Diana, the ‘people’s princess’ (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)
Princess Diana died in a car crash 18 years ago.
The ‘people’s princess’, as former prime minister Tony Blair famously referred to her after her death in 1997, has certainly been long remembered as people paid tribute to her on social media today.
Many facts about Diana’s life are well known to the public – but here are some that might still surprise you.
She had an impressive heritage
And we’re not just talking about the circles of aristocracy she was born into, being the daughter of the 8th Earl of Spencer.
She had pretty impressive relations from Audrey Hepburn, Winston Churchill and a handful of US presidents through to Duchess of Devonshire Georgiana Cavendish, the focal character of the 2008 film The Duchess starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes.
She’s also related to Mary Queen of Scots, meaning to be royal must have obviously been in her blood.
Her grandmother worked for the royal family
The royal connections were strong with this one. Five years before Diana was born, in 1956, her maternal grandmother Baroness Fermoy became one the Queen Mother’s ladies-in-waiting.
Princess Diana died in a car crash 18 years ago.
The ‘people’s princess’, as former prime minister Tony Blair famously referred to her after her death in 1997, has certainly been long remembered as people paid tribute to her on social media today.
Many facts about Diana’s life are well known to the public – but here are some that might still surprise you.
She had an impressive heritage
And we’re not just talking about the circles of aristocracy she was born into, being the daughter of the 8th Earl of Spencer.
She had pretty impressive relations from Audrey Hepburn, Winston Churchill and a handful of US presidents through to Duchess of Devonshire Georgiana Cavendish, the focal character of the 2008 film The Duchess starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes.
She’s also related to Mary Queen of Scots, meaning to be royal must have obviously been in her blood.
Her grandmother worked for the royal family
The royal connections were strong with this one. Five years before Diana was born, in 1956, her maternal grandmother Baroness Fermoy became one the Queen Mother’s ladies-in-waiting.
Diana talking with her grandmother, Baroness Fermoy (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)
She was also an extremely close friend of the Queen and a concert pianist, with the King’s Lynn Festival making Fermoy widely known in Norfolk.
She started her career in teaching and childcare
Before she was a princess, Diana embarked on a very different career path.
Starting work at age 19, her first few jobs were that of a babysitter, an executive and of a teacher’s assistant at Young England Nursery School.
She was also an extremely close friend of the Queen and a concert pianist, with the King’s Lynn Festival making Fermoy widely known in Norfolk.
She started her career in teaching and childcare
Before she was a princess, Diana embarked on a very different career path.
Starting work at age 19, her first few jobs were that of a babysitter, an executive and of a teacher’s assistant at Young England Nursery School.
The education of children was always an important part of Diana’s life (Photo by Daily Mail/REX Shutterstock)
Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah, also dated Prince Charles
Obviously before Diana.
Lady Sarah is now married to Neil McCorquodale, but she is still very close to the Royal Family in the years after her sister’s death.
In 2013, she was spotted with Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George on the 16th anniversary of Diana’s death near Grantham.
Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah, also dated Prince Charles
Obviously before Diana.
Lady Sarah is now married to Neil McCorquodale, but she is still very close to the Royal Family in the years after her sister’s death.
In 2013, she was spotted with Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George on the 16th anniversary of Diana’s death near Grantham.
Prince Charles talking to his future Sister-in-Law, Lady Sarah Spencer, at Windsor Castle in 1977 (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
She invited Cindy Crawford round as Prince William had a crush on her
When William was 13 years old, he let slip to his mother that he had a teenage crush on Cindy Crawford. So what else was Diana going to do but invite the supermodel round for dinner?
Crawford said she was terrified about meeting him.
‘It was a little awkward,’ Crawford later said in 2006. ‘He was a boy, so I didn’t want to look too trampy. But I didn’t want to look dowdy either. I somehow had to look supermodel for a kid.’
She invited Cindy Crawford round as Prince William had a crush on her
When William was 13 years old, he let slip to his mother that he had a teenage crush on Cindy Crawford. So what else was Diana going to do but invite the supermodel round for dinner?
Crawford said she was terrified about meeting him.
‘It was a little awkward,’ Crawford later said in 2006. ‘He was a boy, so I didn’t want to look too trampy. But I didn’t want to look dowdy either. I somehow had to look supermodel for a kid.’
Cindy Crawford in 2014 (Photo by Gabriel Grams/REX Shutterstock)
She changed the way the world thought about AIDS
It is a well-known fact that philanthropy was a huge part of the Princess of Wales’ life.
She supported over 100 charities and even won a Nobel Peace Prize a few months before her death.
One of those causes was awareness about HIV and AIDS, and combating stigma around the disease.
Here she is appealing for compassion for sufferers in 1993.
She was a magazine cover favourite
She wasn’t just the people’s princess, but the media’s too. The press were a part of her life and, tragically also, a huge part of the story of her death.
During her lifetime, she was featured on the cover of People magazine more than 50 times, Time magazine featured her eight times and Newsweek featured her on the cover seven times, according to the Asia-Pacific Economics Blog.
She changed the way the world thought about AIDS
It is a well-known fact that philanthropy was a huge part of the Princess of Wales’ life.
She supported over 100 charities and even won a Nobel Peace Prize a few months before her death.
One of those causes was awareness about HIV and AIDS, and combating stigma around the disease.
Here she is appealing for compassion for sufferers in 1993.
She was a magazine cover favourite
She wasn’t just the people’s princess, but the media’s too. The press were a part of her life and, tragically also, a huge part of the story of her death.
During her lifetime, she was featured on the cover of People magazine more than 50 times, Time magazine featured her eight times and Newsweek featured her on the cover seven times, according to the Asia-Pacific Economics Blog.
Diana appearing on the cover of Life Magazine in 1983 (Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)
She struggled with depression and bulimia
One of Diana’s greatest struggles was personal – namely bulimia. Later she would reveal they started around the time her engagement with Charles began.
‘Bulimia started the week after we got engaged,’ she said in tapes obtained by NBC.
‘My husband put his hand on my waistline and said: “Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?” That triggered off something in me.’
She struggled with depression and bulimia
One of Diana’s greatest struggles was personal – namely bulimia. Later she would reveal they started around the time her engagement with Charles began.
‘Bulimia started the week after we got engaged,’ she said in tapes obtained by NBC.
‘My husband put his hand on my waistline and said: “Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?” That triggered off something in me.’
Prince Charles with Diana Princess of Wales and Prince Edward (Photo by David Levenson/Getty Images)
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