Diana Frances Spencer was not a princess when she was born, but she was a member of one of Great Britain's oldest and most important families. The Spencers had been closely allied with the royal family for more than 500 years.

The Spencer family coat of arms

Diana's father, Edward John Spencer, who then bore the title Viscount Althorp, had been an equerry to King George VI. Later, he served the king's daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, as an equerry as well. Diana's mother, Frances Roche, had ties to the royal family too. Her parents, Lord and Lady Maurice and Ruth Fermoy, were close friends of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth, later known as the Queen Mother.

Married in 1954, Edward and Frances had 5 children. Their first two children were daughters. Sarah was born in 1955 and Jane was born in 1957. On January 12, 1960, Frances gave birth to Baby John, who was severely disabled and died just 10 hours after birth. 18 months after John died, Frances gave birth to her fourth child. The family was so eager for her to have a boy that they did not even pick out any girls' names. But the baby born to Frances on July 1, 1961, was another girl. It was a week before her parents chose to name her Diana Frances. The Spencer's fifth child, Charles, was born in 1964.

Diana and her siblings spent their childhood at Park House, a large estate in Norfolk, England. The house was located on the grounds of the royal family's estate of Sandringham. During her childhood, Diana and her siblings occasionally went to Sandringham for lunch, or to watch movies with the royal family.

Despite of the beautiful surroundings, Diana's childhood was full of unhappiness and turmoil. Much of Diana's unhappiness came from the deteriorating relationship between her parents. The Spencer's marriage had been strained since the death of their first son. In 1969, Edward and Frances divorced. Edward was given full custody of their four children. Soon after the divorce was finalized, Diana's mother married Peter Shand-Kydd, a Scottish businessman.

It was common for upper-class families to send their children to boarding schools when they were about eight years old. Diana was sent to Riddlesworth Hall, an all-girls boarding school about an hour away from her home. Diana quickly developed a reputation as a kind girl who especially liked helping the younger children and she often assisted teachers with their students. Although she was popular and enjoyed the social side of school, Diana struggled to learn math and science, and only enjoyed classes in art, music and athletics.

Earl Spencer with his children at Althorp in 1975

Upon the death of her grandfather in 1975, Diana's father became the eighth Earl Spencer and inherited the ancestral estate of Althorp and all the financial resources and liabilities associated with it. Diana and her siblings also received titles. Diana, Jane and Sarah were now Ladies, and Charles was Viscount Althorp. Around the same time the family moved to Althorp, Diana also changed schools. She moved to another boarding school called West Heath, which was also attended by her older sisters.

In 1977, Diana's father remarried. His new wife was Raine, Countess of Dartmouth. The Spencer children were united against their new stepmother, whom they disliked. The children were always fighting with their new stepmother, and even named her 'Acid Rain'.

When Diana was 16 years old, she met Prince Charles for the first time at a hunting party at Althorp. There was nothing glamorous or romantic about the meeting. Soon afterward, Diana was enrolled in a finishing school near Gstaad, Switzerland. At the Institute Alpin Vidamanette, she studied foreign languages, music and sports.

In the summer of 1979, Diana's family bought her a spacious apartment located at 60 Coleherne Court in a fashionable and exclusive area of London, known as South Kensington. Diana shared the apartment with three friends, Carolyn Bartholomew, Anne Bolton, and Virginia Pitman.

Although Diana did not need money, as her expenses were paid by her parents, she did want to find a job. She frequently worked for her sister Sarah and her friends doing housekeeping, earning a pound. She also babysat the children of her sisters and their friends. Diana also worked as an assistant teacher at the Young England Kindergarten, a private preschool located in the nearby London neighborhood of Pimlico that catered to wealthy, upper-class families. Because her job at the Young England Kindergarten was only three days a week, Diana signed on with several agencies that provided nannies to families in the area. Her favorite client was Mary Robertson. Diana loved caring for Mary's son Patrick.

In July 1980, Diana met Prince Charles at a barbecue party at her friend Philip de Pass's house. A few weeks after their meeting, Charles invited Diana to go to a performance of Verdi's 'Requiem' at London's Royal Albert Hall. Diana attended with her grandmother, Lady Ruth Fermoy. Afterward, the three of them went back to Buckingham Palace for a late dinner. More invitations followed.

Prince Charles proposed to Lady Diana on February 6, 1981. The engagement was announced on February 24. Ten days after the announcement of the royal engagement, Diana moved of her apartment and settled into a suite of rooms at Buckingham Palace. She spent her days learning royal protocol, and even received instructions on proper royal behavior by the Queen Mother herself.

On July 29, 1981, Prince Charles married Lady Diana in St. Paul’s Cathedral, before a congregation of 2,500. The ceremony and the royal processions were watched by more than 750 million television viewers in more than 70 countries. Diana was now the Princess of Wales, and the future queen of England. The royal couple spent the first three nights of their honeymoon in Scotland. Then, they departed for a three months Mediterranean cruise on the royal yacht, Britannia.

Charles and Diana lived in two main homes. Their country home was Highgrove, an estate in the countryside of Gloucestershire, and their base in London was Kensington Palace.

The Waleses family at Highgrove in 1986

Diana was keenly aware that one of her most important royal duties was to produce an heir to the throne. Diana loved children very much and was eager to raise a family. On June 21, 1982, Diana gave birth to her first son. She and Charles named him William Arthur Philip Louis. During the early days of 1984, Diana discovered that she was pregnant again. On September 15, 1984, Diana gave birth to her second son. The new baby was named Henry Charles Albert David, but he would be called Harry. Diana's two sons are commonly referred to as 'the heir and the spare'.

Although Diana and Charles did their best in front of the public and press, rumors began to swirl inside the palace about the state of the royal marriage, and that Charles and Diana were growing apart and each had separate private lives. As the decade wore on, the tension between the two began to creep into even their public appearances, as it became ever more difficult for them to live up to the front of the perfect royal marriage.

On November 25, Charles told Diana he wanted a separation. She agreed. On December 9, 1992, Buckingham Palace announced that the Prince and Princess of Wales were separating. Few months later, a stressed and tired Diana stated that she was withdrawing from public life. Diana was struggling with how she would define her new role within the royal family and how she would ensure that she had control over her sons' lives.

Diana might have been separated from Prince Charles, but she was not hidden away from the dazzle of public appearances. Diana appeared at many openings, galas and celebrity fundraisers. Most of these events were for charity. Diana was committed to doing good works and being a humanitarian. She traveled around the world representing the International Red Cross, spoke and fundraisers, visited shelters for battered women and the homeless, and visited AIDS victims and other terminally ill patients.

Although Diana was still very popular with the public, she found it hard to adjust to life outside the royal family. She felt caught between two worlds: separated from her husband, but not divorced, officially part of the royal family, yet not welcomed by them. The attitude of press photographers was especially hard to bear. Their attention had always been overwhelming, but in the past, Diana had had the support of the royal family in dealing with the press. Now, she was on her own.

During the separation period, Charles and Diana harassed each other through the press. The constant warfare between the two was severely damaging the monarchy's reputation. The royal family was furious at their behavior, and Queen Elizabeth II wrote to both Charles and Diana asking them to start divorce proceedings. On August 28, 1996, the final divorce decree was issued.

Under the terms of an agreement reached between Diana and the royal family, Diana was barred from ever succeeding to the throne and forced to drop the prefix H.R.H, from her name, becoming known simply as Diana, Princess of Wales. She shared custody of William and Harry with Charles and was to be involved in all decisions regarding them, she was able to continue living in Kensington Palace, and received a lump sum alimony payment of $20 million dollar.

Even though Diana cut back on her charity work after her divorce, she was still actively involved in helping others. Diana was energized by her work and felt that a new fulfilling role as a humanitarian ambassador was definitely within her grasp. Her life was taking a positive turn professionally, and in other areas as well.

On July 1997, Diana received an invitation to vacation in the tropical paradise of St. Tropez at an estate belonging to Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed. Al Fayed was a close friend to Diana's father Earl Spencer and stepmother Countess of Dartmouth. He was the owner of the world-famous Harrods department store in London. When arrived to Nice, France, Diana was introduced to Al Fayed's handsome, unmarried, 41 year old son, Emad, better known as Dodi.

After two weeks, Dodi invited Diana to another Mediterranean cruise on the 'Jonikal', Al Fayed's luxurious yacht. She accepted. On August 30, Diana and Dodi traveled to Paris for a short stay, as Diana was planning to return to London to spend few days with her sons before they went back to school.

Princess Diana enters the Ritz Hotel few hours before her untimely death

After a private dinner at the Ritz Hotel, Diana and Dodi decided to leave the hotel by the back entrance, in hopes of eluding the photographers. At 12:00 pm, they got into a black Mercedes, driven by the hotel chuffer, Henri Paul. Despite these efforts, a group of photographers figured out what was going on and was waiting at the Ritz's back entrance. As soon as the black Mercedes pulled away, they followed.

When the black Mercedes entered Paris's Alma Tunnel, the driver lost control of the wheel. At 12:30 pm, the car crashed in the 13th pillar of the tunnel. The driver and Dodi died instantly after the crash, but Diana and the bodyguard were very badly injured.

The princess suffered from internal bleeding. At the resuscitation room at La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, doctors were massaging Diana's weak heart and made an immediate operation aiming to save her life. Two hours later, the hospital announced the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on August 31, 1997, at 4:00 am Paris time. She was 36 year old.

Prince Charles flew to Paris with Diana's older sisters to bring her body back to England. Diana's funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, September 6, 1997. Her children, William and Harry, walked behind the coffin on the slow journey to the abbey with their father, Prince Charles, their grandfather, Prince Philip, and their uncle, Earl Spencer.

Millions of people lined the streets in London to say goodbye, while 2.5 billion people watched  the funeral service and procession on television. It was the largest television event in history. Diana's coffin was loaded into a hearse and driven tot the Spencer Family's estate at Althorp. There, in a private service attended only by the Spencer family, Diana was buried on an island in the middle of the lake.