Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 to 1997) was a member of the British royal family who became one of the most famous and beloved women in the world. Admired for her warmth and her charity work, and followed relentlessly by the media, she was mourned globally after her sudden death.
Diana was born into the British aristocracy and grew up on a grand family estate. Her parents' difficult divorce marked her early years, and she was a shy young woman working as a kindergarten assistant in London when she came to the attention of the heir to the throne, a meeting that would transform her life.
In 1981 Diana married Charles, the heir to the British throne, in a spectacular ceremony watched by an estimated audience of hundreds of millions around the world. Overnight, the shy young woman became the Princess of Wales and one of the most photographed people on the planet, thrust into a life of intense public scrutiny.
As Princess of Wales, Diana brought a more informal, affectionate, and human touch to royal life. Her style and glamour made her a fashion icon, but it was her evident warmth, her ease with ordinary people, and her willingness to show emotion that set her apart and won her enormous public affection.
Diana had two sons, William and Harry, and was a devoted and hands on mother who sought to give them as normal a childhood as royal life allowed. She took them to ordinary places and showed open affection, helping to modernize the image of the royal family and shaping the men her sons would become.
Diana devoted herself to charitable causes, lending her fame to issues many shied away from. She worked to remove the stigma around AIDS, famously shaking hands with patients at a time of widespread fear and ignorance, and campaigned against landmines, walking through a cleared minefield to dramatize their human cost.
Behind the glamour, Diana's marriage was unhappy, and it ended in a very public separation and divorce, played out in the glare of the world's media. Her candid accounts of her struggles, including with her own health, broke royal convention and made her a sympathetic, relatable figure to many.
Diana lived under relentless pursuit by photographers and the press, her every move documented and sold. The intense, often intrusive media attention that came with her fame was a constant pressure, and it would play a part in the tragedy that ended her life.
In 1997 Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris while being pursued by photographers, aged just thirty six. Her sudden death prompted an extraordinary, almost unprecedented outpouring of public grief around the world. She is remembered for her humanity and her charity, and her sons have carried forward the causes she championed.
