to cook, and why would she? McGrady cooked for her all week and stocked the refrigerator on the weekends so she could microwave meals.

15. Diana and fashion

When Diana first met Charles, she was very shy and blushed easily and often. But gradually she gained self-confidence, and in 1994, a photograph of her in a tight, low-cut minidress at an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery blew up the covers of the world's tabloids, because this little black dress was a clear violation of the royal dress code.

16. Lady Di is against formalities

When Diana talked to children, she always crouched down to be eye level with them (her son and daughter-in-law now do the same). “Diana was the first royal to communicate with children in this way,” says Majesty magazine editor Ingrid Seward. "Usually the royal family considered themselves superior to the rest, but Diana said: 'If someone is nervous in your presence, or if you are talking to a small child or a sick person, get down to their level.'

17. Change in the queen's attitude towards her daughter-in-law

The bright, emotional Diana caused a lot of trouble in the royal court; her manner in public was completely inconsistent with how members of the royal family usually behaved. This irritated the queen more than once. But today, having crossed the threshold of her ninetieth birthday, looking at how people perceive her wonderful grandchildren, Diana’s sons William and Harry, Elizabeth is forced to admit that they see Diana in them, her sincerity and love of life. Unlike their father and other members of the royal family, William and Harry always attract everyone's attention and are very popular. “It’s probably all thanks to Diana in the end,” the queen says with a smile.

18. Diana's role in the approach to the problem of AIDS

When Diana told the Queen she wanted to take on AIDS and asked her to help fund research into a vaccine, Elizabeth encouraged her to do something more appropriate. It must be admitted that in the mid-80s, when this conversation took place, they tried to hush up the AIDS problem and not notice it; those infected were often treated as if they had the plague. However, Diana did not give up, and largely due to the fact that she was one of the first to draw attention to the problem of AIDS, publicly shaking hands with HIV-infected people and calling for funding for research, attitudes towards AIDS in society changed, drugs appeared that allow patients to manage relatively normal life.

19. Fear of horses

In all aristocratic families of England, and especially in the royal family, horseback riding is not only very popular, but also mandatory. The ability to stay in the saddle is taught from an early age, and this is part of the rules of good manners even for the most impoverished baronets. Lady Diana was naturally properly trained to ride, but she was such a clumsy rider and so afraid of horses that even the Queen had to back off and stop taking her on horseback riding trips to Sudnringham.

20. “Advanced training courses” for a young aristocrat

Despite the nobility of the Spencer family, to which Diana belonged, when she married Charles, she was still too young and inexperienced in palace protocol. So Elizabeth asked her sister, Princess Margaret, Diana's neighbor at Kensington Palace, to take her daughter-in-law under her wing. Margaret was enthusiastic about this request. She saw herself in her youth in the young creature and enjoyed communication, sharing with Diana a love of theater and ballet. Margaret told who to shake hands with and what to say. They got along well, although at times the mentor could be quite harsh with her protégé. Once Diana addressed the driver by his first name, although strict royal protocol involves addressing servants exclusively by their last name. Margaret slapped her on the wrist and made a stern reprimand. And yet, their warm relationship lasted quite a long time and changed dramatically only after the official break with Charles, when Margaret unconditionally took her nephew’s side.

21. Deliberate violation of royal protocol

To celebrate the Queen's 67th birthday, Diana arrived at Windsor Castle with William and Harry, carrying balloons and paper crowns. Everything would be fine, but Elizabeth can’t stand either one or the other, and after 12 years of close communication, Diana should have known about it. However, she still decorated the hall with balloons and distributed paper crowns to the guests.

22. Official break with Charles

Elizabeth tried to do everything in her power to save the marriage of Diana and Charles. This concerned, first of all, her relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles' mistress. By unspoken order of the queen, Camilla was excommunicated from the court; all the servants knew that “that woman” should not cross the threshold of the palace. Obviously, this did not change anything, the relationship between Charles and Camilla continued, and the marriage with Diana was rapidly deteriorating.

Shortly after it was officially announced in December 1992 that the royal couple had separated, the princess asked for an audience with the queen. But upon arrival at Buckingham Palace, it turned out that the Queen was busy, and Diana had to wait in the lobby. When Elizabeth finally accepted her, Diana was on the verge of a breakdown and burst into tears right in front of the queen. She complained that everyone was against her. The fact is that as much as Lady Di was popular among the masses, she was just as undesirable in royal circles. After the break with Charles, the court unanimously sided with the heir, and Diana found herself isolated. Unable to influence the family's attitude towards her former daughter-in-law, the queen could only promise that the divorce would not affect the status of William and Harry.

23. Diana and the Taj Mahal

During an official visit to India in 1992, when the royal couple were still considered a married couple, Diana was photographed sitting alone near the Taj Mahal, that majestic monument to the love of husband and wife. It was a visual message that, while officially together, Diana and Charles were actually separated.

24. Divorce

Despite all the queen's attempts to reconcile her son and daughter-in-law, including her invitation to Diana to an official reception in honor of the President of Portugal at the end of 1992, or at Christmas 1993, the parties continued to speak unflatteringly and publicly accuse each other of infidelity, so there was no talk of any restoration of relations was out of the question. Therefore, in the end, Elizabeth wrote letters to them asking them to consider divorce. Both knew that this was tantamount to an order. And if the princess asked for time to think in her response letter, Charles immediately asked Diana for a divorce. In the summer of 1996, a year before the tragic death of Lady Di, their marriage was dissolved.

25. “Queen of Human Hearts”

In her November 1995 BBC interview, Diana made several frank admissions about her postpartum depression, her broken marriage and her strained relationship with the royal family. About Camilla's constant presence in her marriage, she said: “There were three of us. A bit much for a marriage, isn’t it?” But her most shocking statement was that Charles did not want to be king.

Developing her thought, she suggested that she herself would never become queen, but instead expressed the possibility of becoming queen "in the hearts of people." And she confirmed this fictitious status by conducting active social work and doing charity work. In June 1997, two months before her death, Diana put up for auction 79 ball gowns, which at one time appeared on the covers of glossy magazines around the world. Thus, she seemed to break with the past, and the $5.76 million received at the auction was spent to fund research into AIDS and breast cancer.

26. Life after divorce

Experiencing a break with Charles, Diana did not withdraw into herself and did not isolate herself from society; she began to enjoy a free life. Shortly before her tragic death, she met producer Dodi Al-Fayed, the eldest son of the Egyptian billionaire, owner of the Ritz hotel in Paris and the London department store Harrods. They spent several days together near Sardinia on his yacht, and then went to Paris, where on August 31, 1997 they were involved in a fatal car accident. There is still debate over the true causes of the accident, ranging from the paparazzi chase and the driver's blood alcohol level to the mysterious white car, traces of paint from which were found on the door of the Mercedes in which Diana died. The accident was allegedly the result of a collision with this car. And it doesn’t matter that this is a mysterious car that appeared out of nowhere, disappeared into nowhere, and no one saw it. But for conspiracy theory lovers, this is not an argument. They insist that it was a murder planned by the British intelligence services. This version is supported by Dodi’s father, Mohammed Al-Fayed, citing as the basis Dodi and Diana’s plans to get married, which did not suit the royal family at all. We are unlikely to ever know how it really happened. One thing is for sure - the world has lost one of the best and brightest women of all time, who forever changed the life of the royal family and the way the monarchy was viewed in society. The memory of the “Queen of Hearts” will remain with us forever.

Celebrity biographies

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01.07.17 10:46

Princess Diana was included in the list of "100 Greatest Britons", taking third place in it. And even now, many years after the death of Princess Diana, her personality is of great interest, and daughter-in-law Kate Middleton is constantly compared to her mother-in-law. The death of Princess Diana and the life of Princess Diana are shrouded in mysteries that can no longer be solved.

Princess Diana - biography

Representative of an ancient aristocratic family

Princess Diana of Wales, whom everyone called “Lady Diana” or “Lady Di” for short, was born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham (Norfolk). Then her name was Diana Frances Spencer. She belonged to a noble family: her father John Spencer was Viscount Althorp (and later Earl Spencer) and was distantly related to the Dukes of Marlborough (to which Winston Churchill belonged). Also in John's family tree were the bastards of the brother kings Charles the Second and James the Second. Princess Diana's mother's name was Frances Shand Kydd; she could not boast of such ancient noble roots.

The early biography of Princess Diana took place in the family nest of Sandgreenham, with the same governess who raised Frances working with her. After home schooling (primary school), the future Princess Diana went to Sealfield private school, and then moved to Riddlesworth Hall preparatory school. Even then, her father and mother were divorced (divorced in 1969), Diana came under the care of John, like her brother and sisters. The girl was very worried about the separation from her mother, and after that she could not establish a relationship with her strict stepmother.

Newly hired teacher's assistant

In 1973, Princess Diana entered an elite girls' school in Kent, but did not graduate, showing poor results. Having become Lady Diana (when John took over the peerage from his deceased father), the 14-year-old girl moved with her family and her newly-made father, the Earl, to Althorp House Castle in Northamptonshire.

Another attempt to send Diana away from home was made in 1977, when she moved to Switzerland. But, unable to bear parting with her loved ones and her homeland, Diana left Rougemont and returned home. Princess Diana's biography continued in London, where she was given an apartment (for her 18th birthday). Having settled into her new home, Diana invited three friends to be neighbors and got a job in a kindergarten in Pimiliko as a teacher’s assistant.

Personal life of Princess Diana

Hunting meeting

In 1981, she was destined to become Princess Diana of Wales, and we’ll talk about that.

Before she left for Switzerland, Diana was introduced to Queen Elizabeth II's son, Prince Charles, who was taking part in a hunt held at Althorp. This happened in the winter of 1977. But the serious relationship between Princess Diana and Charles began later, in the summer of 1980.

They went on a weekend together (on the royal yacht Britannia), and then Charles introduced Diana to her parents, Elizabeth II and Philip, at the Windsor's Scottish castle, Balmoral. The girl made a good impression, so Charles’s family did not contradict their romance. The couple began dating, and on February 3, 1981, the heir to the throne proposed to Diana at Windsor Castle. She agreed. But the engagement was announced only on February 24. Princess Diana's famous ring with a large sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds cost £30,000. Later it was passed on to Kate Middleton - Princess Diana's eldest son William gave it to the bride upon their engagement.

The most expensive “wedding of the century”

Princess Diana's wedding took place on July 29, 1981 in London's St. Pavel. The celebration began at 11.20, 3.5 thousand distinguished guests were present in the temple, and 750 million viewers watched the “wedding of the century” on TV. Great Britain rejoiced; the Queen declared this day a holiday. After the wedding there was a reception for 120 people. The wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles is recognized as the most expensive in the history of the country - 2.859 million pounds were spent on it.

Princess Diana's wedding dress was made of airy taffeta and lace, with very puffy sleeves, by fashion designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel. Then it was valued at 9 thousand pounds. Hand embroidery, antique lace, a daring neckline, rhinestones and a long ivory train all looked stunning on the slender bride. To be on the safe side, two copies of Princess Diana's outfit were sewn together, but they were not needed. The newlywed's head was decorated with a tiara.

Desired heirs William and Harry

Princess Diana and Charles spent their honeymoon on a Mediterranean cruise on the yacht Britannia, stopping in Tunisia, Greece, Sardinia and Egypt. Returning to their homeland, the newlyweds went to Balmoral Castle and relaxed in a hunting lodge.

There is also a biopic “The Queen”, about the events after the death of Princess Diana; Helen Mirren portrays Elizabeth II in it.