Women In History

1. Princess
Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances; née Spencer; 1
July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was the first wife of
Charles, Prince of Wales, who is the eldest child and heir
apparent of Queen Elizabeth II.
Diana was born into a family of British nobility with
royal ancestry and was the fourth child and third
daughter of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and the
Honourable Frances Roche. She grew up in Park House,
situated on the Sandringham estate, and was educated

2. in England and Switzerland. In 1975, after her father
inherited the title of Earl Spencer, she became known as
Lady Diana Spencer. She came to prominence in
February 1981 when her engagement to Prince Charles
was announced.
Her wedding to the Prince of Wales on 29 July 1981,
held at St Paul's Cathedral, reached a global television
audience of over 750 million people. While married,
Diana bore the titles Princess of Wales, Duchess of
Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, and Countess of Chester.
The marriage produced two sons, the princes William
and Harry, who were then respectively second and third
in the line of succession to the British throne. As
Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on
behalf of the Queen and represented her at functions
overseas. She was celebrated for her charity work and
for her support of the International Campaign to Ban

3. Landmines. She was involved with dozens of charities
including London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for
children, of which she was president from 1989.
Diana remained the object of worldwide media scrutiny
during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce
on 28 August 1996. Media attention and public
mourning were extensive after her death in a car crash
in Paris on 31 August 1997 and subsequent televised
funeral.
Her
Childhood

4. Diana Frances Spencer, was born on July 1, 1961, at
Park House near Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the
youngest daughter of the then Viscount and
Viscountess Althorp, now the late Earl Spencer and the
Hon Mrs Shand-Kydd. She had two elder sisters, Jane
and Sarah, and a younger brother, Charles.
The root of Diana's insecurity lay in her upbringing,
despite its privileges. Her family was living on the
Queen's estate at Sandringham where her father had
rented Park House. He had been a royal equerry for
both King George VI and the young Queen Elizabeth II.
But Diana was only six when her parents split up. She
would always remember the crunch of her mother's
departing footsteps on the gravel drive. The children
became pawns in a bitter custody dispute.
The happy years of her childhood ended when she was
six years old

5. Lady Diana was sent to boarding school, eventually
attending West Heath Public School in Kent. Here she
excelled at sport, particularly swimming, but she failed
all her O levels. Nevertheless, in later years she recalled
fond schoolday memories, and supported her old
school.
After school, she worked in London, first as a nanny,
occasionally a cook, and then as an assistant at the
Young England kindergarten in Knightsbridge.
Her father had moved to Althorpe near Northampton
on becoming the eighth Earl Spencer. Her parents had
divorced and there was a new Countess Spencer,
daughter of the romantic novelist Barbara Cartland. But
soon it was Diana who was to become the celebrated
member of the family.
Rumours spread that her friendship with the Prince of
Wales was blossoming into something more serious.

6. Press and television besieged her at every turn. But her
days at work were numbered. The Palace tried in vain to
play down the speculation. And on February 24, 1981
the engagement became official.
However, there were doubts even then about whether
they were really compatible. They appeared to have
little in common, and there was the age difference: the
Prince was 13 years older than Diana. When journalists
asked them during the official engagement photo call
whether they were in love, both answered "yes" - with
the Prince adding "whatever love means". Charles, it
emerged later, had confided to a friend that he did not
yet love Diana but was sure he could.