EARLY
YEARS
Diana,
Princess of Wales, formerly Lady Diana Frances Spencer, was born on 1
July 1961 at Park House near Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the youngest
daughter of the then Viscount and Viscountess Althorp, now the late
(8th) Earl Spencer and the late Hon. Mrs Shand-Kydd, daughter of the 4th
Baron Fermoy.
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| Princess Lady Diana |
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| Princess Lady Diana |
The Prince and Princess of Wales return from their 1981 wedding
at St. Paul's Cathedral
Earl
Spencer was Equerry to George VI from 1950 to 1952, and to The Queen
from 1952 to 1954. Lady Diana's parents, who had married in 1954,
separated in 1967 and the marriage was dissolved in 1969. Earl Spencer
later married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth in 1976.
Together
with her two elder sisters Sarah (born 1955), Jane (born 1957) and her
younger brother Charles (born 1964), Lady Diana continued to live with
her father at Park House, Sandringham, until the death of her
grandfather, the 7th Earl Spencer. In 1975, the family moved to the
Spencer seat at Althorp (a stately house dating from 1508) in
Northamptonshire, in the English Midlands.
Lady
Diana was educated first at a preparatory school, Riddlesworth Hall at
Diss, Norfolk, and then in 1974 went as a boarder to West Heath, near
Sevenoaks, Kent. At school she showed a particular talent for music (as
an accomplished pianist), dancing and domestic science, and gained the
school's award for the girl giving maximum help to the school and her
schoolfellows.
She
left West Heath in 1977 and went to finishing school at the Institut
Alpin Videmanette in Rougemont, Switzerland, which she left after the
Easter term of 1978. The following year she moved to a flat in Coleherne
Court, London. For a while she looked after the child of an American
couple, and she worked as a kindergarten teacher at the Young England
School in Pimlico.
When
Princess Diana's marriage was unravelling and she was being attacked
from all sides, she would try to fortify herself with the mantra:
'Remember you're a Spencer.' Diana may have been abandoned by the Royal
Family, but no one could deny her own deeply aristocratic lineage. The
Spencers are one of Britain's oldest dynasties, and Diana's union with
Prince Charles had represented the summit of several centuries of social
mountaineering. Though the heir to the throne has taken most of the
blame for the failure of his marriage, the first part of Channel 4's The
Spencers – Diana's Dynasty shows that the seeds of the princess's
emotional turmoil were sewn long before the break-up, in her own
troubled upbringing.
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| Princess Lady Diana |
The
Prince and Princess of Wales with US President Ronald Reagan
and
his wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan
ROYAL
CONNECTIONS
On
the surface, Diana's childhood was one of privilege and material
comfort. Her family can trace their line back to William the Conqueror.
For more than 400 years, the magnificent 13,000-acre Althorp estate in
Northamptonshire has been the family seat. They built their huge fortune
on wool-spinning in Tudor times, but by the middle of the last century
there was little money left other than in property.
Diana's
father Johnnie, who would become the eighth Earl Spencer, managed to
keep a toehold in high society as a royal equerry. He was effectively an
elevated servant, but at least this allowed him to hobnob with the
Windsors – very important for a man to whom status mattered
enormously. So it was a surprise to some that his chosen bride was
Frances, daughter of Lord and Lady Fermoy, who was considered a little
beneath him on the society ladder. Frances's socially-ambitious mother,
though, was very well connected: she was a lady-in-waiting and very
close personal friend to the Queen Mother. Frances and Johnnie's wedding
was billed as one of the social events of 1954, with the Queen and
Princess Margaret among the guests. Lady Fermoy gave the newlyweds Park
House, her home on the Sandringham estate, and the Spencers became close
neighbours of the Royal Family.
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| Princess Lady Diana |
Diana
Princess of Wales
UNHAPPY
FAMILY
After
Frances gave birth to two daughters, Sarah and Jane, Johnnie was
desperate for a male heir. In 1960, they had a son, John, who died after
just 11 hours, and Diana arrived on 1 July 1961. It was another three
years before Charles, the future ninth Earl, was born and Johnnie
finally got the son he craved.
Frances
soon became unhappy and when Diana was six, she left the family home for
London and the arms of her lover, wallpaper magnate Peter Shand Kydd.
There ensued a battled for custody of the children. When it came to
court, Johnnie had an extraordinary ally – Frances's mother, Lady
Fermoy. Determined to drive the Spencer dynasty on, she sided with her
son-in-law, testifying against her daughter. Johnnie Spencer won the
day.
Close
in age, Diana and Charles were deeply affected by their parent's bitter
divorce. School holidays were spent being shuttled between their father
and mother. There was no doubt, in his father's eyes at least, that
Charles was the chosen one. He received much more attention than his
three older sisters.
None
of the Spencer siblings took to their father's second wife Raine,
daughter of the romantic novelist Barbara Cartland. Behind her back the
children called their bouffant-haired stepmother 'Acid Raine'. She
alienated them even more when she fired staff, sold off art treasures to
prop up the cash-strapped estate, and redecorated Althorp to her own
flamboyant taste. The children suffered a further blow when Johnnie had
a stroke. They had to accept that Raine was now firmly in charge.
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| Princess Lady Diana |
Diana,
Princess of Wales and then First Lady Hillary Clinton
CHOSEN
TO BE QUEEN
The
elder sisters Sarah and Jane left the family home to live in London. It
was Sarah who first caught the eye of Prince Charles and she was tipped
as a royal bride. However, in 1980 it emerged that it was the youngest
and most naïve Spencer girl who was actually in his sights. The
formidable combination of the Queen Mother and Lady Fermoy worked behind
the scenes to help engineer the union and Diana and Charles became
engaged in February 1981. For Johnnie, it was a dream come true: one of
his daughters was a future Queen. According to friends, though, Diana
felt like a sacrificial lamb; just a few days before she married, she
had deep misgivings.
Lady
Diana Spencer married The Prince of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in
London on 29 July 1981. During her marriage the Princess undertook a
wide range of royal duties. Family was very important to the Princess,
who had two sons: Prince William and Prince Henry (Harry). After her
divorce from The Prince of Wales, the Princess continued to be regarded
as a member of the Royal Family.
The
marriage was solemnised by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Runcie,
together with the Dean of St Paul's; clergy from other denominations
read prayers. Music included the hymns 'Christ is made the sure
foundation', 'I vow to thee my country', the anthem 'I was glad' (by Sir
Hubert Parry), a specially composed anthem 'Let the people praise thee'
by Professor Mathias, and Handel's 'Let the bright seraphim' performed
by Dame Kiri te Kanawa. The lesson was read by the Speaker of the House
of Commons, Mr George Thomas (the late Lord Tonypandy).
The
Princess was the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne for
300 years (when Lady Anne Hyde married the future James II from whom the
Princess was descended). The bride wore a silk taffeta dress with a
25-foot train designed by the Emanuels, her veil was held in place by
the Spencer family diamond tiara, and she carried a bouquet of
gardenias, lilies-of-the-valley, white freesia, golden roses, white
orchids and stephanotis. She was attended by five bridesmaids including
Princess Margaret's daughter Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (now Lady Sarah
Chatto); Prince Andrew (now The Duke of York) and Prince Edward were The
Prince of Wales's supporters (a Royal custom instead of a best man).
The
Prince and Princess of Wales spent part of their honeymoon at the
Mountbatten family home at Broadlands, Hampshire, before flying to
Gibraltar to join the Royal Yacht HMY BRITANNIA for a 12-day cruise
through the Mediterranean to Egypt. They finished their honeymoon with a
stay at Balmoral.
The
Prince and Princess made their principal home at Highgrove House near
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and shared an apartment in Kensington Palace.
The
royal wedding of 29 July 1981 was dressed up as a fairytale. Diana soon
produced two sons, William and Harry – the required 'heir and a
spare'. But the marriage was rapidly heading for an unhappy ending.
Within
six years, Diana and Charles were leading separate lives and she had
begun an affair with James Hewitt. An extraordinarily tough, volatile,
sexy woman began to emerge. To many, it seemed her Spencer traits were
breaking through as she stepped out of the shadows of her husband's
oppressive family.
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| Princess Lady Diana |
Diana
Princess of Wales - radiant
RUTHLESS EARL
Johnnie
died in March 1992, and Charles Spencer, at 27, became the ninth Earl. His
stepmother's days within the dynasty were numbered; her belongings were
removed from Althorp in black bin liners.
Raine's
swift departure showed that Charles could call upon the ruthless Spencer
streak when he felt the need – just as he would some years later when he
reminded the world that his sister had belonged to the House of Spencer,
not the House of Windsor.
CHARLES
SPENCER
Charles
Spencer's speech at his sister Princess Diana's funeral on 6 September
1997 was a historic moment. The passionate eight-minute eulogy, heard by a
world audience of nearly three billion people, made him as famous as Diana
for a short period. The second part of Channel 4's The Spencers –
Diana's Dynasty records how the head of the Spencer clan made certain
the world knew that Diana's sons, heirs to the British throne, were as
much a part of his ancient family as the House of Windsor.
Even
from an early age, Charles had shown a single-mindedness well beyond his
years in protecting his and the family's interests.
Charles
quickly took against his flamboyant stepmother Raine after she married
Johnnie and began to stamp her distinctive style on Althorp, the family's
Northamptonshire seat.
After
Oxford University, Charles worked as a royal correspondent at the American
TV network NBC, but this career was short-lived as he found his privacy
becoming increasingly important.
When
Johnnie died, son-and-heir Charles inherited the £85 million estate,
including nearly 200 cottages and farmhouses, even though he had three
older sisters. Raine never returned to the house and within days, her
possessions were removed. Charles was now well established as the lord of
the manor.
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| Princess Lady Diana |
Princess Diana wearing diamond tiara
PUBLIC
DUTIES
During
her marriage, the Princess was president or patron of over 100 charities.
The Princess did much to publicise work on behalf of homeless and also
disabled people, children and people with HIV/Aids.
In
December 1993, the Princess announced that she would be reducing the
extent of her public life in order to combine 'a meaningful public role
with a more private life'.
After
her separation from The Prince of Wales, the Princess continued to appear
with the Royal Family on major national occasions, such as the
commemorations of the 50th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) and VJ
(Victory over Japan) Days in 1995.
Following
her divorce, the Princess resigned most of her charity and other
patronages, and relinquished all her Service appointments with military
units. The Princess remained as patron of Centrepoint (homeless charity),
English National Ballet, Leprosy Mission and National Aids Trust, and as
President of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street and of
the Royal Marsden Hospital.
In
June 1997, the Princess attended receptions in London and New York as
previews of the sale of a number of dresses and suits worn by her on
official engagements, with the proceeds going to charity.
The
Princess spent her 36th and last birthday on 1 July 1997 attending the
Tate Gallery's 100th anniversary celebrations. Her last official
engagement in Britain was on 21 July, when she visited Northwick Park
Hospital, London (children's accident and emergency unit).
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| Princess Lady Diana |
Diana,
Princess of Wales dancing with John Travolta
at
a White House dinner on 9 November 1985
TROUBLED
MARRIAGE
In
1989, after a brief romance, Charles married Victoria Lockwood, an
international fashion model and Tatler Girl of the Year. Within six
months the marriage was in trouble. Ironically for a man who came to
despise the media, the cause was Charles's affair with a journalist called
Sally-Ann Lasson. She had known Spencer before his marriage and thought he
would leave Victoria for her. When he didn't, Lasson told her story to the
press.
The
repentant earl patched up his marriage and over the next five years he and
Victoria had four children – three daughters and finally, in 1994, a
son-and-heir, Louis.
FAMILY
RIFT
At
around the same time, his sister Diana's marriage was over in all but
name. Diana had always been close to her brother but they fell out after
she asked him if she could use a cottage at Althorp. The house she wanted
was just inside the estate walls. Concerned over security, Charles turned
her down, causing a rift with his sister that resulted in them not
speaking to each other for six months.
Spencer's
own marriage was also in trouble. Victoria was ill from an eating disorder
and when she entered a clinic her problems became front-page news. Charles
wanted to escape the British media and in 1996 he moved his family to Cape
Town, South Africa. He bought an £800,000 house on a private estate while
Victoria and the children moved to a bungalow nearby. Charles soon became
involved with another woman, Chantal Collopy, a married socialite with two
children, but their relationship was short-lived.
Then
came Diana's death and that speech (written in just an hour and a half)
from the pulpit of Westminster Abbey. In a sideswipe at the assembled
royal family, Charles proclaimed that Diana's blood family would continue
to do all they could to steer the two young princes, William and Harry, in
the way she had planned. Later that day, he ensured his sister was buried
as a Spencer, not a Windsor: according to Diana's former butler Paul
Burrell, the earl removed the royal standard from her coffin and draped it
with his own family's flag.
Diana's
coffin borne through the streets of London
MEDIA
ATTENTION
In
the eyes of many, he was the hero of the day. Soon, though, Fleet Street
was pursuing him again, this time en masse to Cape Town for his divorce
case. His wife had a powerful ally in her fight for a fair settlement –
Chantal Collopy, her husband's former mistress. Charles agreed to give
Victoria £1.8 million shortly before the two women were due to give
evidence.
A
somewhat bruised Charles Spencer returned to live at Althorp, Diana's
resting place. He borrowed £3 million to convert a stable block into a
permanent museum to his sister. All profits were to go to charity and
within five years, £800,000 was raised for the Diana Memorial Fund.
Charles's
sister Sarah was a trustee of the fund. Paul Burrell was the fund-raising
manager, but he found himself out of a job, reportedly because the
Spencers didn't want him.
Burrell's revenge came four years later, in 2002 at the Old Bailey, when
he was cleared of stealing hundreds of Diana's possessions. The trial
turned out to be almost as much of an ordeal for the Spencer family as the
Burrells. The court heard how Diana had fallen out with her brother; also,
how Diana wasn't on speaking terms with her mother Frances when the
princess died.
Two
decades on from the celebrated marriage of a Spencer into the House of
Windsor, what had seemed at first to be an illustrious new chapter in the
history of one of England's great families ended in bitterness and
recrimination.
The
Pont de l'Alma tunnel, where Princess Diana was fatally injured
TRAGEDY
Diana,
Princess of Wales died on Sunday, 31 August 1997 following a car crash in
Paris.
There
was widespread public mourning at the death of this popular figure,
culminating with her funeral at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, 6 September
1997.
The
tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales occurred on Sunday, 31 August
1997 following a car accident in Paris, France. The vehicle in which the
Princess was travelling was involved in a high-speed accident in the Place
de l'Alma underpass in central Paris shortly before midnight on Saturday,
30 August. The Princess was taken to the La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital,
where she underwent two hours of emergency surgery before being declared
dead at 0300 BST. The Princess's companion, Mr Dodi Fayed, and the driver
of the vehicle died in the accident, whilst a bodyguard was seriously
injured.
The
Princess's body was subsequently repatriated to the United Kingdom in the
evening of Sunday, 31 August by a BAe 146 aircraft of the Royal Squadron.
The Prince of Wales and the Princess's elder sisters, Lady Sarah
McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, accompanied the Princess's coffin on
its return journey. Upon arrival at RAF Northolt, the coffin, draped with
a Royal Standard, was removed from the aircraft and transferred to a
waiting hearse by a bearer party from The Queen's Colour Squadron of the
RAF. The Prime Minister was among those in the reception party.
From
RAF Northolt the coffin was taken to a private mortuary in London, so that
the necessary legal formalities could be completed. Shortly after
midnight, it was moved to the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, where it
lay privately until the funeral on Saturday, 6 September, in Westminster
Abbey. The Princess's family and friends visited the Chapel to pay their
respects.
Following
the funeral service, the coffin then was taken by road to the family
estate at Althorp for a private interment. The Princess was buried in
sanctified ground on an island in the centre of an ornamental lake.
The car crash tragedy
When Princess Diana died tragically on August 31, 1997 she left behind a 21.5 million pound (approximately $35 million) fortune, most of which was bequeathed to her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. The inheritance will be held in trust for the two princes until they reach the age of 30. In her will made public on March 2, 1998, Diana also left 50,000 pounds to her former butler, Paul Burrell, and set aside personal momenta for her 17 godchildren.
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| Princess Lady Diana |
Good Bye Princess Diana. We Always Remember Yo in Prays. :)
