Diana, Princess of Wales

## Diana

*Princess of Wales*

Vanity Fair *interview, 1997*

## Media

Official Biography

Gallery

## Early Life

Diana Frances Spencer was born on 1 July 1961 at Park House in Sandringham, Norfolk, the fourth of five children to John Spencer and Frances (née Roche), then Viscount and Viscountess Althorp. She had two older sisters; Sarah (b. 1955) and Jane (b. 1957), an older brother, John (1960) that died a few days after birth, and a younger brother Charles (b. 1964).

Diana’s first name was in honor of Lady Diana Spencer, a many times great aunt who was also a prospective bride of The Prince of Wales. Her middle name, Frances is in honor of her mother.

The Spencer Family had been close allies of the British Royal Family for generations. Diana’s grandmothers, Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer and Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Her parents had been hoping for a son to carry on the Spencer title, and according to Diana’s brother, Charles, their difficulties in producing an heir was likely the cause of the breakdown of their marriage and subsequent divorce.

Diana was baptised on 30 August 1961 at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham. Diana grew up in Park House on the Sandringham estate. The family had leased the house from its owner, Queen Elizabeth II, whom Diana called “Aunt Lilibet“ since her childhood. When the Royal Family vacationed at Sandringham House near Park House, Diana would play with the Queen’s younger sons, Princes Andrew and Edward.

Diana‘s parents divorced when she was seven. Shortly thereafter, her mother began a relationship with Peter Shand Kydd and they married in 1969. During her parents separation in 1967, Diana lived with her mother in London until her father won custody of her.

In 1976, her father remarried to Raine McCorquodale. Diana would later say that her relationship with her stepmother was particularly bad. She resented her, calling her, a “bully” and on one occasion, the two of them got into such a heated argument that Diana pushed her down a flight of stairs. Diana would later say that her childhood was “very unhappy and unstable”.

Diana became known as “Lady Diana“ after her father, inherited the title of Earl Spencer, in 1975, at which point the entire family moved from Park House to Althorp, the Spencer seat in Northamptonshire.

## Education and career

Diana was homeschooled under the supervision of her governess, Gertrude Allen before beginning her formal education at Silfield Private School in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. She eventually moved to Riddlesworth Hall School when she was nine years old.

In 1973, Diana joined her sisters and West Heath Girls’ School in Sevenoaks, Kent. She struggled academically, failing her O- levels twice, although she had outstanding community spirit, which was recognized with an award from West Heath. Diana would eventually leave West Heath when she was 16.

Diana was a talented musician, displayed by her proficiency in playing the piano, and she also excelled in swimming, diving, ballet and tap dancing.

Diana worked for three months in 1978 as a nanny for Philippa and Jeremy Whitaker in Hampshire. Diana attended finishing school at Institut Alpin Videmanette in the Rouguemont, Switzerland for one term and left after Easter of the same year. After that, Diana return to London, where she shared her mother’s apartment with two school friends. While in London, Diana took an advance cooking course and worked at a series of low-paying jobs, such as being a dance instructor for young children until a skiing accident caused her to miss three months of work. Diana also worked as a playgroup, preschool assistant, and did some cleaning work for her sister, Sarah, and several friends, as well as acting as a hostess for parties.

Diana also spent time working as a nanny for the Robertsons, an American family that was living in London, and she worked as a nursery teacher’s assistant at the young England school in Pimlico.

In 1979, her mother bought her an apartment at Coleherne Court in Earl’s Court as an 18th birthday present, and she would continue to live there until 25 February 1981.

## Marriage

### Early Relationship with Prince Charles

Diana first met, Charles, Prince of Wales, the oldest son, and heir apparent to Queen Elizabeth II in 1977 when she was 16. At the time, Prince Charles was dating her older sister, Lady Sarah, it was during that time that Charles and Diana were guests at a country weekend during the summer of 1980 when he took a serious interest in her as a potential bride.

Their relationship progressed when he invited her aboard the royal yacht Britannia for a sailing, weekend to Cowes, and he eventually invited her to Balmoral Castle, the Royal family’s Scottish residence, to meet his family. He was well received by the Queen, Queen Mother, and The Duke of Edinburgh. Charles subsequently courted Diana in London, and he proposed to her on 6 February 1981 at Windsor Castle, and she excepted. Their engagement wouldn’t be announced for another two and a half weeks.

### Engagement and Wedding

Their engagement was announced on 24 February 1981, and Diana selected her own engagement ring. Following the announcement, Diana left her job as a nursery teacher’s assistant, and lived for a short period at Clarence House. For a brief time, she lived at Buckingham Palace up until the wedding. Her marriage to Charles made Diana the first Englishwoman to marry the first in line to the throne since Anne Hyde married the future of James II over 300 years earlier. She was also the first royal bride to have had a paying job before her engagement. Diana and Charles made their first public appearance as a couple at a charity ball in 1981 at Goldsmith’s Hall, where she also met Grace Kelly, The Princess Consort of Monaco.

Diana became The Princess of Wales when she married Prince Charles on 29 July 1981 at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, which offered more seating than Westminster Abbey. The service was watched globally by a television audience of 750 million people while 600,000 spectators line the streets to catch a glimpse of the new couple.

After she became Princess of Wales and for the rest of her marriage, Diana acquired the rank of the third highest female in the British order of precedence after the Queen and the Queen Mother. Within a few years of the wedding, the Queen extended to Diana visible tokens of membership in the Royal family, such as lending her Queen Mary’s lovers knot tiara, and granting her the badge of the Royal family Order of Elizabeth II.

## In Pop Culture

### Portrayals

Diana has been portrayed by a number of actors in movies and television shows.

Catherine Oxenberg portrayed Diana in the 1982 television film, The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana and reprised her role in the 1992 television film, Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After.

Naomi Watts portrayed Diana in the 2013 film of the same name.

Emma Corrin and Elizabeth Debicki portrayed Diana in the Netflix original series, The Crown in seasons 4 and 5 respectively.

Kristen Stewart portrayed Diana in the 2021 film, Spencer.