18 years ago, on August 31, 1997, the world’s most loved princess died in a horrific car crash. She was buried in Northamptonshire, England on September 6.
Princess Diana’s active involvement in several social causes was well known. She was particularly keen on working for the poor, homeless and those affected with HIV and AIDS. In 1991, she shook hands with a man with AIDS without wearing gloves. At the time, this was a weighty gesture and helped dispel misinformation about AIDS spreading by touch.
Born Diana Spencer, into a family of British nobility as, the third daughter and fourth child of John Spencer, she became Lady Diana Spencer in 1975, after her father inherited the title of Earl of Spencer. She played with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward in her childhood and eventually an affair began between Diana and Prince Charles when she was 16 and he stood 13 years apart from her. Their courtship was intensely scrutinised by the media.
The couple’s London wedding in 1981 also grabbed wide media attention: Diana was to transform from Lady Diana Spencer to the Princess of Wales. After almost a year, Diana gave birth to Prince William on June 21, 1982 and another two years later Prince Harry was born in September 1984.
Though the initial hype around her life overwhelmed her at first, she slowly started getting active in the social causes she believed in. She undertook a lot of royal duties. The fairytale marriage began to unravel in the coming years and a separation was announced in 1992 which eventually led to a divorce in 1996. Even after the divorce, Diana continued her social work and remained the media’s darling.
After her divorce, Diana said “I’m spreading my wings” while remaining totally devoted to her sons. Meanwhile, Charles got involved with Camilla Parker-Bowles (his current wife). The name of a Pakistani surgeon and cardiologist Hasnat Khan started making rounds in the media as Diana’s love interest but that ended in July.
Within a month, Diana had started seeing Egyptian film producer, Dodi Al-Fayed. Dodi was introduced to Diana through Mohamed Al Fayed, a business tycoon and Dodi’s father. On the fateful day of August 31, 1997, Diana was seen leaving Hotel Ritz in Paris with him.
That day to escape the paparazzi, the couple exited the hotel through a back door. But her car which had Dodi and the driver Henri Paul — who was drunk — met with a fatal crash after hitting a lamp post in the tunnel that they took as an escape route.
The sudden and unexpected death of this extraordinarily popular royal figure brought statements from senior figures worldwide and many tributes by members of the public. Her funeral saw the British television audience peak at 32.10 million, one of the United Kingdom’s highest viewership ever, while millions of people also watched the event around the world
Princess Diana captured the public imagination like no other and her legacy still lives on, 18 years after her untimely death. A recently photoshopped image of her looking at Kate Middleton’s recent baby went viral, an indication that she still continues to overwhelmingly rule our imagination.
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