If we think that we have royal fever these days, between following Prince Harry's upcoming wedding and Kate Middleton's and Prince William's family life, it's really nothing compared to how the public felt about Princess Diana. She was absolutely beloved and adored up until her passing in August 1997 and to this day, she is still beloved and adored.
People love the royals and they really love a royal wedding. Princess Diana and Prince Charles got engaged in February 1981 and they didn't wait much longer to officially tie the knot as their wedding took place on July 29th 1981. Despite the fairy tale royal setting, their relationship wasn't exactly picture perfect: according to many news reports, Charles had a lengthy affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, and Diana had been recorded talking about how unhappy she was.
No doubt about it, Princess Diana was a beautiful person, both inside and out, and her legacy absolutely lives on today. We found some rare photos of her and Prince Charles that are truly fascinating and we've rounded them up here. Here are 28 rare photos of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. Some were taken before their marriage, during their marriage, and after they made the decision to get divorced.
28 Diana Grew Up With Two Sisters And A Brother
The old saying goes that a dog is a man's best friend, and after seeing this picture of Princess Diana and a horse, it would seem that a horse is definitely a girl's best friend. But, actually, Diana once fell off a horse so she wasn't always that keen on them. Charles loved them and enjoyed both horses and polo.
This photo was taken in 1974, which would have made Diana around 13 years old (she was born in 1961).
Diana looks so young and carefree and innocent in this snapshot, and it looked like this photo was taken on a gorgeous sunny day.
The public has learned some things about Diana's time growing up, and her childhood sounds both happy and difficult. She had two older sisters, Sarah and Jane, a brother Charles who was younger than her, and a brother named John who passed away the year before Diana came into the world. Diana's mom and dad decided to get a divorce when Diana was six. As a kid, Diana loved ballet as well as sports. Since Diana's dad actually worked for some royals, they were around them a lot, and that's ultimately how Diana met Prince Charles.
27 A Young Soon-To-Be-Royal
This photo of Diana was taken in 1980, which would have made her 19 years old. Actually, that was the year that she and Prince Charles fell in love. According to Hello magazine, it was the summer when Diana was 19 (and Charles was 31) that the two started hanging out and sparks were flying.
Diana and Charles had met before that under other circumstances: they met in 1977 when he was going out with Sarah, one of her older sisters. But they started dating in 1980. The two dated for six months before they got engaged and they got married when she was 20 years old. Diana's ring was an 18-carat sapphire one and Prince William gave Kate Middleton the same ring, so it was definitely kept in the family. It wasn't that much longer that Diana started a family of her own: in November 1981, the official announcement came that she was pregnant with her first kid, and Prince William was born on June 21, 1982. Prince Harry was born on September 15, 1984.
Diana looks elegant and sophisticated in this outfit, which could be described as prim and proper. It was absolutely a look fit for a soon-to-be royal.
26 A Glam Travel Day To Australia
This photo was taken when Prince Charles and Princess Diana went on a trip to Australia. That was back in the day when travel (especially plane travel) was super glam and made people look so sophisticated. Times have definitely changed and these days, we just hope that we don't sit behind someone who insists on putting their seat way back (ugh) and we hope that we thought to bring enough snacks.
What's so interesting about Diana is that, yes, she was a princess, but she apparently wasn't interested in making the leap to "Queen."
In 1995, Diana was interviewed by Martin Bashir, a reported at the BBC, and it was a pretty big deal. She said, "I'd like to be a queen of people's hearts, but I don't see myself being the queen of this country. I don't think many people would want me to be queen, and when I say many people, I mean the establishment that I'm married into. They've decided that I'm a non-starter because I do things differently because I don't go by a rule book because I lead from the heart and not the head. And albeit that's gotten me into trouble in my work, but someone's gotta go out there and love people."
25 A Pop Of Pink On A Military Training Day
In the above quote from that famous BBC interview, Diana talked about doing things differently, and we can definitely see that from this photo. She and some friends spent a day with the military, and she wore pink converse. Which is definitely not something a typical Royal would do. If we weren't already huge fans of Diana and didn't already love her so much, this would have totally sealed the deal. Hey, pink is a traditionally princessy color...
Diana was known for her sense of style. According to Harper's Bazaar, she had a few fashion quirks that are pretty fascinating.
For one thing, she had a smart trick when she got out of a car: she would hold her purse in front of her chest so no one could see any cleavage. She had a charm bracelet that was very near and dear to her, and she would sometimes be seen with not one but two watches on her wrist. One was hers and one belonged to Charles. She also wore tights that were the same color of whatever dress she was also wearing, and if she wore tiaras, she had velvet that was the same shade as her hair.
It's no wonder that people are still calling her a "fashion icon" all these years later.
24 Diana As The Nanny To A Young Child
If any of us have done any babysitting or worked as a part-time nanny, we actually have more in common with Princess Diana than we might have thought. That's exactly what she did for a period of time.
At the beginning of the 1980's, Diana was a nanny to a little kid when she was 18 years old and his name was Patrick Robinson.
Diana was paid five dollars per hour to do this. His mom, Mary, was from the U.S. and was in London for a time, so she wanted to hire a nanny.Mary told Inside Edition that she "fell in love" with Diana. Of course, that's not hard to believe since the world has honestly been in love with Diana since she and Prince Charles started dating and she became a public figure.
It's actually a very sweet, lovely story. At the time, Diana was a nanny to Patrick a few times each week, doing everything from loads of laundry to cleaning up, and also worked as a nursery teacher. After Diana left, she and Mary were in contact with each other for 16 years. Mary even attended Diana's funeral and talked about how horrible it was to lose her.
23 A Future Princess Taking A Moment One Month Before The Big Wedding Day
This photo was taken in June 1981, one month before Diana and Charles got married in July 1981.
It's safe to say that no one goes into a marriage thinking that it will result in a divorce. After all, if you thought that way, then you most likely wouldn't bother, especially if you were going to marry into a royal or famous family. It sounds like Diana believed that things would work out just fine between her and Charles. When Diana was interviewed by the BBC, she said, "
"I desperately wanted it to work. I desperately loved my husband. And I thought that we were a very good team."
When the two got married at St. Paul's Cathedral, they had 2,500 guests. When they got back to Buckingham Palace, that's when they kissed for the first time as husband and wife, which USA Today pointed out was one of the two "deviations from tradition" (the other was that Diana didn't say "obey" in her wedding vows). It seems like a strain on their marriage was showing soon after: in January 1982, when Diana was entering her second trimester of pregnancy with William, she fell down the stairs. Afterward, she said that she wanted Charles to notice her.
22 A Pre-Wedding Trip To Scotland
This photo was taken in 1981 when Diana and Charles took a trip to Scotland.
Diana's forest green rainboots look like the popular Hunter brand, since that is a signature color, and she looks sporty and pretty in her patterned sweater and beige pants. This is a more casual look for the soon-to-be Princess, who would later, once the two were married, be photographed in fancy gowns and at fancy events.
There isn't a lot of news out there about the good times that Charles and Diana shared. Instead, it sounds like their relationship was always fraught with conflict and tough moments. Diana said that once she figured out that Charles was having an affair with Camilla, she started having her own personal issues as well, and much has been written about her struggles.
But when they started their relationship, it sounds like things were both passionate and a bit confusing. She once said, he "was all over [her] like a rash... He would ring me up every day and then not contact me for weeks; he wasn't very consistent in his courtship." She also once said, "I was brought up in a way that when you got engaged to someone, you loved them."
21 A Candid Shot Of Charles And Diana, Who Looks Deep In Thought
We don't know what Diana was thinking when this photo was taken, of course, but it's safe to say that she might have been feeling kind of bored. At least, that's what we can guess from the fact that she had a bored expression on her face and was staring up. This photo was taken in 1980 when she and Charles first started dating. No matter what she was thinking and feeling when the camera's flash went off, we can say that she definitely looked super stylish in her black hat and dark red plaid coat. We can tell that she was meant to be a royal.
Diana was pretty candid about what life was like once she and Charles officially tied the knot.
She once said that Charles wanted to sleep together "once every three weeks" and that when he said "whatever love means" when asked if that's how they felt about each other, it "threw me completely, it traumatized me."
She also shared that she asked the Queen what she should do: "I went to the top lady, and I was sobbing, and I said what do I do? And she said, 'I don't know what you should do, Charles is hopeless', and that was it."
20 Diana's Long Wedding Dress Train On The Big Day
This is a rare candid photo that was snapped on Charles and Diana's wedding day. From the black and white picture to the super long train, it's easy to think that this was a complete fairy tale day and moment. This must have been the wedding that she was dreaming of and that any girl would dream of, right?!
When Charles and Diana got married, it was a massive event, and 750 million people tuned into the ceremony when it was on TV.
Yup. 750 million. That's nothing to sneeze at and proves that the public was fascinated by Diana and wanted to know everything that they could about her and was ready to follow along with this royal romance.
Diana's dress is absolutely beautiful... and it still looks so breathtaking, all of these years later. It is not really a dress that anyone could ever forget, that's for sure. It had a 25-foot train and 10,000 pearls. Elizabeth and David Emanuel designed it for Alexander McQueen. According to Town and Country magazine, "The intricate ivory taffeta gown was paired with a 153-yard veil, an 18th-century era heirloom tiara, and silk shoes embroidered with 542 sequins and 132 matching pearls."
19 A Rare Candid Photo Of The Just Married Charles And Diana
If we thought that Prince William's royal wedding to Kate Middleton was a big deal that everyone wanted to follow along with, Diana and Charles' wedding was definitely up there, too, if not even more closely followed.
This is another rare candid photo from Diana and Charles' wedding day. We can see her super long train, pretty much up and close in personal, in this picture.
People who weren't watching it on TV were literally attempting to get a glimpse of the famous wedding: 600,000 people were on the streets of London.
There was one wedding cake that was considered to be "official" and then there were 27 cakes. Yup, 27. Can you imagine being a guest at that wedding? Do we think that guests got to chose what cake they got to taste? Most likely, the wedding was so super organized that guests didn't have a choice, and of course, they were probably all so good that it didn't matter. But it's still fun to think about (and some food for thought).
According to Reader's Digest, one thing happened on the day of the wedding that wasn't planned: Diana called him "Philip Charles" when she meant to say "Charles Philip" because, of course, of nerves.
18 A Photo Of Charles And Diana, The Newlyweds
Here is Diana's dress in all its glory, and it's nice to see a close-up view of it.
Many brides find the whole "getting married" thing to be a super stressful experience, and finding the perfect wedding gown can make anyone anxious. It turns out that when Diana had chosen her wedding dress, she had to attend 15 different fittings to make sure that it fit properly.
The couple who designed her wedding dress had to sew the dress onto her.
As one of the designers said, "Every time she turned up for a fitting, she had lost more weight. We put it down to nerves. But it did make it incredibly difficult for us to get on with making the dress. We had to keep taking the bodice in and changing the pattern. The last thing we wanted was to make it up in silk, then have to play around with that." It was actually because of the [personal struggles] that she suffered from.
Here's another interesting fact: Diana was the first "British citizen" (or commoner, as we could say, aka someone who wasn't a member of the royal family) to marry into the royal family since the year 1660.
17 Charles And Diana Having Fun On The Dance Floor
In this photo snapped in 1983, Diana and Charles were dancing, and it seems like a happier moment for the two of them.
A lot has been written about how Diana was a bit of a different, unconventional kind of princess. According to Good Housekeeping, she did a lot of things that hadn't been done before, including not hiring others to take care of her children. As a royal expert named Christopher Warwick said in an interview, "Diana and Charles bucked the royal trend of separation by taking nine-month-old William, as well as his nanny, with them on the six-week tour to Australia and New Zealand. "William and Harry were very, very fortunate with Diana as a mother because her ideas were so different to the previous generation."
She also enrolled the kids in public school, and William was actually the first heir to the royal throne to go to public school. Prince William said in an interview with Katie Couric in 2012 that it was great to be brought up by Diana: "She very much wanted to get us to see the rawness of real life. And I can't thank her enough for that, 'cause reality bites in a big way, and it was one of the biggest lessons I learned is, just how lucky and privileged so many of us are — particularly myself."
16 A Quiet Moment Of Diana With Her Boys William And Harry
This photo was taken in 1986 of Diana at home with her sons.
The kids look absolutely adorable and Diana looks so stylish in her pink sweater and pink and white plaid pants. Today, Prince William and Prince Harry have nothing but nice things to say about their late mother, and they miss her deeply.
They have shared that when they talked to their mom for the very last time, it was on the phone, and they both wanted to get off the phone and get back to whatever they were doing. Prince William said, "And I think Harry and I were just in a desperate rush to say goodbye, you know, see you later and we’re going to go off. If I’d known now obviously what was going to happen I wouldn’t have been so blasé about it and everything else. But that phone call sticks in my mind quite, quite heavily.”
Prince Harry has also shared that when he and his brother had to walk behind the coffin during Diana's funeral, it was a pretty tough time. He said, "My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television. I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today."
15 Diana Looking Lovely At A Charity Event
Diana looked gorgeous and lovely in this photo, which was taken in 1987 at the British Red Cross Society HQ. It seems like seeing the Princess at charity events like this one was very common as this was in her wheelhouse.
Prince William has shared in several interviews that his parents taught him all about charity and giving back to others, and Prince Harry believes the same thing. Prince Harry once said, "My mother took a huge part in showing me an ordinary life, including taking me and my brother to see homeless people. Thank goodness I'm not completely cut off from reality. People would be amazed by the ordinary life William and I live."
Diana was definitely involved in many charities and causes (the total number was over 100), and it turns out that her sons have continued that.
Diana was involved with the homeless and a cause called Centrepoint, which Prince William started working on in 2005. Diana also cared greatly about AIDS, which is a cause that Prince Harry cares about today. In fact, Diana was seen (and photographed) shaking hands with someone who had AIDS, which was a huge deal and a very positive thing for the cause.
14 Diana Looking Pretty In Pink And Charles Looking Dapper In A Suit
This photo was snapped in the late 1980's and Diana definitely looked like a Princess in her pink dress (a typical princess shade, of course) and her tiara. She was often seen wearing a tiara.
Diana had quite the sense of humor and always like to make jokes and have fun in whatever setting she was in. In the photo above you can see that she had a bit of a mischievous look. Her sons still remember her incredible sense of humor, Prince William once said what she would be like as a grandma to his kids (which is so sweet yet so sad): "She'd be a nightmare grandmother, an absolute nightmare. She'd love the children to bits, but she'd be an absolute nightmare. She'd come and go and she'd come in probably at bath time, cause an amazing amount of scene, bubbles everywhere, bathwater all over the place and — and then leave."
Prince Harry said, "I hope she's looking down [at our family] with tears in her eyes being incredibly proud of what we've established. I'm sure she's longing for me to have kids so she can be a grandmother again . . . but I hope that everything we do privately and officially, that it makes her proud." Are we tearing up now or what?! It's okay, we can admit it...
13 Diana, William, And Harry Are All Laughs At Disney
This photo was taken during Diana's marriage to Charles: here Diana is with her sons in 1993.
It's pretty much impossible not to smile at how completely happy and carefree Diana looks with William and Harry. It's also impossible not to want to cry (or actually tear up) when looking at this photo since tragedy would befall this royal family only a few years later. It's hard to imagine what her sons were going through and how they could possibly cope with the loss of their mother.
This photo was taken at Disney Land in 1993 and you can see just how carefree the trio is on the famous log ride.
William and Harry haven't spoken to the media very much about their mom, but whenever they do, they are sure to talk about what a wonderful mom she was. Prince William once said, "Initially, there is a sense of profound shock and disbelief that this could ever happen to you. Real grief often does not hit home until much later. For many, it is a grief never entirely lost. Life is altered as you know it, and not a day goes past without you thinking about the one you have lost. I know that over time it is possible to learn to live with what has happened and, with the passing of years, to retain or rediscover cherished memories."
12 A Mother And Son Day For Diana And A Young William
This is a super sweet, adorable, and charming photo of Prince William and Diana. It's amazing to see William in his little sweatshirt when we're so used to seeing him as a grown-up and as husband to Kate Middleton and dad to their three children, Charlotte, George, and new baby Louis.
Prince William often talks about the love that he has for his late mom and how much he misses her.
According to a story published on The Daily Mail in 2014, Prince William said, "I can therefore wholeheartedly relate to the Mother's Day campaign as I too have felt – and still feel – the emptiness on such a day as Mother's Day... Mother's Day is so painful for grieving families; for mothers remembering a lost child or for children longing for their mother – a day of happiness turned to sadness."
Prince William has shared in several interviews that he wants to keep Diana's legacy alive and make sure that his kids know all about her, who she is, and what she meant to him. When he and Kate had their daughter Charlotte, they named her Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, after, of course, his late mom. It's just so sweet (and so sad).
11 Diana Dancing With John Travolta
When this photo was taken, Diana was dancing with John Travolta in 1985. They were attending President Reagan's White House Gala.
Talk about Saturday Night Fever, right?! John Travolta starred in that super popular movie that came out in 1977, so this photo was snapped quite a while after that, but the actor clearly hadn't lost his awesome dance moves. It sounds like the actor was a huge fan and thought that this was pretty amazing. When he was interviewed on Good Morning America, he said,
“Yes, I danced with Princess Diana in 1986, I believe. That was one of the highlights of my life, so that’s probably the best moment of the eighties.”
According to Vanity Fair, he also talked about that dance in a Dutch interview. He said, "At midnight, I had to tap her on her shoulder, and I had to say, 'Would you care to dance.' She turned around and dipped her head in that Lady Diana way and we were off for 15 minutes dancing. I’ll never forget it. I’m so honored that I was able to experience it, and I know for a fact that it was a highlight of being in the United States; it was her favorite moment... and I’m very sorry that she’s not here."
10 A Photo Of Charles, Diana, and Baby William In Happier Times
This photo of Charles and Diana with Prince William as a baby is too adorable and sweet. It's definitely a picture of happier times.
Prince William was interviewed by Hello magazine in January 2018 and he talked about his childhood memories. He said,
"Some of my earliest memories relate to times that my parents spoke to me or — even better — showed me what it meant to have both privilege and responsibilities."
He continued, "As a young child, I recall evening after evening my father's diligence and compassion as he applied himself to answering thousands of letters and reading endless reports in order to stay on top of his ambition to do all he could to help the underprivileged... Without my realizing it, what my parents were doing was instilling in me and Harry a lifelong habit to put charity at the heart of our lives."
When Prince William and Prince Harry were interviewed for the documentary about the 20th anniversary of Diana's passing, Harry said, "This is the first time that the two of us have ever spoken about her as a mother. She was our mum. She still is our mum. And of course, as a son I would say this, she was the best mum in the world. She smothered us with love, that’s for sure.”
9 Diana Smiling Big With Young William And Harry
Here Diana was, looking chic in a white suit and smiling down at her two sons, Harry and William, in August 1995. This photo was taken just two years before her passing in August 1997.
Harry called Diana "one of the naughtiest parents" and William said that she definitely knew how to have a good time. It's pretty easy to see that from this photo. Diana is looking at her sons with such love and we can tell that she cared about them so much.
Diana helped her sons see the importance of falling in love and finding someone to share your life with. As mentioned previously, when she talked to William about his dad's affair with Camilla, she said that you have to hold onto love when you get it, and that was included in her BBC interview. Prince William has talked about giving Kate Middleton his mom's ring: "It’s very special to me, as Kate is very special to me now as well. It was only right the two were put together... It was my way of making sure mother didn’t miss out on today and the excitement and the fact that we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together."
8 The Early Days Of Charles And Diana's Love Story
This photo has been described as having been taken "early in their marriage" so the date is unknown but it would have been the early 80's since they tied the knot in 1981.
Although there are some photos of the couple that seems to suggest that they did have some happy, lovey-dovey days, there are a lot of stories about how it just wasn't a good scene. The Daily Mail published a story called "Why Charles and Diana's marriage was doomed from the start" and said that
"Charles would have rekindled his lifelong love for Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles – a love that many, including Diana herself, never believed he had ever really given up."
USA Today called it "the love triangle of the century" and mentioned that in 1981, when a journalist asked if they were in love, Charles said, "Whatever 'in love' means." When Andrew Morton published his 1992 book about Diana, it included the fact that Diana talked to Camilla once about the affair. Diana told him, 'She said to me, ''You've got everything you ever wanted. You've got all the men in the world fall in love with you and you've got two beautiful children, what more do you want?'" Diana continued that she said, "'I want my husband'."
7 Young Love Between Charles And Diana
This is an early photo of the couple, the date unknown, and it shows much happier simpler times.
It's no secret that as the years went on and Prince Charles and Princess Diana had been married for a while, their marriage wasn't going well. By 1992, "Camillagate" was a thing -- aka the public discovering Charles' affair with Camilla. In 1994, he said that, yes, Camilla and him were together, and that his marriage was "irretrievably broken down, us both having tried." Diana had been having an affair with James Hewitt (who wrote a book about it, Princess in Love).
In August of 1996, after the couple had been married for eleven years, the divorce was official. But by looking at this particular photo of the young couple kissing, it would be impossible to say that by the time they had been married for a few years and had two young sons, their marriage would be heading for disaster. We never really know what's going on behind closed doors, right?! It's easy to assume that a couple's relationship or marriage is perfect, especially if they're famous (and particularly if they're royals). But that's just not always the case.
After the divorce, Diana was called "Diana, Princess of Wales" instead of "Princess Diana."
6 Post-Divorce And The OG 'Revenge Dress'
This photo was taken at Serpentine Gallery summer party in 1994. MarieClaire reports that this famous Christina Stambolian dress was the original 'revenge dress'. It was named this because it didn't conform to the dress code that the Royals follow as it is riské. Also, Diana wore this the night a documentary aired on Prince Charles and Camilla's relationship.
What was Diana's life like after that? There is some information about her days as ex-wife to Prince Charles and mom to William and Harry. Although she didn't have the official "Princess" before her name, she was still a royal, and that is how people still thought and spoke of her. Of course, people still call her "Princess Diana" to this day. The public has always wanted to know about her romantic life. Before Diana started dating Dodi Fayed in 1997, she dated Hasnat Khan, a surgeon, in 1995. She still lived in an apartment at Kensington Palace.
People have always been fascinated by Diana and have wanted to know everything that they could possibly know about her, and that was true before, during, and after her marriage to Prince Charles. There are a lot of interesting facts about her out there, like that she dreamed of pursuing ballet as a career (but was too tall), she was polite and very into writing thank you notes to people, and she loved both The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Abba.
5 Diana In Purple And Looking Like A Proper Princess
This photo of Diana was taken in 1996, the year before her passing. She looked beautiful and stylish in this mauve dress and accessorized perfectly with her pearl necklace, posh purse, and heels.
To this day, people consider Diana to be an incredibly stylish woman, and she has even been the subject of exhibits. People can't seem to get enough of the clothing that she wore. Society has always been fascinated by celebrity fashion, and when the royals look good and fashionable, it seems like people are even more interested.
In February 2017, there was an exhibit about Diana's sense of style at Kensington Palace. There were not only her actual dresses there, but there was a room that showed people sketches of dresses.
Jude Davies, American literature, and culture prof. who wrote a book about Diana told USA Today, "I suspect there are many aspects to Diana's continuing iconic status, but a central issue has to be her apparent ability to communicate in personal terms across mass media... Crucial to this was a sense of not only her own feelings but her own vulnerability. Hence she didn't come across as patronizing - rather as seeking a genuine positive contact with other human beings."
4 One Last Family Vacation For Diana And Her Sons
This is a picture of Prince Harry and Diana, taken one month before her tragic passing. It would be the last family vacation that they took, which is definitely a contrast to the happy tone of the photo. We would look at this and never know what was about to happen.
What was the custody agreement like after Diana and Charles got divorced? According to Popsugar, they had "equal access" so it was a good, fair system. Harry and William would spend one vacation/holiday with Charles and then they would spend the next one with Diana, so they traded back and forth.
They were "co-parenting" well after their divorce, and their sons don't recall their day-to-day changing much.
When Prince Harry gets married to Meghan Markle, which will take place on May 19th, 2018 and is a super anticipated event, Diana's family members will attend the ceremony. According to Vanity Fair, an insider said, “Harry has always kept in close touch with the Spencers and they have all received invitations. Harry gets on well with his aunts and uncle and they have met Meghan. His cousins all have the golden ticket—an invite to the ceremony and reception and the evening party.”
3 Diana And Her Boyfriend Right Before Her Tragic Accident
This photo was taken in the summer of 1997 before Diana's passing, and she is pictured here with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed. It would have been the last summer trip that she took.
She was taking a vacation with her boyfriend Dodi in the Meditteranean since his family owned a yacht that they could use.
On August 28th, Diana and Dodi reportedly had an exciting evening since she was celebrating one year of being officially divorced from Prince Charles, and then they had a barbeque.
It seemed like a happy time for both of them. It was just two days later on August 30th that the two were in a car and being chased by paparazzi, which led to their passings.
Dodi's dad, Mohamed Al Fayed, was a billionaire who also used to own the Harrods store. Dodi and Diana met during Diana's marriage to Prince Charles: at a polo match in 1986. It wasn't until almost a decade later that the two started up a romantic relationship. Diana took her sons to vacation on Dodi's yacht in the south of France in 1997 when he asked them to come, and they were together that summer before they both tragically passed away.
2 Hotel Footage Of Diana On Her Last Day
This photo is some hotel footage that was taken right before Diana's accident in August 1997 (as in literally hours before).
It seems like this footage became public knowledge in 2007 when there were a six-month investigation and court hearings about Diana's accident. The hotel in question was the Ritz Hotel in Paris. Diana was there with Dodi Fayed, who was her boyfriend at the time. There was footage of them in the lobby and in the elevator at 4:35 in the afternoon.This footage is a massive deal, of course, because it was just eight hours before Diana and Dodi were involved in the fatal car accident.
As a story in The Telegraph said,
"The hour-long sequence of images, compiled from 31 cameras in the hotel, form a crucial part of the evidence in the inquest as they provide a unique insight into the events leading up to Diana’s final journey."
People had many questions about Diana's passing, including whether she was expecting a child at the time that she passed away, and whether she and Dodi were going to get married since he was seen buying her a ring that people believed was an engagement ring.
1 Charles And Camilla On Their Wedding Day in 2005
This photo was taken when Princes Charles married Camilla in a civil ceremony on April 9th, 2005. It took them a while to get to the point of marrying each other, that's for sure.
As we know, Charles and Camilla had an affair while he was still married to Diana. They had actually dated in the past. They didn't get married, though, and after they broke up, they each married other people. But then they started up again when he got married to Diana. Princess Diana said in her infamous BBC interview that she knew right away and she said,
"There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
She even told Prince William and said, "'If you find someone you love in life, you must hang onto it and look after it. And if you are lucky enough to find someone who loves you, then you must protect it.'"
According to Vanity Fair, there is a biography coming out soon about Princes Charles. What will it be about? The major storyline will be his relationship with Camilla and how the Queen wasn't a big fan of it. It definitely sounds juicy and dramatic, which could also describe Prince Charles' relationship with the late (and very lovely) Princess Diana.
References: Ca.hellomagazine.com, Popsugar.com, Thoughtco.com, Harpersbazaar.com, Usatoday.com, Popsugar.com, Insideedition.com, Express.co.uk, Vanityfair.com, Telegraph.co.uk, Today.com, Independent.co.uk, Rd.com, Goodhousekeeping.com
