About Princess Diana
By Cathy Richey, the Cathy Factor
Diana Frances Spencer was born at Park House, Sandringham in Norfolk,
England on July 1 1961. She was the youngest daughter of John Spencer,
Viscount Althorp (later the 8th Earl Spencer) and his first wife Frances
Spencer, Viscountess Althorp. She was the fourth child born to her parents,
with older sisters Sarah and Jane, although an infant brother had died a
year before she was born. A couple years later they welcomed a younger
brother, Charles, who would become heir to the Spencer titles and estates.
The Spencers had been close to the British Royal Family for centuries,
rising in royal favour during the 1600s. Diana's maternal grandmother, Ruth,
Lady Fermoy, was a long-time friend of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Her
father had served as an equerry to King George VI and to Queen Elizabeth II.
Diana grew up in Park House, practically next door to the Queen. Park House
is right next to the Royals' Sandringham estate. The Spencer children were
no strangers to the princes. Closer in age to Diana than Prince Charles,
Prince Andrew was her childhood playmate.
Diana was educated at home till the age of 9, went to boarding school
Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk (age 9-12), and to the exclusive West Health
Girls' School in Kent (age 12-16), where she was regarded as a poor student.
She failed all of her O-levels twice and later dropped out at the age of 16.
She would pack her bags and try Institut Alpin Videmanette, a finishing school
in Switzerland, but also quit after a term. It was about this time when she
first met Prince Charles, who was at that time dating her older sister, Lady
Sarah.
Diana moved to London before she turned seventeen. She lived in her mother's
flat, as her mother then was living most of the year in Scotland. Soon afterward
an apartment was purchased by her father as an 18th birthday present in the
Earls Court area of the Kensington and Chelsea. She lived there until 1981 with
three flatmates.
She took an advanced cooking course at her mother's suggestion, although she
never became an excellent cook. Diana worked first as a dance instructor for
youth, until a skiing accident caused her to miss three months of work. She then
got a job as a kindergarten assistant, did some cleaning work for her sister
Sarah and her friends, and worked as a hostess at parties.
Prince Charles had known Diana for several years, but he first took a serious
interest in her as a potential bride during the summer of 1980 when they were
guests at a country weekend, while she watched him play polo. The relationship
developed as he invited her for a sailing weekend to Cowes, aboard the royal
yacht Britannia, followed by an invitation to Balmoral Castle, the Windsor
family's Scottish home. Diana was well received at Balmoral by the Queen, Prince
Philip, and the Queen Mother. The couple then had several dates in London. Six
months later, in February 1981, the prince proposed and Diana accepted. Personal
accounts would say she was genuinely and desperately in love with the prince.
Their engagement became official on the February 24, 1981, after Diana selected
a large £30,000 ring from a platter. The couple then faced the press to announce
their engagement.
Diana married Prince Charles in St. Paul's Cathedral on July 29, 1981. She
was 20; he was 32. Diana was the first British citizen to marry an heir to the
British throne in 300 years.
There were 3,500 people in the congregation at St. Paul's Cathedral. Two
million spectators lined the procession from Clarence House. Another 750 million
people watched the ceremony worldwide.
Diana wore a puff ball meringue wedding dress, with huge puffed sleeves and a
frilly neckline. The dress was made of silk taffeta, decorated with lace, hand
embroidery, sequins, and 10,000 pearls. It had a 25-foot train. Charles wore his
full dress naval commander uniform.
On June 21, 1982, at St. Mary's Hospital, Diana gave birth to her first son,
Prince William. He was the first heir to the British throne to be born in a
hospital. Prince Harry was born on September 15, 1984. Although their marriage
had already started hitting rocky patches, Diana considered her pregnancy time
with Harry among their happiest as a couple. Charles had hoped for a girl, but
was pleased with Harry.
Diana and Charles' marriage fell apart in the early 1990s. They had already been
seeing less and less of each other for years, alternating between two royal
residences - Kensington Palace in London, and their country home in Highgrove.
They kept the marital problems private at first, but after the media found
out, it became a national scandal. She found him unsupportive and insensitive to
her needs. He found her needy and emotionally unstable. Her bulimia started as
early as the first year into the marriage. And, there were the affairs...The
Prince and Princess of Wales were separated in December 1992. In December 1993,
Diana announced her withdrawal from public life. Their divorce was finalized in
1996.
After her divorce, she focused her energy in several charities. Her causes
usually involved the most disadvantaged and the forgotten.
In 1997, Princess Diana began a love affair with Dodi Al-Fayed, son of
billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. In July 1997, Mohamed invited his son,
Diana, William and Harry to a Mediterranean cruise on his luxury yacht. Dodi and
Diana hit it off. They were both divorcees. A few weeks later, Diana and Dodi
holidayed in St. Tropez. British photographers followed the couple to the south
of France, photographing them canoodling and hugging on yacht decks and villa
terraces.
On the 30th of August 1997, they flew to Paris and dined at the Ritz, which
belongs to Dodi's father. Shortly after midnight, trying to evade the lurking
paparazzi, the couple exited the hotel's back door and got into a Mercedes.
Inside the car were driver Henri Paul and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.
A group of photographers chased the Mercedes along Place de la Concorde, and
into the tunnel Pont de l'Alma. Running at 180km/hr (speed limit was 80km), the
intoxicated Henri Paul crashed the Mercedes into a tunnel post. None of the four
occupants wore a seat belt. Dodi and Henri Paul died on the spot. Diana and the
bodyguard were alive. A doctor who witnessed the crash came to give first aid,
and an ambulance shortly arrived, but it took an hour before Diana could be
pulled out of the wrecked car.
At 1:30am of August 31, Princess Diana was brought into La Pitié-Salpêtriére
Hospital. They discovered she was bleeding massively internally and tried
lengthy resuscitation attempts, including an internal cardiac massage. But, she
was pronounced dead at 4:00am Paris time. The world woke up to the shocking news
of Diana's death. She was 36 years old. Diana's funeral on September 6, 1997 was
watched by millions worldwide. Over 1 million bouquets of flowers were laid at
Buckingham Palace. She was laid to rest at her family home of Althorp. |
