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Diana, Princess of Wales, (Lady Diana Frances Spencer), (July 1, 1961 - August 31, 1997), was the former wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the mother of the second and third in line to the British, Australian, Canadian and other Commonwealth of Nations thrones, Princes William and Harry. From the time of her marriage to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in a car accident in Paris in 1997 Diana had one of the world's most high profile, most photographed and most iconic of celebrities. From 1981 until her divorce, Diana's formal style and title had been Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales. After her divorce, she was styled Diana, Princess of Wales.
Diana was the youngest daughter of the Rt. Hon. Frances Ruth Burke-Roche (daughter of the fourth Baron Fermoy) and the Rt. Hon. Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, making Diana a descendant of many of the kings of England, including Charles I, Charles II, and James II. She was also a great-granddaughter of Frances Ellen Work (the Hon. Mrs James Boothby Burke-Roche, later Mrs Aurel Batonyi), an American heiress whose father, Frank Work, was a prominent stockbroker. (Another descendant of Frances Work is American actor Oliver Platt.)
On the death of her paternal grandfather, Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer in 1975, Lord Althorp became the eighth Earl Spencer, and his daughter acquired the courtesy title of Lady Diana Spencer. She was educated in Norfolk and at boarding school in Kent, and was regarded as an academically average student. At 16 she attended Institut Alpin Videmanette, a finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland.
In 1980, at the age of 19 she caught the eye of the Prince of Wales, Charles, who invited her to a polo match. A romance began and he proposed to her in February of 1981. The wedding took place at St Paul's Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981, in front of a massive global television audience. Diana Spencer was the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne since 1659 when Lady Anne Hyde married the future James II of England.
Diana gave birth to two children, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis in 1982 and Prince Henry Charles David Albert in 1984. During the mid-to-late 1980s she became well known for her support of charity projects, and is given considerable credit for her campaigning against the use of landmines and diminishing the stigma associated with AIDS.
In the early 1990s, her marriage to Charles fell apart, an event sensationalised by the world media. Although the couple separated in 1992, the divorce was not finalised until August 1996.
On August 31, 1997 Diana was involved in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris, along with her romantic companion Dodi Fayed and Ritz deputy security chief Henri Paul, who was driving. Fayed's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was in the car and survived, but Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed died that night.
The crash has been the subject of legal proceedings in France, England, Scotland, and the United States. It is still the subject of legal proceedings in France, England, and Scotland.
Initial media reports stated that the car - a Mercedes - had been travelling at over 120mph, and that the speedo needle had jammed at that speed. But it was later admitted that its actual speed on collision with the pillar under the tunnel was about 59-68mph, and that the speedo did not have a needle since it was digital.
In 1999 a French investigation concluded that the Mercedes had come into contact with a white Fiat Uno in the tunnel. But the driver of this other vehicle never came forward, and the vehicle itself supposedly proved impossible to track down. Investigators were ostensibly unable even to learn its registration number, despite the presence of many security cameras in the area, which is close to many government buildings, expensive hotels, and foreign embassies).
The investigators concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge any paparazzi with committing any crimes, and also that the crash was a genuine accident brought on by an intoxicated driver attempting to elude the paparazzi at high speed.
The conclusion that Henri Paul was drunk was made largely on the basis of an analysis of blood samples, which were found to contain a high alcohol level. But something that has never been satisfactorily explained is that they also contained a very high carboxyhaemoglobin level, which was the result of a carbon monoxide intake that would ordinarily be sufficiently high to incapacitate someone even from standing up, let alone from playing a senior role in a professional security operation, and driving a car. Many suspect that the samples taken from his body were either tampered with or switched. But despite the question mark over the provenance of the samples, no DNA test has ever officially carried out on them. Nor have Henri Paul's parents been allowed access to the samples in order to commission independent tests.
The conclusion that he was trying to evade paparazzi was made even despite the fact that Ritz security were aware that the alleged destination of the couple (Dodi Fayed's apartment) was already covered by paparazzi. This makes it unclear why, if that was really their destination, anyone would believe that driving fast might enable the couple to avoid being photographed. There is some suspicion, however, that the apartment may not have been their destination, since the tunnel is not on any sensible route to it from their point of departure (the Ritz hotel). But if it was not their destination, then their actual destination remains unknown.
The next of kin of two of the three individuals who were in the Mercedes and who died that night - Dodi Fayed and Henri Paul - do not accept the French investigators' findings.
The investigators' report itself, which contains 6000 pages, has never been published. But a summary of their findings has been published - a short document that contains many seemingly disconnected short statements.
Legal proceedings continue in France.
In the legal system in England, inquests into the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed are due to happen in late 2004 or 2005.
The Princess Diana inquest is under the charge of the Coroner of the Queen's Household, who happens to be the same individual who is Coroner of Surrey and in charge of the Dodi Fayed inquest. Officially it has not been decided whether or not to appoint a jury in either case, but any inquest jury appointed by the Coroner of the Queen's Household must consist of officers of the Queen's Household.
Meanwhile in the legal system in Scotland, the next of kin of Dodi Fayed has applied for an order directing that there be a public inquiry.
Polls continue to suggest that a large majority of people believe the deaths to have been the result of assassination.
Princess Diana's funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 6 drew an estimated 3 million mourners and worldwide television coverage.
Her death was greeted with extraordinary public grief, and her funeral procession was attended by an estimated 3 million people.[1] Mourners cast flowers at the funeral procession for almost the entire length of the journey. Queen Elizabeth II made a notable change from standard royal protocol by bowing as the procession passed.
She is buried at Althorp in the United Kingdom on an island in the middle of a lake on her brother's estate. A visitors' centre allows visitors to see an exhibition about her and walk around the lake.
After her death people remain interested in Diana's life. Numerous manufacturers of collectibles continue to produce Diana merchandise. Some suggested making Diana a saint, stirring much controversy.
As a temporary memorial, the public co-opted the Flamme de Liberté (Flame of Liberty), a monument near the Alma Tunnel and related to the French donation of the Statue of Liberty to the United States. The messages of condolence have since been removed and its use as a Diana memorial has discontinued.
Diana was ranked third in the (2002) 100 Greatest Britons poll sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public.
In 2003, Marvel Comics was to publish a five-part series entitled Di Another Day featuring a resurrected Princess Diana as a mutant with super powers as part of Peter Milligan's X-Statix title. Amidst considerable (and predictable) outcry, the idea was quickly dropped.
See also: Burrell affair, Spencer family, British Royal Family
Early years
Marriage
Accident or assassination?
Material commemorating Diana, fly-posted onto the Flame of Liberty, above the entrance to the Paris tunnel in which she died. Picture taken in July 2001.
Larger version
Legacy
External links
