Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, nיe Spencer) (1 July 1961–31 August 1997), commonly, but incorrectly, known as Princess Diana, was for fifteen years the wife of HRH The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales. She was the mother of the second and third in line to the British throne, HRH Prince William of Wales and HRH Prince Henry ("Harry") of Wales.
From the time of her marriage to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in a car accident in Paris in 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales was one of the world's most high-profile, most photographed, and most iconic celebrities.
Early years
Diana was the youngest daughter of Edward Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and his wife Frances. Known at birth as The Honourable Diana Spencer, she was thus a descendant of King Charles I. On the death of her paternal grandfather, Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer in 1975, her father became the eighth Earl Spencer, and she acquired the courtesy title of The Lady Diana Spencer. She was educated in Norfolk and at boarding school in Kent, and was regarded as an academically below-average student. In spite of this she was an accomplished pianist, and in later life a daring and bold bridge player. At 16 she attended Institut Alpin Videmanette, a finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland. Diana never was particularly scholarly, but she excelled in sports and longed to be a ballerina. |
