Diana

The late Diana, Princess of Wales was born Lady Diana Frances Spencer on 1 July 1961 in Norfolk.

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).

The separation of the Prince and Princess of Wales was announced on December 9, 1992. The divorce became official August 28, 1996.

Princess Diana kept the title Princess of Wales and continued to work for her favorite charities. She and Prince Charles had joint custody of their sons.

After her divorce from The Prince of Wales, the Princess continued to be regarded as a member of the Royal Family. Right until the end of her life she was involved with charities working to help children, homeless people and AIDS sufferers, as well as with the campaign to ban land mines.

In 1997 Princess Diana began a love affair with Emad "Dodi" Fayed, the son of billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed.

Their romance ended abruptly on August 31, 1997 when both were killed in a car accident in Paris while fleeing from paparazzi.

Princess Diana's sudden death led to an unprecedented worldwide outpouring of grief and love.

As her brother said at her funeral, she was "the unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplacable Diana, whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds."

Princess Diana and Mother Teresa
who passed away on Friday September 5, 1997.


Elton John’s "Candle in the Wind"
Rewritten by him and sung at Lady Diana's Funeral
To listen to the music (wave 543 Ko) , please, click here
Goodbye England’s rose. May you ever grow in our hearts. You were the grace that placed itself where lives were torn apart. You called out to our country, and you whispered to those in pain. Now you belong to heaven, and the stars spell out your name.
And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind, never fading with the sunset when the rain set in. And your footsteps will always fall here, along England’s greenest hills; Your candle’s burned out long before your legend ever will.
Loveliness we’ve lost, these empty days without your smile. This torch we’ll always carry for our nation’s golden child. And even though we try, the truth brings us to tears; All our words cannot express the joy you brought us through the years.
Goodbye England’s rose, from a country lost without your soul, Who’ll miss the wings of your compassion more than you’ll ever know.

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh
view the many floral tributes left outside Buckingham Palace
after the death of the Princess


The Queen's message
Since last Sunday's dreadful news we have seen, throughout Britain and around the world, an overwhelming expression of sadness at Diana's death.

We have all been trying in our different ways to cope. It is not easy to express a sense of loss, since the initial shock is often succeeded by a mixture of other feelings: disbelief, incomprehension, anger - and concern for those who remain. We have all felt those emotions in these last few days. So what I say to you now, as your Queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.
First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her - for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys. This week at Balmoral, we have all been trying to help William and Harry come to terms with the devastating loss that they and the rest of us have suffered.

No-one who knew Diana will ever forget her. Millions of others who never met her, but felt they knew her, will remember her. I for one believe there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death. I share in your determination to cherish her memory.

This is also an opportunity for me, on behalf of my family, and especially Prince Charles and William and Harry, to thank all of you who have brought flowers, sent messages and paid your respects in so many ways to a remarkable person. These acts of kindness have been a huge source of help and comfort.
Our thoughts are also with Diana's family and the families of those who died with her. I know that they too have drawn strength from what has happened since last weekend, as they seek to heal their sorrow and then to face the future without a loved one.
I hope that tomorrow we can all, wherever we are, join in expressing our grief at Diana's loss, and gratitude for her all-too-short life. It is a chance to show to the whole world the British nation united in grief and respect.

Princess Diana was loved around the world.
With her fatal car accident ,the world lost
a Princess and a woman who was loved by most.