Diana remembered 1961-1997
It has been ten years since the faithful car crash in the The Pont d’Alma tunnel Paris France. which put an end to Diana Francis Spencer Princess of Wales 1961-1997. She was most probably the most photographed woman of all times.
The whirlwind fairytale romance that brought her from obscurity to world famous icon was because of her meeting with Charles Windsor eldest son and to the British royal throne. Before meeting Prince Charles she was a part-time aide at the Young England Kindergarten
Their engagement became official February 24, 1981 and they married at St Paul’s Cathedral on 29 July 1981, watched by a global audience of almost one billion people world wide.
From all accounts there marrage was not a happy one In the late 1980s, the marriage of Diana and Charles fell apart, an event at first suppressed, then sensationalised, by the world media. Both the Prince and Princess of Wales allegedly spoke to the press through friends, each blaming the other for the marriage’s demise. Charles resumed his old, pre-marital affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, while Diana had an affair with her riding instructor, James Hewitt. She later confirmed the affair with Hewitt in a television interview with Martin Bashir for the BBC programme Panorama. Charles had confirmed his own affair over a year earlier in a televised interview with Jonathan Dimbleby. Although no charges were ever considered, adultery with the Queen consort or Princess of Wales has been high treason in England at least since the Treason Act 1351.
After the divorce, Diana retained her apartment in Kensington Palace, completely redecorated, and it remained her home until her death. She gave her loyal staff members a pay raise.
She publicly dated the respected heart surgeon Hasnat Khan and was finally thought to have found love with Dodi Al-Fayed, with whom she was publicly intimate.
charity projects
Diana was involve din various charities and was also a strong supporter of those in need of treatment for Aid’s she became the first high profile celebrity to be photographed touching some one suffering from this illness
In the week prior to the accident she had spent some time in the Greek isle
On Sunday morning 31st August 1997 she and her friend Dodi A-Fayed left the Hôtel Ritz Paris, in a high speed chase Henri Paul the acting security manager of the aforementioned hotel drove a hired Mercedes-Benz through Paris secretly eluding the paparazzi. Resulting in the car carrying Diana to be pursued by a group of paparazzi following the vehicle. Blood analysis showed that Henri Paul was illegally intoxicated with alcohol whilst driving. He drove at high speed in order to evade the pursuing paparazzi. Tests confirmed that original postmortem blood samples were from Henri Paul, and that he had consumed amounts of alcohol three times that of the French legal limit.
The accident which happened after 1AM killed Henri Paul and Dodi Al-Fayed immediately
Diana unbelted in the back seat- slid forward during the impact and, having been violently thrown around the interior, “submarined” under the seat in front of her, suffering massive damage to her heart and subsequent internal bleeding. She was eventually, after considerable delay, transported by ambulance to the Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, but on the way she went into cardiac arrest twice. Despite lengthy resuscitation attempts, including internal cardiac massage, she died at 4 a.m. local time. Her funeral on 6 September 1997 was broadcast and watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide
The Prince of Wales, her sons, her mother, siblings, a close friend, and a clergyman were present. She wore a black long sleeved dress designed by Catherine Walker. She had chosen that particular dress a few weeks before. She was buried with a set of rosary beads in her hands, a gift she received from Mother Teresa, who died the week after Diana. Her grave is on an island in the grounds of Althorp Park, her family home
The image of the Royal family was not very well liked by the British public due to there treatment of Diana and the ongoing affair of Prince Charles. At the time of the accident the royal family was at Ballmoral castle Scotland, it took almost a whole week and a sever reprimand from Downing street before Queen Elizabeth appeared on Television and gave a brief speech about the death of Diana
