I'm too ordinary a person to write anything about The Lady....This whole page and some of the pictures in the photo gallery are borrowed from the Official Lady Diana website. Only the layout is my own.
Childhood & Teenage years.
Diana,
Princess of Wales, formerly Lady Diana Frances Spencer, was born on 1
July 1961 at Park House near Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the youngest
daughter of the then Viscount
and Viscountess Althorp, now the late (8th) Earl Spencer and the Hon.
Mrs Shand-Kydd, daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy. Earl Spencer was Equerry
to George VI from 1950 to 1952, and to The Queen from 1952 to 1954. Lady
Diana's parents, who had married in 1954, separated in 1967 and the marriage
was dissolved in 1969. Earl Spencer later married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth
in 1976.
Together with her two elder sisters Sarah (born 1955), Jane (born 1957)
and her younger brother Charles (born 1964), Lady Diana continued to live
with her father at Park House, Sandringham, until the death of her grandfather,
the 7th Earl Spencer. In 1975, the family moved to the Spencer family
seat at Althorp (a stately house dating from 1508) in Northamptonshire,
in the English Midlands.
Lady Diana was educated first at a preparatory school, Riddlesworth Hall
at Diss, Norfolk, and then in 1974 went as a boarder to West Heath, near
Sevenoaks, Kent. At school she showed a particular talent for music (as
an accomplished pianist), dancing and domestic science, and gained the
school's award for the girl giving maximum help to the school and her
schoolfellows. She left West Heath in 1977 and went to finishing school
at the Institut Alpin Videmanette in Rougemont, Switzerland, which she
left after the Easter term of 1978. The following year she moved to a
flat in Coleherne Court, London. For a while she looked after the child
of an American couple, and she worked as a kindergarten teacher at the
Young England School in Pimlico.
Marriage & Family.
On 24 February 1981 it was officially announced that Lady Diana was to marry The Prince of Wales. As neighbours at Sandringham until 1975, their families had known each other for many years, and Lady Diana and the The Prince had met again when he was invited to a weekend at Althorp in November 1977. They were married at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981, in a ceremony which drew a global television and radio audience estimated at around 1,000 million people, and hundreds of thousands of people lining the route from Buckingham Palace to the Cathedral.
The wedding reception was at Buckingham Palace. The marriage was solemnised by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Runcie, together with the Dean of St Paul's; clergy from other denominations read prayers. Music included the hymns 'Christ is made the sure foundation', 'I vow to thee my country', the anthem 'I was glad' (by Sir Hubert Parry), a specially composed anthem 'Let the people praise thee' by Professor Mathias, and Handel's 'Let the bright seraphim' performed by Dame Kiri te Kanawa. The lesson was read by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Mr George Thomas (the late Lord Tonypandy).
The
Princess was the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne for
300 years (when Lady Anne Hyde married the future James II from whom the
Princess was descended). The bride wore a silk taffeta dress with a 25-foot
train designed by the Emanuels, her veil was held in place by the Spencer
family diamond tiara, and she carried a bouquet of gardenias, lilies-of-the-valley,
white freesia, golden roses, white orchids and stephanotis. She was attended
by five bridesmaids including Princess Margaret's daughter Lady Sarah
Armstrong-Jones (now Lady Sarah Chatto); Prince Andrew (now The Duke of
York) and Prince Edward were The Prince of Wales's supporters (a Royal
custom instead of a best man).
The Prince and Princess of Wales spent part of their honeymoon at the
Mountbatten family home at Broadlands, Hampshire, before flying to Gibraltar
to join the Royal Yacht HMY BRITANNIA for a 12-day cruise through the
Mediterranean to Egypt. They finished their honeymoon with a stay at Balmoral.
The Prince and Princess made their principal home at Highgrove House near
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and shared an apartment in Kensington Palace.
The Princess of Wales had two sons. Prince William Arthur Philip Louis
was born on 21 June 1982 and Prince Henry (Harry) Charles Albert David
on 15 September 1984, both at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in London.
The Princess had seventeen godchildren.
In December 1992 it was announced that The Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate. The Princess based her household and her office at Kensington Palace, while The Prince was based at St James's Palace and continued to live at Highgrove. In November 1995, the Princess gave a television interview during which she spoke of her unhappiness in her personal life and the pressures of her public role. The Prince and Princess were divorced on 28 August 1996.
The Prince and Princess continued to share equal responsibility for the upbringing of their children. The Princess, as the mother of Prince William (second in line to the throne), continued to be regarded as a member of the Royal family. The Queen, The Prince and The Princess of Wales agreed that the Princess was to be known after the divorce as Diana, Princess of Wales, without the style of 'Her Royal Highness' (as the Princess was given the style 'HRH' on marriage she would therefore be expected to give it up on divorce). The Princess continued to live at Kensington Palace, with her office based there.
Public Role .
After
her marriage, The Princess of Wales quickly became involved in the official
duties of the Royal family. Her first tour with The Prince was a three-day
visit to Wales in October 1981. In 1983 she accompanied The Prince on
a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and they took the infant Prince William
with them. Prince William, with Prince Harry, again joined The Prince
and Princess at the end of their tour to Italy in 1985. Other official
overseas visits undertaken with The Prince included Australia (for the
bicentenary celebrations in 1988), Brazil, India, Canada, Nigeria, Cameroon,
Indonesia, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Japan (for the enthronement
of Emperor Akihito). Their last joint overseas visit was to South Korea
in 1992.
The Princess's first official visit overseas on her own was in September
1982, when she represented The Queen at the state funeral of Princess
Grace of Monaco. The Princess's first solo overseas tour was in February
1984 when she travelled to Norway to attend a performance of Carmen by
the London City Ballet, of which she was patron. The Princess subsequently
visited many countries including Germany, the United States, Pakistan,
Switzerland, Hungary, Egypt, Belgium, France, South Africa, Zimbabwe and
Nepal. Although the Princess was renowned for her style and was closely
associated with the fashion world, patronising and raising the profile
of younger British designers, she was best known for her charitable work.
During her marriage, the Princess was president or patron of over 100
charities. The Princess did much to publicise work on behalf of homeless
and also disabled people, children and people with HIV/Aids. In December
1993, the Princess announced that she would be reducing the extent of
her public life in order to combine 'a meaningful public role with a more
private life'. After her separation from The Prince, the Princess continued
to appear with the Royal family on major national occasions, such as the
commemorations of the 50th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) and VJ
(Victory over Japan) Days in 1995.
Following her divorce, the Princess resigned most of her charity and other
patronages, and relinquished all her Service appointments with military
units. The Princess remained as patron of Centrepoint (homeless charity),
English National Ballet, Leprosy Mission and National Aids Trust, and
as President of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street and
of the Royal Marsden Hospital. In June 1997, the Princess attended receptions
in London and New York as previews of the sale of a number of dresses
and suits worn by her on official engagements, with the proceeds going
to charity. The Princess spent her 36th and last birthday on 1 July
1997 attending the Tate Gallery's 100th Anniversary celebrations. Her
last official engagement in Britain was on 21 July, when she visited Northwick
Park Hospital, London (children's accident and emergency unit).
In the year before her death, the Princess was an active campaigner for
a ban on the manufacture and use of land mines. In January 1997, she visited
Angola as part of her campaign. in June, the Princess spoke at the landmines
conference at the Royal Geographical Society in London, and this was followed
by a visit to Washington DC in the United States on 17/18 June to promote
the American Red Cross landmines campaign (separately, she also met Mother
Teresa in The Bronx). The Princess's last public engagements were during
her visit to Bosnia from 7 to 10 August, when she visited landmine projects
in Travnic, Sarajevo and Zenezica. It was in recognition of her charity
work that representatives of the charities with which she worked during
her life were invited to walk behind her coffin with her family from St
James's Palace to Westminster Abbey on the day of her funeral.
The Funeral .
The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales took place on Saturday, 6 September, in Westminster Abbey. It began at 11.00 a.m. and lasted for about one hour.
On
the morning of the funeral her coffin was borne in procession from Kensington
Palace (Diana's official home) to Buckingham Palace, past St-James Palace
to it's final destination at the Great West Doors of Westminster Abbey.
Goodbye
England's Rose...
These
are the new lyrics to the song Candle in the Wind, which was performed
by Elton John at Princess Diana's funeral. The lyrics have been rewritten
by Bernard Taupin, who wrote the words to the original.
(Courtesy of BBC News)
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,
among 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.
Copyright DJM Music