Diana, Princess of Wales From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Diana Spencer" redirects here. For other persons of this name, see Diana Spencer (disambiguation).Diana Princess of Wales; Duchess of Rothesay (more) The Princess of Wales at The Leonardo Prize, 1995 Spouse Charles, Prince of Wales (m. 1981, div. 1996)[1] Issue Prince William, Duke of Cambridge Prince Harry of Wales Full name Diana Frances[N 1] House House of Windsor Father John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer Mother Frances Shand Kydd Born 1 July 1961 Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk Died 31 August 1997 (aged 36) Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, in Paris, France Burial 6 September 1997 Althorp, Northamptonshire Religion Anglican (Church of England) Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances;[N 1] née Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century. Her wedding to the Prince of Wales, held at St Paul's Cathedral, was televised and watched by a global audience of over 750 million people. After this marriage she received the courtesy titles Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, Countess of Chester and Baroness of Renfrew. The marriage produced two sons: Princes William and Harry,[2] currently second and third in line to the thrones of the 16 Commonwealth realms, respectively. A public figure from the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana was born into an aristocratic English family with royal ancestry, and remained the focus of worldwide media scrutiny during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996, including following her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997 and the subsequent display of public mourning a week later. Diana also received recognition for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. From 1989, she was the president of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, in addition to dozens of other charities. Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Educations 3 Relationships with the Prince of Wales 3.1 Engagement and marriage 3.2 Children 3.3 Charity work 3.4 Problems and separation 3.5 Divorce 4 Personal life after divorce 4.1 Landmines 5 Death 5.1 Conspiracy theories and inquest 5.2 Tribute, funeral, and burial 5.2.1 Memorials 5.3 Memorabilia 5.4 Diana in contemporary art 5.5 Later events 6 Contemporary opinions 7 Titles, styles, honours, and arms 7.1 Titles and styles 7.2 Honours 7.3 Arms 8 Legacy 9 Ancestry 10 Issue 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 Bibliography 15 Further reading 16 External links [edit] Early life TRH The Prince and Princess of Wales after the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of York Diana Spencer was born in the late afternoon on 1 July 1961, in Sandringham, Norfolk.[3][4] She was the fourth child of Viscount and Viscountess Althorp (née Frances Roche, later Shand Kydd).[3] The Spencer family was hoping for a male heir to carry on the Spencer title (their third child, a boy, died soon after birth).[4][5] The Spencer family is one of Great Britain's oldest and most important families, closely allied with the royal family for several generations.[6] As the family was expecting a boy, no name was chosen for a week, until they settled on Diana Frances, after a Spencer ancestress and her mother.[4] Diana was the sister of Lady Sarah McCorquodale; Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes; and Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer.[3][5] Diana was baptized at Sandringham church, with commoners as god parents; her younger brother, Charles, was baptized at Westminster Abbey with Elizabeth II as principal godparent.[7] Another brother, John, died a year before she was born.[5] According to Andrew Morton's biography of Diana, the infant John Spencer was so deformed and sick he only survived 10 hours after birth.[4] The desire for an heir added strain to the Spencers' marriage, and Lady Althorp was reportedly sent to Harley Street clinics in London to determine the cause of the "problem".[4] The experience was described as "humiliating" by Charles Spencer, the current earl: "It was a dreadful time for my parents and probably the root of their divorce because I don't think they ever got over it."[7] Diana grew up in Park House, which was situated near to the Sandringham estate.[5] Diana's mother The Honourable Frances Shand Kydd was also a member of the British aristocracy for her parents were the Baron Fermoy and his wife Lady Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy. The Baroness had been an Extra Woman of the Bedchamber to The Queen Mother, and they were very close friends. Diana's parents separated when she was only seven years of age.[8] Her mother, Frances, had an affair with Peter Shand Kydd.[5] In Morton's book, he describes Diana's remembrance of her father loading suitcases in the car, her mother crunching across the gravel forecourt and driving away through the gates of Park House.[4] Diana and her younger brother lived with their mother in London during their parents' separation, but during the Christmas holidays at the end of the year, Lord Althorp refused to let his estranged wife return with the children to London. Shortly afterward Lord Althorp won custody of Diana and her three siblings, with support from his mother-in-law, Frances Spencer's mother.[3] She was first educated at Riddlesworth Hall, and later attended boarding school at The New School at West Heath.[3] In 1973, Lord Althorp began a relationship with Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, the only daughter of Alexander McCorquodale and Barbara Cartland.[9] Diana received the title of Lady after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975. Lord Spencer and Lady Dartmouth were married at Caxton Hall, London, on 14 July 1976. As Countess Spencer, Raine was unpopular with her stepdaughter Lady Diana.[5] Lady Diana was often noted for her shyness while growing up, but she did take an interest in both music and dancing. She also had a great interest in children. After attending finishing school at the Institut Alpin Videmanette in Switzerland, she moved to London. She began working with children, eventually becoming a nursery teacher at the Young England School.[3] Diana had apparently played with The Princes Andrew and Edward as a child while her family rented Park House, a property owned by Elizabeth II and situated on the Sandringham Estate.[3][10] [edit] Education Coleherne Court, London (left) At the age of seven, Diana was sent to Riddlesworth Hall, an all-girls boarding school.[11] While she was young, she attended a local public school. She did not shine academically, and was moved to West Heath Girls' School (later reorganised as The New School at West Heath) in Sevenoaks, Kent, where she was regarded as a poor student, having attempted and failed all of her O-levels twice.[11] However, she showed a particular talent for music as an accomplished pianist.[12] Her outstanding community spirit was recognised with an award from West Heath. In 1977, at the age of 16, she left West Heath and briefly attended Institut Alpin Videmanette, a finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland. At about that time, she first met her future husband, who was then in a relationship with her eldest sister, Lady Sarah. Lady Diana also excelled in swimming and diving, and longed to be a professional ballerina with the Royal Ballet. She studied ballet for a time, but then grew too tall for the profession. Lady Diana moved to London before she turned 17, living in her mother's flat, as her mother then spent most of the year in Scotland. Soon afterwards, an apartment was purchased for £50,000 as an 18th birthday present, at Coleherne Court in Earls Court. She lived there until 1981 with three flatmates. In London, she took an advanced cooking course at her mother's suggestion, although she never became an adroit cook, and worked as a dance instructor for youth, until a skiing accident caused her to miss three months of work. She then found employment as a playgroup (pre-preschool) assistant, did some cleaning work for her sister Sarah and several of her friends, and worked as a hostess at parties. Lady Diana also spent time working as a nanny for an American family living in London.[13] [edit] Relationship with the Prince of Wales The Prince and Princess of Wales with Sandro Pertini The Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) had previously been linked to Lady Diana's elder sister Lady Sarah, and in his early thirties he was under increasing pressure to marry. The Prince of Wales had known Lady Diana for several years, but he first took a serious interest in her as a potential bride during the summer of 1980, when they were guests at a country weekend, where she watched him play polo. The relationship developed as he invited her for a sailing weekend to Cowes aboard the royal yacht Britannia, followed by an invitation to Balmoral (the Royal Family's Scottish residence) to meet his family. Lady Diana was well received by Elizabeth II, by The Duke of Edinburgh, and by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The couple subsequently courted in London. The prince proposed on 6 February 1981, and Lady Diana accepted, but their engagement was kept secret for the next few weeks.[14] [edit] Engagement and marriage Charles and Diana's wedding commemorated on a 1981 British Crown Main article: Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer See also: Wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer Their engagement became official on 24 February 1981, after Lady Diana selected a large £30,000 ring (£94,800 in today's terms) consisting of 14 diamonds surrounding a sapphire, similar to her mother's engagement ring.[15] The ring was made by the then Crown jewellers Garrard but, unusually for a member of the Royal Family, the ring was not unique and was, at the time, featured in Garrard's jewellery collection.