Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a British noblewoman and member of the Royal Family, having been the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the mother of Princes William and Harry. Her activism and glamour in The '80s and The '90s led to her being dubbed "the most famous woman in the world". You've almost certainly heard of her, often as the technically incorrect "Princess Diana" note and just as often as "Lady Diana" or "Lady Di".
She was a member of the ancient and venerable Spencer family, making her a distant relative of Sir Winston Churchill,note and a member of the Sloane Rangers
, a group of young upper-class and professionals. In 1981, while working as a nursery teacher's assistant, she became engaged to Prince Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and heir to the British throne. Their wedding took place that same year, in what was the last royal arranged marriage, and it made both of them thoroughly unhappy — Charles was already in love with his married old flame, Camilla Parker-Bowles, who later became his mistress and second wife. When Charles and Diana married, Diana had just turned 20 while Charles was 32; while this isn't even close to the greatest royal age gap, their clashing personalities contributed significantly to the unhappiness of the marriage. She bore Charles two children (Princes William and Harry), but the marriage was doomed. Not only was the union marred by mutual infidelity, but she suffered from chronic depression and bulimia. Charles and Diana separated in 1992. Following Diana's explosive interview on the BBC show Panorama, the Queen asked Charles and Diana to divorce, which was finalized in 1996.
Diana died on August 31, 1997 along with her lover, Egyptian film producer Dodi Fayed, from injuries sustained in a car crash in the road tunnel of the Alma Bridge in Paris. The news of her death triggered the largest outpouring of national grief ever witnessed in the UK, as well as countless conspiracy theories. The details of her death and the latest conspiracy theories are, as of this day, still featured in the Daily Express on a nigh daily basis, and more occasionally in other tabloids including The Sun and the Daily Mail. She was technically no longer an HRH or a member of the royal family when she died, having been stripped of the styling and position when she divorced Prince Charles,note but she remained 'Princess Diana' in the minds of the public, which led to a furor because people didn't realize that Queen Elizabeth wasn't making any statements because Diana was essentially a private citizen and that the Spencers should have been handling the arrangements.
Diana was beloved by the global public both in life and in death, but more recent looks into the royal family have some people believing — almost certainly accurately — that she was never really suited for life as royalty. The royal family traditionally favors a subdued life devoted to duty no matter their personal opinions, and while Diana had her own causes she wished to promote, she was also famously jet-set and openly despised having to participate in events and rituals that didn't interest her. She was also believed to actively attract the attentions of the paparazzi, notably whilst holidaying with Dodi Fayed, but close friends suggest she did this to make her previous lover jealous. Ironically, this means that her erstwhile rival who actually became queen, the sensible, down-to-earth and duty-minded Camilla, became a far better royal consort in the dutiful sense of the word than Diana ever would have.
Her sobriquet of "The People's Princess," invented by Prime Minister Tony Blair upon her death, became her legacy. Despite her status, she still admitted to struggling with the same things (mental health, marital problems) many people struggle with in modern society. Many felt that through her conversations and meetings with "normal" people, she not only listened but made them feel like she truly cared about what they had to say. This, among many other reasons, brought the royal family closer to the public and made them feel more relatable.
Diana in the media:
- Lady!!: Princess Diana is mentioned a few times (a character, upon hearing Lynn is from Britain, says "that's the country Princess Diana is from, right?"). Also in the sequel manga, Lynn and Edward's daughter is named Diana.
- Niji no Kanata e! Shoujo Diana Monogatari is an anime biopic of Diana's life from her early life to her teen years.
- Diana appeared in an episode of Kinnikuman.
Historical Films / Biopics:
- In two 1982 TV films about her wedding to Charles, made shortly after it:
- Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story, portrayed by Caroline Bliss.
- The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana, portrayed by Catherine Oxenberg
- Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story
- In 2013's Diana about the year prior to her death, she's portrayed by Naomi Watts.
- In the 1993's TV film Diana: Her True Story, she's portrayed by Serena Scott Thomas.
- In 2005's Whatever Love Means, she's played by Michelle Duncan.
- 2006's The Queen concerns the aftermath of her death for both Queen Elizabeth II and Tony Blair.
- In 2021's Spencer, about the bitter years leading to her divorce, she's portrayed by Kristen Stewart. Along with later seasons of The Crown, it is the best-regarded work of fiction about her life.
Other Films:
- 1989's Back to the Future Part II has an October 22, 2015, front cover of USA Today referring to a visit of "Queen Diana" to the USA. Yeah... On the real October 22, 2015, USA Today released its print edition with the front page from the film. All the original headlines were retained, except for the one about "Queen Diana", which was replaced with a headline about 3D billboards.
- In Amélie, the Inciting Incident happens in 1997 when the protagonist, Amélie Poulain, watches the news report of Diana's death.
- Although she's only named by title, it's clearly she, along with his then-husband Charles and the then-infant Prince William, who Jack Ryan saves from an IRA attack in the novel Patriot Games.
- In the fourth season of The Crown, she was portrayed by Emma Corrin, and in the fifth and sixth seasons, she was portrayed by Elizabeth Debicki.
- She was caricatured in Spitting Image, as expected with any high profile British public figure of the time. Most of the jokes about her were about her numerous appointments to the hairdresser, her "Sloane ranger" persona and her famously reclusive lifestyle within Buckingham Palace. In the later seasons until the divorce, she was seen as a wife who loved her husband even though she didn't care much for him. Shortly after the end of the show and her death, a friend of hers, Stephen Fry, revealed that she was not just the only member of the Royal Family who watched Spitting Image, but also that she was an avid fan of the show and her characters.
- She is mentioned multiple times in the series Harry & Meghan with Harry thinking fondly of his mother, missing her and leveling anger at the tabloids for how they hounded her.
- Elton John and Diana were very good friends. He and his songwriter Bernie Taupin rewrote their 1973 single "Candle in the Wind" (originally made in honour of Marilyn Monroe) in tribute to her, named "Candle in the Wind 1997", and was performed by Elton at the funeral service (the only occasion the song has been performed live). Released as a single afterwards, the global proceeds from the song have gone to Diana's charities.
