Princess Diana Biography

As the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, Princess Diana was an international personality of the late 20th century. Their televised wedding was watched by a global audience of over 750 million people. Princess Diana would become one of the most adored members of the British royal family. Her marriage to the prince produced two sons: Princes William and Harry, currently second and third in line to the thrones of the 16 Commonwealth realms.





Princess Diana Biography - Her Early Life

Diana, Princess of Wales was born Diana Spencer on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham, Norfolk, as the third child and daughter of Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and Frances Ruth Burke Roche, Viscountess Althorp. Diana would become the sister to Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes, and Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer. While her parents were overjoyed with her birth, there was no hiding that the fact that the entire Spencer family was hoping for a male heir to carry on the Spencer name. The Spencer family was one of Great Britain's oldest and most important families, being closely allied with the royal family for over five hundred years. Because they were expecting a male child, her parents, initially, had no name to give her. A week later, they settled on Diana Frances, after a Spencer ancestress and her mother.

Before her birth, Diana's parents had given birth to a son named John, who died a year before Diana was born, having lived only 10 hours. According to Andrew Morton's biography about the Princess of Wales, her brother was very deformed and sick. His death put a strain on John and Frances' marriage. Lady Frances would be forced to seek medical attention at Harley Street clinics in London, after the older members of the Spencer family questioned why she could only give birth to girls. The experience was described as "humiliating", with her brother Charles Spencer commenting: "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." As a young child, Diana would catch the pitch of her family's frustration - she would consider herself a nuisance, and feel an overwhelming sense of guilt, but learned to accept and recognize the emotions.


With normal commoners as god parents, Diana would be baptized at Sandringham church (her younger brother, Charles, would be baptized at Westminster Abbey with Queen Elizabeth II as his principal god parent). Her parents would separate when she was is seven years old, eventually divorcing due to her mother engaging in an extramarital affair. In Morton's book, he described how she remembered her father packing suitcases, her mother crunching across the gravel forecourt, and driving away through the gates of Park House. Shortly thereafter, her father, John Spencer, won custody of both her and her three siblings.


Princess Diana Biography - Her Education

At the age of seven, Diana was sent to Riddlesworth Hall, an all-girls boarding school. Initially very homesick, Diana eventually fell into the boarding school routine. Academically, she didn't shine and was moved to West Heath Girls' School, later to be known as The New School at West Heath) in Sevenoaks, Kent. At West Heath, she was regarded as a poor student, having attempted and failed all of her O-levels twice. However, she would show a particular talent for music as an accomplished pianist. Her outstanding community spirit would be recognised with an award. In 1977, at the age of 16, Diana would leave West Heath to briefly attend Institut Alpin Videmanette, a finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland. She reportedly excelled in swimming and diving, and longed to be a professional ballerina with the Royal Ballet. She studied ballet for a time, but because of her 5'10" frame, was considered far too tall for the profession. At about that time, she would also meet her future husband, 13 years her senior. who was then dating her eldest sister, Lady Sarah. (It has been said that Diana had apparently played with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex as a child, while her family rented Park House, an estate owned by Queen Elizabeth II.)

In 1973, during Diana's years at school, her father, John Spencer would begin a relationship with Raine Legge, the Countess of Dartmouth, which led to their marriage on July 14, 1976. The relationship between Diana and both her mother, now known as Frances Shand Kydd, and her stepmother would be strained for many years. However, media reports suggested that at the time of her death, Diana had reconciled with her stepmother.

Diana would receive the title of Lady Diana Spencer after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975. Although know for her shyness, she showed a great interest in children. Before her seventeenth birthday, after attending finishing school at Institut Alpin Videmanette, she would move to London, living in her mother's flat, as her mother spent most of the year in Scotland. Soon afterwards, an apartment at Coleherne Court in Earls Court would be purchased for £50,000 as her 18th birthday present. She would live here until 1981 with three flatmates.

In London, at the suggestion of her mother, Diana took an advanced cooking course, 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. Diana also spent time working as a nanny for an American family living in London, eventually becoming a kindergarten teacher at the Young England School.


Princess Diana Biography - The Royal Wedding

Prince Charles, being linked to Diana's elder sister Sarah, and in his early thirties, was under increasing pressure to marry. Under the Act of Settlement 1701, royals forfeit their succession rights to the Throne if they marry "papists" (Roman Catholics). Diana's Church of England faith, native Englishness, and lack of an obvious "past" appeared to render her a suitable royal bride both legally and socially.


Prince Charles had known Diana for several years, but took a serious interest in her as a potential bride during the summer of 1980. They were guests at a country weekend, where he played polo and she was a spectator. A relationship would develop and he would invite her for a sailing weekend to Cowes, aboard the royal yacht Britannia. This would be followed by an invitation to Balmoral, (the Royal Family's Scottish residence), to meet his family. There, Diana would be well received by Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the Queen Mother. They would subsequently court in London and the Prince would propose to Diana on 6 February 1981. Their engagement was kept secret for the next few weeks.

As the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles was usually the subject of media attention and his courtship of Diana was no exception. The press and the public were fascinated by this seemingly odd couple - the reserved, garden-loving prince and the shy young woman with an interest in fashion and popular culture. When the couple married on July 29, 1981, the ceremony was broadcast on television around the world, with millions of people tuning in to see what many considered to be the wedding of the century.

Prince Charles and Diana's engagement became official on 24 February 1981, after Diana selected a large £30,000 ring, £85,700 in today's terms, consisting of 14 diamonds surrounding a sapphire, similar to her mother's engagement ring. 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 jewelery collection. The ring was later used in 2010 as the engagement ring of Kate Middleton, the wife of Diana's elder son Prince William.


On July 29, 1982, 21 year old Diana became The Princess of Wales when she married Prince Charles at St Paul's Cathedral, which offered more seating than Westminster Abbey, generally used for royal nuptials. The Princess Diana wedding was widely billed as a "fairytale wedding", watched by a global television audience of 750 million while 600,000 people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of Diana enroute to the ceremony. At the altar, Diana would accidentally reverse the order of Charles's first two names, saying Philip Charles Arthur George instead. She did not say that she would "obey" him; that traditional vow was left out at the couple's request, which caused some commotion at the time. The Princess Diana wedding dress was valued at £9000 with a 25-foot (8-metre) train. The couple's wedding cake was created by Belgian pastry chef S. G. Sender, known as the "Cakemaker to the Kings."


Princess Diana Biography - The Birth of a Prince

On November 5, 1981, Diana's first pregnancy was officially announced. On June 2, 1982, in the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, Diana and Charles had their first son and heir, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis. Amidst some media criticism, she would take her child on her first major tours of Australia and New Zealand, where the decision was popularly applauded. By her own admission, she did not initially intend to take William until it was suggested by Malcolm Fraser, the Australian prime minister.


William would be joined by his brother, Prince Henry Charles Albert David, widely known as "Prince Harry", more than two years later on September 15, 1984. Diana would assert that she and Prince Charles were closest during her pregnancy with Harry. She was also aware their second child was a boy, but did not share the knowledge with anyone, including Prince Charles.


Princess Dianas life was regarded as one of being a devoted and demonstrative mother. She rarely deferred to Prince Charles or to the Royal Family. She chose their first given names, dismissed a royal family nanny and engaged one of her own choosing, selected their schools and clothing, planned their outings and, as often as her schedule permitted, took them to school herself. She would also negotiate her public duties around their timetables. Initially overwhelmed by her royal duties and the intense media coverage of nearly every aspect of her life, she began to develop and pursue her own interests. Diana served a strong supporter of many charities and worked to help the homeless, people living with HIV and AIDS, and children in need.


Princess Diana Biography - A Charitable Heart

In 1983, Diana would confide in the then Premier of Newfoundland, Brian Peckford: "I am finding it very difficult to cope with the pressures of being Princess of Wales, but I am learning to cope." From the mid-1980s, Princess Diana would increasingly become associated with numerous charities. As Princess of Wales, she was expected to visit hospitals, schools, etc., in the 20th-century model of royal patronage. But Diana would develope an intense interest in serious illnesses and health-related matters, outside the purview of traditional royal involvement, including AIDS and leprosy. In addition, she would be the patroness of charities and organizations that worked with the homeless, youth, drug addicts and the elderly. In 1989, she became President of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and, during the final year of her life, would lend highly visible support to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a campaign that went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, following her death.

Unfortunately, the fairy tale wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles would not lead to a "happily ever after" marriage. The two would become estranged over the following years, with reports of infidelities from both parties. During their union, Diana would struggle with both depression and bulimia. The couple's separation would be announced in December 1992 by British Prime Minister John Major, reading a statement from the royal family to the House of Commons. The royal divorce would be finalized in 1996.

Next: Her Prince is a Thorn

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Part Four: A Nation Cries

Princess Diana Biography Sources

1. http://www.biography.com/articles/Princess-Diana-9273782
2. Diana, Princess of Wales. (2011, August 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diana,_Princess_of_Wales&oldid=444695719

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