10 important facts from the life of Princess Diana on the anniversary of her death

On August 31, 1997, Diana Spencer was involved in a tragic car accident, which caused her sudden death. On the anniversary of the death of the Princess of Wales, we want to recall the most interesting and remarkable facts from her biography, including her painful marriage to Prince Charles, as well as her subsequent relationship.

Few people know, but calling Diana Spencer "Princess Diana" is not quite right. It was just that for many years it was called by the media, so the name took root in society. Diana received the title "lady" in 1975, when her father became the eighth Earl Spencer after the death of her grandfather.

After marrying the prince, Diana Spencer became the "Princess of Wales". She could become "Princess Diana" only if she was born into the royal family.

Although Diana is a representative of one of the largest British aristocratic families, it cannot be said that she lived in luxury. The entire inheritance of the count was passed down through the male line, so Diana had to work from a young age. The girl did not disdain work: she cleaned friends ' houses, worked as a nanny and kindergarten teacher, taught dancing.

Diana Spencer's first meeting with Prince Charles took place in November 1977. Then the future princess was only 16 years old. The Prince was in a romantic relationship with her older sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale. A couple of years later, they met again, and even then Charles showed serious interest in Diana as a potential bride. Six months later, the prince proposed to the girl. In total, they saw each other only 12 times before the wedding.

Diana deliberately changed part of the wedding vow during the wedding ceremony. She removed the word "obey" from the traditional promise, leaving only "to love, comfort, honor and protect".

After Diana, only Kate Middleton dared to do such an act, and then 30 years later. By the way, this is not the only "wedding tradition" that Princess Diana introduced. Earlier we have already told about the dangerous ceremony for the guests, which was initiated by Lady Dee.

A little-known fact for many remains that Diana had an eating disorder for a long time. The culprit of his appearance, we can say, was Prince Charles. Once, before the wedding, he made an awkward remark to Diana about her weight. This comment hurt the girl so much that since then she began to worry a lot about every gram she ate.

By the time of the wedding, Diana's waist had decreased by 20 centimeters. This is because every meal caused the future princess to have an attack of nausea and, of course, everything ended with vomiting.

Immediately after the birth of her first son, Diana began a severe depression. As the Princess of Wales herself later told, she "deliberately harmed herself", thus trying to replace mental pain with physical pain.

The situation was also aggravated by the way their relationship with Charles was developing. Soon after the wedding, both realized that they had made a serious mistake. Diana and Charles were the absolute opposite of each other, like heaven and earth. In addition, Charles still has warm feelings for the woman he once loved, and now - his legal wife Camilla Parker Bowles.

From the very beginning, Diana understood that Prince Charles was still thinking about another woman. But when, 5 years later, Charles and Camilla began to communicate again, the offended wife decided to take revenge on the unfaithful prince. It was then that Diana started her first affair with Officer James Hewitt. As he told in his book "Love and War", the girl asked him to give several riding lessons, during which feelings flared up between them.

Diana is also credited with a relationship with bodyguard Barry Mannaki. She once admitted that it was "the greatest love of her life." They say that Diana was even ready to give up everything and run away with her lover. But in 1987, he tragically died after crashing on a motorcycle. Diana was sure that Mannaki's murder was staged.

From the disappointments in marriage and constant conflicts in the palace, Diana sought salvation not only in love affairs, but also in charity. As befits all members of the British royal family, Lady Di was active in public activities. But her actions were noticeably different from similar actions of other princesses, because they showed a sincere desire to help.

Diana traveled to many countries with charity missions, bought expensive equipment for hospitals, helped homeless people and refugees, visited children with cancer three times a week, and so on. It was for her kind heart that Diana was so loved and respected by people.

Diana actively participated in the campaign to ban the production and use of anti-personnel mines, which kill and maim civilians for many years after wars. During the next charity mission, she visited Angola, where she visited the most mined city of the country, Cuito. Just a few days before the visit of the princess, several teenagers died here while playing football. At that time, the number of mines remaining in the ground was estimated at about 9 million.

In Angola, Diana personally walked through a partially cleared minefield, where sappers recently worked. The princess was wearing a protective vest and a special bulletproof screen, but even so, such a "walk" was a huge danger.

Diana also became famous for her support of HIV and leprosy patients. The princess really wanted to dispel the myth that HIV can be transmitted from person to person by airborne droplets, so she openly contacted infected patients and regularly visited them in the hospital.

During her visit to India, Diana visited Mother Teresa's leprosarium, where she personally embraced leprosy patients. Subsequently, the princess became the patroness of the charity organization The Leprosy Mission.

It is said that Diana personally thanked all her admirers. So, after the birth of Prince William, she had to write more than a thousand letters of gratitude for congratulations. Some of these letters were eventually sold at auction at a price of 2 to 20 thousand dollars.