Iconic Moments from Princess Diana’s Short but Remarkable Life That Made Her the People’s Princess Everyone Loved

Princess Diana was a bright spark that ended too soon. At the young age of 36, she lost her life in a tragic car accident and left behind a legacy. Her sons have never stopped thinking about her and as adults who are now closer to her age when she died they want the world to keep remembering her. With documentaries and charity work that she used to endorse, they continue to keep her memories alive. 

She entered public life at the young age of 20 after marrying Prince Charles, 32, and became a firebrand in her own light. She was brutally honest with the media and public about her marriage and the state it was in and did not fear from showing her wild and rebellious side.

“I think every strong woman in history has had to walk down a similar path, and I think it’s the strength that causes the confusion and fear," she had famously said in a tell-all BBC interview that led to the finalizing of her divorce in 1996.

Despite the difficult ending of her marriage, which was widely covered in the media, the woman hardly had any privacy. One of the tragic parts of her life was the amount of unwanted attention she received and struggled with. Her death in 1997 in Paris was caused by paparazzi stalking her car to get some photos.

On her birthday, July 1, let's take a look at some of the defining moments of her life that made her the People's Princess.

1. A 19-year-old Diana working as a kindergarten teacher

2. Prince Charles announces his engagement with Lady Diana Spencer

3. Princess Diana's wedding to Prince Charles, 1981

4. Diana with Camilla Parker Bowles at the Ludlow races, 1980

Diana had famously said in an interview much later that there were three people in her marriage - she, Charles and Camilla.

5. Princess Diana falls asleep at Victoria and Albert Museum, 1981 

Her pregnancy was announced the next day.

5. Prince William's birth, 1982

6. Prince Harry's birth, 1984

7. Princess Diana performs at the Royal Opera House, 1985

8. Diana dances with John Travolta at a White House Gala Dinner, 1985

Diana was a trained ballet dancer and had taken up tap dancing too.

9. Princess Diana photographed at Taj Mahal alone, 1992

The solo trip was a symbol of the state of their marriage.

10. Last official tour of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, South Korea, 1992 

They got separated a month after the tour.

11. The Princess of Wales with her sons at Thorpe Park, 1993

12. Princess Diana wore her "revenge dress" at Serpentine Gallery, 1994

Prince Charles had just admitted on television that he cheated on her, and instead of hiding from the world, she decided to show them what she was made of.

13. Princess Diana's infamous BBC interview, 1995

The divorce was finalized in August 1996 after the interview.

14. Her humanitarian work in Africa

15. When she met Dr. Nelson Mandela in Capetown in March 1997

16. Her meeting with Mother Teresa in June 1997

17. She died in a car crash in August 1997

Hounded by paparazzi all her life, they chased her to her demise too.

References:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/diana/panorama.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkhqopeo_Yg

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/08/23/timeline-princess-dianas-life/508263001/