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Diana, Princess of Wales

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Main page Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Diana Spencer (disambiguation), Lady Di (disambiguation), People's Princess
Contents (disambiguation) and Princess Diana (disambiguation).
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Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August
Random article Diana
About Wikipedia 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King
Princess of Wales (more)
Contact us Charles III (when Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Diana's
Donate activism and glamour made her an international icon and earned her enduring
popularity as well as almost unprecedented public scrutiny.
Contribute

Help Diana was born into the British nobility and grew up close to the royal family on their
Learn to edit Sandringham estate. In 1981, while working as a nursery teacher's assistant, she
Community portal became engaged to the Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II. Their
Recent changes wedding took place at St Paul's Cathedral in 1981 and made her Princess of Wales,
Upload file a role in which she was enthusiastically received by the public. The couple had two

Tools sons, William and Harry, who were then second and third in the line of succession to
the British throne. Diana's marriage to Charles suffered due to their incompatibility
What links here
Related changes and extramarital affairs. They separated in 1992, soon after the breakdown of their
Special pages relationship became public knowledge. Their marital difficulties were widely
Permanent link publicised, and they divorced in 1996.
Page information
As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of the Queen and
Cite this page Diana in June 1997
Wikidata item represented her at functions across the Commonwealth realms. She was celebrated
Born Diana Frances Spencer
in the media for her unconventional approach to charity work. Her patronages 1 July 1961
Print/export initially centred on children and the elderly, but she later became known for her Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk,
Download as PDF involvement in two particular campaigns: one involved the social attitudes towards England, United Kingdom
Printable version and the acceptance of AIDS patients, and the other for the removal of landmines, Died 31 August 1997 (aged 36)
promoted through the International Red Cross. She also raised awareness and Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris,
In other projects France
advocated for ways to help people affected by cancer and mental illness. Diana was
Wikimedia Commons Cause of Car accident
initially noted for her shyness, but her charisma and friendliness endeared her to the
Wikiquote death
public and helped her reputation survive the acrimonious collapse of her marriage.
Burial 6 September 1997
Languages Considered photogenic, she was a leader of fashion in the 1980s and 1990s. Althorp, Northamptonshire, England
Esperanto Diana's death in a car crash in Paris in 1997 led to extensive public mourning and Spouse Charles, Prince of Wales (later
िहन्दी Charles III)
global media attention. An inquest returned a verdict of "unlawful killing" after
日本語 (m. 1981; div. 1996)
Operation Paget, an investigation by the Metropolitan Police. Her legacy has had a
Română Issue William, Prince of Wales
deep impact on the royal family and British society.[1]
Slovenščina Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

‫کوردی‬ Contents [hide] House Spencer (by birth)

Windsor (by marriage)
ไทย 1 Early life
!"#$ 2 Education and career
Father John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer

中⽂ Mother Frances Roche

3 Marriage
3.1 Engagement and wedding Education Riddlesworth Hall School
100 more
West Heath Girls' School
3.2 Children
Edit links Institut Alpin Videmanette
3.3 Problems and separation
Signature
3.4 Divorce
4 Public life
4.1 Public appearances
4.2 Charity work and patronage
4.2.1 HIV/AIDS
4.2.2 Landmines
4.2.3 Cancer
4.2.4 Other areas
4.3 Privacy and legal issues
5 Personal life after divorce
6 Death
6.1 Tribute, funeral, and burial
6.2 Conspiracy theories, inquest and verdict
6.3 Later events
6.3.1 Finances
6.3.2 Subject of U.S. government surveillance
6.3.3 Anniversaries, commemorations, and auctions
7 Legacy
7.1 Public image
7.2 Style icon
7.3 Memorials
7.4 Diana in contemporary art
8 Titles, styles, honours and arms
8.1 Titles and styles
8.2 Honours
8.2.1 Honorary military appointments
8.2.2 Other appointments
8.3 Arms
9 Descendants
10 Ancestry
11 Notes
12 References
13 Bibliography
14 Further reading
15 External links

Early life
Diana Frances Spencer was born on 1 July 1961 at Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk.[2] She was the fourth of five children of
John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (1924–1992) and Frances Spencer, Viscountess Althorp (née Roche; 1936–2004).[3] The
Spencer family had been closely allied with the British royal family for several generations;[4] her grandmothers, Cynthia Spencer,
Countess Spencer, and Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy, had served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.[5]
Her parents were hoping for a boy to carry on the family line, and no name was chosen for a week until they settled on Diana
Frances after her mother and Lady Diana Spencer, a many-times-great-aunt who was also a prospective Princess of Wales.[6]
Within the family, she was also known informally as "Duch", a reference to her duchess-like attitude in childhood.[7]

On 30 August 1961,[8] Diana was baptised at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham.[6] She grew up with three siblings:
Sarah, Jane, and Charles.[9] Her infant brother, John, died shortly after his birth one year before Diana was born.[10] The desire for
an heir added strain to her parents' marriage, and Lady Althorp was sent to Harley Street clinics in London to determine the cause
of the "problem".[6] The experience was described as "humiliating" by Diana's younger brother, Charles: "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."[6] Diana grew up in Park House,
situated on the Sandringham estate.[11] The family leased the house from its owner, Queen Elizabeth II, whom Diana called "Aunt
Lilibet" since childhood.[12] The royal family frequently holidayed at the neighbouring Sandringham House, and Diana played with
the Queen's sons Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.[13]

Diana was seven years old when her parents divorced.[14] Her mother later began a relationship with Peter Shand Kydd and
married him in 1969.[15] Diana lived with her mother in London during her parents' separation in 1967, but during that year's
Christmas holidays, Lord Althorp refused to let his daughter return to London with Lady Althorp. Shortly afterwards, he won
custody of Diana with support from his former mother-in-law, Lady Fermoy.[16] In 1976, Lord Althorp married Raine, Countess of
Dartmouth.[17] Diana's relationship with her stepmother was particularly bad.[18] She resented Raine, whom she called a "bully".
On one occasion Diana pushed her down the stairs.[18] She later described her childhood as "very unhappy" and "very unstable,
the whole thing".[19] She became known as Lady Diana after her father later inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975, at which
point her father moved the entire family from Park House to Althorp, the Spencer seat in Northamptonshire.[20]

Education and career

Diana was initially home-schooled under the supervision of her governess, Gertrude Allen.[21] She began her formal education at
Silfield Private School in King's Lynn, Norfolk, and moved to Riddlesworth Hall School, an all-girls boarding school near Thetford,
when she was nine.[22] She joined her sisters at West Heath Girls' School in Sevenoaks, Kent, in 1973.[23] She did not perform
well academically, failing her O-levels twice. Her outstanding community spirit was recognised with an award from West Heath.[24]
She left West Heath when she was sixteen.[25] Her brother Charles recalls her as being quite shy up until that time.[26] She
showed a talent for music as an accomplished pianist.[24] She also excelled in swimming and diving, and studied ballet and tap
dance.[27]

In 1978, Diana worked for three months as a nanny for Philippa and Jeremy Whitaker in Hampshire.[28] After attending Institut
Alpin Videmanette (a finishing school in Rougemont, Switzerland) for one term, and leaving after the Easter term of 1978,[29]
Diana returned to London, where she shared her mother's flat with two school friends.[30] In London, she took an advanced
cooking course, but seldom cooked for her roommates. She took a series of low-paying jobs; she worked as a dance instructor for
youth until a skiing accident caused her to miss three months of work.[31] She then found employment as a playgroup pre-school
assistant, did some cleaning work for her sister Sarah and several of her friends, and acted as a hostess at parties. She spent
time working as a nanny for the Robertsons, an American family living in London,[32] and worked as a nursery teacher's assistant
at the Young England School in Pimlico.[33] In July 1979, her mother bought her a flat at Coleherne Court in Earl's Court as an
18th birthday present.[34] She lived there with three flatmates until 25 February 1981.[35]

Marriage
Diana first met the Prince of Wales (later Charles III), Elizabeth II's eldest son and heir
apparent, when she was 16 in November 1977. He was then 29 and dating her older
sister, Sarah.[36][37] Charles and Diana were guests at a country weekend during the
summer of 1980 when she watched him play polo and he took a serious interest in her as
a potential bride.[citation needed] The relationship progressed when he invited her aboard
the royal yacht Britannia for a sailing weekend to Cowes. This was followed by an
invitation to Balmoral Castle (the royal family's Scottish residence) to meet his family one
weekend in November 1980.[38][39] She was well received by the Queen, the Queen
Mother and the Duke of Edinburgh. Charles subsequently courted Diana in London. He
proposed on 6 February 1981 at Windsor Castle, and she accepted, but their
engagement was kept secret for two and a half weeks.[35]
The wedding of Charles and Diana
commemorated on a 1981 British crown
Engagement and wedding coin
Further information: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer and
Wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer

Their engagement became official on 24 February 1981.[21] Diana selected her own engagement ring.[21] Following the
engagement, she left her occupation as a nursery teacher's assistant and lived for a short period at Clarence House, which was
the home of the Queen Mother.[40] She then lived at Buckingham Palace until the wedding,[40] where, according to biographer
Ingrid Seward, her life was incredibly lonely.[41] Diana was the first Englishwoman to marry the first in line to the throne since Anne
Hyde married the future James II over 300 years earlier, and she was also the first royal bride to have a paying job before her
engagement.[24][21] She made her first public appearance with Prince Charles in a charity ball in March 1981 at Goldsmiths' Hall,
where she met Grace, Princess of Monaco.[40]

Twenty-year-old Diana became the Princess of Wales when she married Charles on 29 July 1981. The wedding was held at St
Paul's Cathedral, which offered more seating than Westminster Abbey, a church that was generally used for royal nuptials.[24][21]
The service was widely described as a "fairytale wedding" and was watched by a global television audience of 750 million people
while 600,000 spectators lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the couple en route to the ceremony.[21][42] At the altar, Diana
inadvertently reversed the order of his first two names, saying "Philip Charles" Arthur George instead.[42] She did not say she
would "obey" him; that traditional vow was left out at the couple's request, which caused some comment at the time.[43] Diana
wore a dress valued at £9,000 (equivalent to £36,700 in 2021) with a 25-foot (7.62-metre) train.[44]

After she became Princess of Wales, Diana automatically acquired rank as the third-
highest female in the British order of precedence (after the Queen and the Queen
Mother), and was fifth or sixth in the orders of precedence of her other realms, following
the Queen, the relevant viceroy, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen Mother, and the
Prince of Wales. Within a few years of the wedding, the Queen extended Diana visible
tokens of membership in the royal family; she lent her the Queen Mary's Lover's Knot
Tiara,[45][46] and granted her the badge of the Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II.[47]

Children
The couple had residences at Kensington Palace and Highgrove House, near Tetbury.
On 5 November 1981, Diana's pregnancy was announced.[48] In January 1982–12 weeks Charles and Diana in Queensland,
1983
into the pregnancy—Diana fell down a staircase at Sandringham, suffering some bruising,
and the royal gynaecologist Sir George Pinker was summoned from London; the foetus
was uninjured.[49] Diana later confessed that she had intentionally thrown herself down the stairs because she was feeling "so
inadequate".[50] On 21 June 1982, Diana gave birth to the couple's first son, Prince William.[51] She subsequently suffered from
postpartum depression after her first pregnancy.[52] Amidst some media criticism, she decided to take William—who was still a
baby—on her first major tours of Australia and New Zealand, and the decision was popularly applauded. By her own admission,
Diana had not initially intended to take William until Malcolm Fraser, the Australian prime minister, made the suggestion.[53]

A second son, Harry, was born on 15 September 1984.[54] Diana said she and Charles were closest during her pregnancy with
Harry.[55] She was aware their second child was a boy, but did not share the knowledge with anyone else, including Charles as he
was hoping for a girl.[56]

Diana gave her sons wider experiences than was usual for royal children.[21][57][58] She rarely deferred to Charles or to the royal
family, and was often intransigent when it came to the children. 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 took them to school herself
as often as her schedule permitted. She also organised her public duties around their timetables.[59] Diana was reported to have
described Harry as "naughty, just like me", and William as "my little wise old man" whom she started to rely on as her confidant by
his early teens.[60]

Problems and separation

Five years into the marriage, the couple's incompatibility and age difference of 12 years
became visible and damaging.[61] In 1986 Diana began a relationship with Major James
Hewitt, the family's former riding instructor and in the same year, Charles resumed his
relationship with his former girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles. The media speculated that
Hewitt, not Charles, was Harry's father based on the alleged physical similarity between
Hewitt and Harry, but Hewitt and others have denied this. Harry was born two years
before Hewitt and Diana began their affair.[55][62]
The Prince and Princess of Wales
By 1987, cracks in their marriage had become visible and the couple's unhappiness and
with Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan
cold attitude towards one another were being reported by the press,[41][63] who dubbed in November 1985
them "The Glums" due to their evident discomfort in each other's company.[64] In 1989,
Diana was at a birthday party for Camilla's sister, Annabel Elliot, when she confronted
Camilla about her and Charles's extramarital affair.[65][66] These affairs were later exposed in May 1992 with the publication of
Andrew Morton's book, Diana: Her True Story.[67][68] The book, which also revealed Diana's allegedly suicidal unhappiness,
caused a media storm. In 1991, James Colthurst conducted secret interviews with Diana in which she had talked about her
marital issues and difficulties. These recordings were later used as a source for Morton's book.[69][70] During her lifetime, both
Diana and Morton denied her direct involvement in the writing process and maintained that family and friends were the book's
main source, however, after her death Morton acknowledged Diana's role in writing the tell-all in the book's updated edition,
Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words.[71]

The Queen and Prince Philip hosted a meeting between Charles and Diana and unsuccessfully tried to effect a reconciliation.[72]
Philip wrote to Diana and expressed his disappointment at the extramarital affairs of both her and Charles; he asked her to
examine their behaviour from the other's point of view.[73] The Duke was direct and Diana was sensitive.[74] She found the letters
hard to take, but nevertheless appreciated that he was acting with good intent.[75] It was alleged by some people, including
Diana's close friend Simone Simmons, that Diana and her former father-in-law, Prince Philip, had a relationship filled with tension;
[76][77][78]
however, other observers said their letters provided no sign of friction between them.[79] Philip later issued a statement,
publicly denying the allegations of him insulting Diana.[80]

During 1992 and 1993, leaked tapes of telephone conversations reflected negatively on both Charles and Diana. Tape recordings
of Diana and James Gilbey were made public in August 1992,[81] and transcripts were published the same month.[21] The article,
"Squidgygate", was followed in November 1992 by the leaked "Camillagate" tapes, intimate exchanges between Charles and
Camilla, published in the tabloids.[82][83] In December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced the couple's "amicable
separation" to the House of Commons.[84][85]

Between 1992 and 1993, Diana hired voice coach Peter Settelen to help her develop her public speaking voice.[86] In a videotape
recorded by Settelen in 1992, Diana said that in 1984 through to 1986, she had been "deeply in love with someone who worked in
this environment."[87][88] It is thought she was referring to Barry Mannakee,[89] who was transferred to the Diplomatic Protection
Squad in 1986 after his managers had determined that his relationship with Diana had been inappropriate.[88][90] Diana said in the
tape that Mannakee had been "chucked out" from his role as her bodyguard following suspicion that the two were having an affair.
[87]
Penny Junor suggested in her 1998 book that Diana was in a romantic relationship with Mannakee.[91] Diana's friends
dismissed the claim as absurd.[91] In the subsequently released tapes, Diana said she had feelings for that "someone", saying "I
was quite happy to give all this up [and] just to go off and live with him". She described him as "the greatest friend [she's] ever
had", though she denied any sexual relationship with him.[92] She also spoke bitterly of her husband saying that "[He] made me
feel so inadequate in every possible way, that each time I came up for air he pushed me down again."[93][94]

Charles's aunt Princess Margaret burned "highly personal" letters that Diana had written to the Queen Mother in 1993. Biographer
William Shawcross considered Margaret's action to be "understandable" as she was "protecting her mother and other members of
the family", but "regrettable from a historical viewpoint".[95]

Although she blamed Camilla Parker Bowles for her marital troubles, Diana began to believe her husband had also been involved
in other affairs. In October 1993, Diana wrote to her butler Paul Burrell, telling him that she believed her husband was now in love
with his personal assistant Tiggy Legge-Bourke—who was also his sons' former nanny—and was planning to have her killed "to
make the path clear for him to marry Tiggy".[96][97] Legge-Bourke had been hired by Charles as a young companion for his sons
while they were in his care, and Diana was resentful of Legge-Bourke and her relationship with the young princes.[98] Prince
Charles sought public understanding via a televised interview with Jonathan Dimbleby on 29 June 1994. In the interview, he said
he had rekindled his relationship with Camilla in 1986 only after his marriage to Diana had "irretrievably broken down".[99][100][101]
In the same year, Diana's affair with James Hewitt was exposed in detail in the book Princess in Love by Anna Pasternak, with
Hewitt acting as the main source.[60] Diana was evidently disturbed and outraged when the book was released, although
Pasternak claimed Hewitt had acted with Diana's support to avoid having the affair covered in Andrew Morton's second book.[60]

In the same year, the News of the World claimed that Diana had made over 300 phone calls to the married art dealer Oliver
Hoare.[102][103] These calls were proven to have been made both from her Kensington Palace apartment and from the phone box
just outside the palace. According to Hoare's obituary, there was little doubt she had been in a relationship with him.[104] However,
Diana denied any romantic relationship with Hoare, whom she described as a friend, and said that "a young boy" was the source
of the nuisance calls made to Hoare.[105][106] She was also linked by the press to rugby union player Will Carling[107][108] and
private equity investor Theodore J. Forstmann,[109][110] yet these claims were neither confirmed nor proven.[111][112]

Divorce
Journalist Martin Bashir interviewed Diana for the BBC current affairs show Panorama. The
interview was broadcast on 20 November 1995.[113] Diana discussed her own and her husband's
extramarital affairs.[114] Referring to Charles's relationship with Camilla, she said: "Well, there
were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." She also expressed doubt about her
husband's suitability for kingship.[113] Authors Tina Brown, Sally Bedell Smith, and Sarah Bradford
support Diana's admission in the interview that she had suffered from depression, "rampant
bulimia" and had engaged numerous times in the act of self mutilation; the show's transcript
records Diana confirming many of her mental health problems, including that she had "hurt [her]
arms and legs".[113] The combination of illnesses from which Diana herself said she suffered
resulted in some of her biographers opining that she had borderline personality disorder.[115][116] It
was later revealed that Bashir had used forged bank statements to win Diana and her brother's
The Princess of Wales in
Russia, 1995 trust to secure the interview, falsely indicating people close to her had been paid for spying.[117]

The interview proved to be the tipping point. On 20 December, Buckingham Palace announced
that the Queen had sent letters to Charles and Diana, advising them to divorce.[118][119] The Queen's move was backed by the
Prime Minister and by senior Privy Counsellors, and, according to the BBC, was decided after two weeks of talks.[120] Charles
formally agreed to the divorce in a written statement soon after.[118] In February 1996, Diana announced her agreement after
negotiations with Charles and representatives of the Queen,[121] irritating Buckingham Palace by issuing her own announcement
of the divorce agreement and its terms. In July 1996, the couple agreed on the terms of their divorce.[122] This followed shortly
after Diana's accusation that Charles's personal assistant Tiggy Legge-Bourke had aborted his child, after which Legge-Bourke
instructed her attorney Peter Carter-Ruck to demand an apology.[123][124] Diana's private secretary Patrick Jephson resigned
shortly before the story broke, later writing that she had "exulted in accusing Legge-Bourke of having had an abortion".[125][126]
The rumours of Legge-Bourke's alleged abortion were apparently spread by Martin Bashir as a means to gain his Panorama
interview with Diana.[127]

The decree nisi was granted on 15 July 1996 and the divorce was finalised on 28 August 1996.[128][129] Diana was represented by
Anthony Julius in the case.[130] She received a lump sum settlement of £17 million (equivalent to £33,947,736 in 2021) as well as
£400,000 per year. The couple signed a confidentiality agreement that prohibited them from discussing the details of the divorce
or of their married life.[131][122] Days before, letters patent were issued with general rules to regulate royal titles after divorce.
Diana lost the style "Her Royal Highness" and instead was styled Diana, Princess of Wales. As the mother of the prince expected
to one day ascend to the throne, she continued to be regarded as a member of the royal family and was accorded the same
precedence she enjoyed during her marriage.[132] The Queen reportedly wanted to let Diana continue to use the style of Royal
Highness after her divorce, but Charles had insisted on removing it.[122] Prince William was reported to have reassured his
mother: "Don't worry, Mummy, I will give it back to you one day when I am King."[133] Almost a year before, according to Tina
Brown, Prince Philip had warned Diana: "If you don't behave, my girl, we'll take your title away." She is said to have replied: "My
title is a lot older than yours, Philip."[134]

Public life
Public appearances
Following her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana made her first official public
appearance in March 1981 in a charity event at Goldsmiths' Hall.[135][136] She attended
the Trooping the Colour for the first time in June 1981, making her appearance on the
balcony of Buckingham Palace afterwards. In October 1981, Charles and Diana visited
Wales.[24][137] Diana attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time on 4
November 1981.[138] Her first solo engagement was a visit to Regent Street on 18
November 1981 to switch on the Christmas lights.[139] Diana made her inaugural
overseas tour in September 1982, to attend the state funeral of Grace, Princess of Diana in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Canada, in 1983
Monaco.[24] Also in 1982, Diana was created a Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown by
Queen Beatrix.[140] In 1983, she accompanied Charles on a tour of Australia and New
Zealand with Prince William. The tour was a success and the couple drew immense crowds, though the press focused more on
Diana rather than Charles, coining the term 'Dianamania' as a reference to people's obsession with her.[141] While sitting in a car
with Charles near the Sydney Opera House, Diana burst into tears for a few minutes, which their office stated was due to jet lag
and the heat.[142] In New Zealand, the couple met with representatives of the Māori people.[24] Their visit to Canada in June and
July 1983 included a trip to Edmonton to open the 1983 Summer Universiade and a stop in Newfoundland to commemorate the
400th anniversary of that island's acquisition by the Crown.[143] In 1983, she was targeted by the Scottish National Liberation
Army who tried to deliver a letter bomb to her.[144]

In February 1984, Diana was the patron of London City Ballet when she travelled to Norway on her own to attend a performance
organised by the company.[24] In April 1985, Charles and Diana visited Italy, and were later joined by Princes William and Harry.
[24]
They met with President Alessandro Pertini. Their visit to the Holy See included a private audience with Pope John Paul II.[145]
In autumn 1985, they returned to Australia, and their tour was well-received by the public and the media, who referred to Diana as
"Di-amond Princess" and the "Jewel in the Crown".[146] In November 1985, the couple visited the United States,[24] meeting
President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan at the White House. Diana had a busy year in 1986 as she and Charles
toured Japan, Spain, and Canada.[143] In Canada, they visited Expo 86,[143] where Diana fainted in the California Pavilion.[147][148]
In November 1986, she went on a six-day tour to Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where she met King Fahd and Sultan
Qaboos bin Said al Said.[149]

In 1988, Charles and Diana visited Thailand and toured Australia for the bicentenary celebrations.[24][150] In February 1989, she
spent a few days in New York as a solo visit, mainly to promote the works of the Welsh National Opera, of which she was a
patron.[151] During a tour of Harlem Hospital Center, she made a profound impact on the public by spontaneously hugging a
seven-year-old child with AIDS.[152] In March 1989, she had her second trip to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, in which she
visited Kuwait and the UAE.[149]

In March 1990, Diana and Charles toured Nigeria and Cameroon.[153] The president of
Cameroon hosted an official dinner to welcome them in Yaoundé.[153] Highlights of the
tour included visits by Diana to hospitals and projects focusing on women's
development.[153] In May 1990, they visited Hungary for four days.[152][154] It was the first
visit by members of the royal family to "a former Warsaw Pact country".[152] They
attended a dinner hosted by President Árpád Göncz and viewed a fashion display at the
Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest.[154] Peto Institute was among the places visited by
Diana, and she presented its director with an honorary OBE.[152] In November 1990, the Diana with US First Lady Barbara
royal couple went to Japan to attend the enthronement of Emperor Akihito.[24][155] Bush in the Yellow Oval Room, 1990

In her desire to play an encouraging role during the Gulf War, Diana visited Germany in
December 1990 to meet with the families of soldiers.[152] She subsequently travelled to Germany in January 1991 to visit RAF
Bruggen, and later wrote an encouraging letter which was published in Soldier, Navy News and RAF News.[152] In 1991, Charles
and Diana visited Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where they presented the university with a replica of their royal
charter.[156] In September 1991, Diana visited Pakistan on a solo trip, and went to Brazil with Charles.[157] During the Brazilian
tour, Diana paid visits to organisations that battled homelessness among street children.[157] Her final trips with Charles were to
India and South Korea in 1992.[24] She visited Mother Teresa's hospice in Kolkata, India.[158] The two women met later in the
same month in Rome[159] and developed a personal relationship.[158] It was also during the Indian tour that pictures of Diana
alone in front of the Taj Mahal made headlines.[160][161][162] In May 1992, she went on a solo tour of Egypt, visiting the Giza
pyramid complex and attending a meeting with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.[163][164] In November 1992, she went on an
official solo trip to France and had an audience with President François Mitterrand.[165]

In March 1993, she went on her first solo trip after her separation from Charles, visiting a leprosy hospital in Nepal where she met
and came into contact with some patients, marking the first time they had ever been touched by a dignitary who had come to visit.
[166]
In December 1993, she announced that she would withdraw from public life, but in November 1994 she said she wished to
"make a partial return".[24][152] In her capacity as the vice-president of British Red Cross, she was interested in playing an
important role for its 125th anniversary celebrations.[152] Later, the Queen formally invited her to attend the anniversary
celebrations of D-Day.[24] In February 1995, Diana visited Japan.[155] She paid a formal visit to Emperor Akihito and Empress
Michiko,[155] and visited the National Children's Hospital in Tokyo.[167] In June 1995, Diana went to the Venice Biennale art
festival,[168] and also visited Moscow where she received the International Leonardo Prize.[169][170] In November 1995, Diana
undertook a four-day trip to Argentina to attend a charity event.[171] She visited many other countries, including Belgium,
Switzerland, and Zimbabwe, alongside numerous others.[24] During her separation from Charles, which lasted for almost four
years, Diana participated in major national occasions as a senior member of the royal family, notably including "the
commemorations of the 50th anniversaries of Victory in Europe Day and Victory over Japan Day" in 1995.[24] Her 36th and final
birthday celebration was held at Tate Gallery, which was also a commemorative event for the gallery's 100th anniversary.[24] In
July 1997, Diana attended Gianni Versace's funeral in Milan, Italy.[172]

Charity work and patronage

In 1983, she confided to the 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 with it."[173] She was expected to make regular public appearances at
hospitals, schools, and other facilities, in the 20th-century model of royal patronage. From the mid-1980s, she became
increasingly associated with numerous charities. She carried out 191 official engagements in 1988[174] and 397 in 1991.[175]
Diana developed an intense interest in serious illnesses and health-related matters outside the purview of traditional royal
involvement, including AIDS and leprosy. In recognition of her effect as a philanthropist, Stephen Lee, director of the UK Institute
of Charity Fundraising Managers, said "Her overall effect on charity is probably more significant than any other person's in the
20th century."[176]

Diana at the official
opening of the community
centre on Whitehall Road,
Bristol, in May 1987
victims, [and] terminally-ill parents", and became its patron.[183] Prince William later replaced his mother as the charity's royal
patron.[184]
She was the patroness of charities and organisations who worked with the homeless, youth, drug
addicts, and the elderly. From 1989, she was president of Great Ormond Street Hospital for
Children. She was patron of the Natural History Museum[177][178] and president of the Royal
Academy of Music.[123][179][177] From 1984 to 1996, she was president of Barnardo's, a charity
founded by Dr. Thomas John Barnardo in 1866 to care for vulnerable children and young
people.[180][177] In 1988, she became patron of the British Red Cross and supported its
organisations in other countries such as Australia and Canada.[152] She made several lengthy
visits each week to Royal Brompton Hospital, where she worked to comfort seriously ill or dying
patients.[158] From 1991 to 1996, she was a patron of Headway, a brain injury
association.[177][181] In 1992, she became the first patron of Chester Childbirth Appeal, a charity
she had supported since 1984.[182] The charity, which is named after one of Diana's royal titles,
could raise over £1 million with her help.[182] In 1994, she helped her friend Julia Samuel launch
the charity Child Bereavement UK which supports children "of military families, those of suicide

Her patronages also included Landmine Survivors Network,[179] Help the Aged,[179][177] the National Hospital for Neurology and
Neurosurgery,[179][177] the British Lung Foundation,[179][177] Eureka! (joint patron with Prince Charles),[179][177] the National
Children's Orchestra,[179][177][152] British Red Cross Youth,[185][177] the Guinness Trust,[177] Meningitis Trust,[177][152] the Malcolm
Sargent Cancer Fund for Children,[177][152] the Royal School for the Blind,[177][152] Welsh National Opera,[177][152] the Variety Club
of New Zealand,[186][177] Birthright,[177][187] the British Deaf Association (for which she learned sign language),[185][177][188] All
England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club,[177] Anglo-European College of Chiropractic,[177] Royal Anthropological Institute of Great
Britain and Ireland,[177] Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital,[177] British Sports Association for the Disabled,[177] British Youth
Opera,[177] Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England,[177] London City Ballet,[177] London Symphony
Orchestra,[177] Pre-School Playgroups Association,[177][152] as well as president or patron of other charities.[177]

In 1987, Diana was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City of London, the highest honour which is in the power of the City of
London to bestow on someone.[189][190] In June 1995, she travelled to Moscow. She paid a visit to a children's hospital she had
previously supported when she provided them with medical equipment. In Moscow, she received the International Leonardo Prize,
which is given to "the most distinguished patrons and people in the arts, medicine, and sports".[191] In December 1995, Diana
received the United Cerebral Palsy Humanitarian of the Year Award in New York City for her philanthropic efforts.[192][193][194] In
October 1996, for her works on the elderly, she was awarded a gold medal at a health care conference organised by the Pio
Manzù Centre in Rimini, Italy.[195]

The day after her divorce, she announced her resignation from over 100 charities and retained patronages of only six:
Centrepoint, English National Ballet, Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Leprosy Mission, National AIDS Trust, and the Royal
Marsden Hospital.[196] She continued her work with the British Red Cross Anti-Personnel Land Mines Campaign, but was no
longer listed as patron.[197][198]

In May 1997, Diana opened the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts in Leicester, after being asked by her
friend Richard Attenborough.[199] In June 1997 and at the suggestion of her son William, some of her dresses and suits were sold
at Christie's auction houses in London and New York, and the proceeds that were earned from these events were donated to
charities.[24] Her final official engagement was a visit to Northwick Park Hospital, London, on 21 July 1997.[24] She was scheduled
to attend a fundraiser at the Osteopathic Centre for Children on 4 September 1997, upon her return from Paris.[200]

HIV/AIDS

Diana began her work with AIDS patients in the 1980s.[201] She was not averse to making physical contact with AIDS patients,
[158][202][203]
and was the first British royal figure to do so.[201] In 1987, she held hands with an AIDS patient in one of her early
efforts to de-stigmatise the condition.[204][205] Diana noted: "HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their
hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it. What's more, you can share their homes, their workplaces, and their
playgrounds and toys."[152][206][207] To Diana's disappointment, the Queen did not support this type of charity work, suggesting she
get involved in "something more pleasant".[201] In 1989, she opened Landmark Aids Centre in South London.[208][209] In October
1990, Diana opened Grandma's House, a home for young AIDS patients in Washington, D.C.[210] She was also a patron of the
National AIDS Trust and regularly visited London Lighthouse, which provided residential care for HIV patients.[152][211] In 1991,
she hugged one patient during a visit to the AIDS ward of the Middlesex Hospital,[152] which she had opened in 1987 as the first
hospital unit dedicated to this cause in the UK.[204][212] As the patron of Turning Point, a health and social care organisation,
Diana visited its project in London for people with HIV/AIDS in 1992.[213] She later established and led fundraising campaigns for
AIDS research.[21]

In March 1997, Diana visited South Africa, where she met with President Nelson Mandela.[214][215] On 2 November 2002,
Mandela announced that the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund would be teaming up with the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial
Fund to help people with AIDS.[216] They had planned the combination of the two charities a few months before her death.[216]
Mandela later praised Diana for her efforts surrounding the issue of HIV/AIDS: "When she stroked the limbs of someone with
leprosy or sat on the bed of a man with HIV/AIDS and held his hand, she transformed public attitudes and improved the life
chances of such people".[217] Diana had used her celebrity status to "fight stigma attached to people living with HIV/AIDS",
Mandela said.[216] In 2009, a panel including Sir Ian McKellen and Alan Hollinghurst chose Diana's portrait to be shown in the Gay
Icons exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London.[218] In October 2017, the Attitude magazine honoured Diana with its
Legacy Award for her HIV/AIDS work. Prince Harry accepted the award on behalf of his mother.[212][219]

Landmines

Diana was the patron of the HALO Trust, an organisation that removes debris—
particularly landmines—left behind by war.[220][221] In January 1997, pictures of Diana
touring an Angolan minefield in a ballistic helmet and flak jacket were seen
worldwide.[220][221] During her campaign, she was accused of meddling in politics and
called a "loose cannon" by Earl Howe, an official in the British Ministry of Defence.[222]
Despite the criticism, HALO states that Diana's efforts resulted in raising international
awareness about landmines and the subsequent sufferings caused by them.[220][221] In
June 1997, she gave a speech at a landmines conference held at the Royal Geographical US First Lady Hillary Clinton and
Diana chat in the Map Room following a
Society, and travelled to Washington, D.C. to help promote the American Red Cross
landmines campaign fund-raiser, June
landmines campaign.[24] From 7 to 10 August 1997, just days before her death, she 1997
visited Bosnia and Herzegovina with Jerry White and Ken Rutherford of the Landmine
Survivors Network.[24][223][224][225]

Her work on the landmines issue has been described as influential in the signing of the Ottawa Treaty, which created an
international ban on the use of anti-personnel landmines.[226] Introducing the Second Reading of the Landmines Bill 1998 to the
British House of Commons, the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, paid tribute to Diana's work on landmines:

All Honourable Members will be aware from their postbags of the immense contribution made by Diana, Princess of
Wales to bringing home to many of our constituents the human costs of landmines. The best way in which to record our
appreciation of her work, and the work of NGOs that have campaigned against landmines, is to pass the Bill, and to
pave the way towards a global ban on landmines.[227]

A few months after Diana's death in 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines won the Nobel Peace Prize.[228]

Cancer

For her first solo official trip, Diana visited The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, a cancer treatment hospital in London.[186]
She later chose this charity to be among the organisations that benefited from the auction of her clothes in New York.[186] The
trust's communications manager said she did "much to remove the stigma and taboo associated with diseases such as cancer,
AIDS, HIV and leprosy".[186] Diana became president of the hospital on 27 June 1989.[229][230][231] The Wolfson Children's Cancer
Unit was opened by Diana on 25 February 1993.[229] In February 1996, Diana, who had been informed about a newly opened
cancer hospital built by Imran Khan, travelled to Pakistan to visit its children's cancer wards and attend a fundraising dinner in aid
of the charity in Lahore.[232] She later visited the hospital again in May 1997.[233] In June 1996, she travelled to Chicago in her
capacity as president of the Royal Marsden Hospital in order to attend a fundraising event at the Field Museum of Natural History
and raised more than £1 million for cancer research.[152] She additionally visited patients at the Cook County Hospital and
delivered remarks at a conference on breast cancer at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law after meeting a group
of breast cancer researchers.[234] In September 1996, after being asked by Katharine Graham, Diana went to Washington and
appeared at a White House breakfast in respect of the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research.[235] She also attended an
annual fund-raiser for breast cancer research organised by The Washington Post at the same centre.[21][236]

In 1988, Diana opened Children with Leukaemia (later renamed Children with Cancer UK) in memory of two young cancer victims.
[237][238][239]
In November 1987, a few days after the death of Jean O'Gorman from cancer, Diana met her family.[237][238] The
deaths of Jean and her brother affected her and she assisted their family to establish the charity.[237][238][239] It was opened by her
on 12 January 1988 at Mill Hill Secondary School, and she supported it until her death in 1997.[237][239]

Other areas

In November 1989, Diana visited a leprosy hospital in Indonesia.[240][201] Following her visit, she became patron of the Leprosy
Mission, an organisation dedicated to providing medicine, treatment, and other support services to those who are afflicted with the
disease. She remained the patron of this charity[196] and visited several of its hospitals around the world, especially in India,
Nepal, Zimbabwe and Nigeria until her death in 1997.[152][241] She touched those affected by the disease when many people
believed it could be contracted through casual contact.[152][240] "It has always been my concern to touch people with leprosy,
trying to show in a simple action that they are not reviled, nor are we repulsed", she commented.[241] The Diana Princess of Wales
Health Education and Media Centre in Noida, India, was opened in her honour in November 1999, funded by the Diana Princess
of Wales Memorial Fund to give social support to the people affected by leprosy and disability.[241]

Diana was a long-standing and active supporter of Centrepoint, a charity which provides accommodation and support to homeless
people, and became patron in 1992.[242][243] She supported organisations that battle poverty and homelessness, including the
Passage.[244] Diana was a supporter of young homeless people and spoke out on behalf of them by saying that "they deserve a
decent start in life".[245] "We, as a part of society, must ensure that young people—who are our future—are given the chance they
deserve", she said.[245] Diana used to take young William and Harry for private visits to Centrepoint services and homeless
shelters.[21][242][246] "The young people at Centrepoint were always really touched by her visits and by her genuine feelings for
them", said one of the charity's staff members.[247] Prince William later became the patron of this charity.[242]

Diana was a staunch and longtime supporter of charities and organisations that focused
on social and mental issues, including Relate and Turning Point.[152] Relate was
relaunched in 1987 as a renewed version to its predecessor, the National Marriage
Guidance Council. Diana became its patron in 1989.[152] Turning Point, a health and
social care organisation, was founded in 1964 to help and support those affected by drug
and alcohol misuse and mental health problems. She became the charity's patron in 1987
and visited the charity on a regular basis, meeting the sufferers at its centres or
Diana visiting the drug squad of the institutions including Rampton and Broadmoor.[152] In 1990 during a speech for Turning
West Midlands Police in 1987 Point she said, "It takes professionalism to convince a doubting public that it should
accept back into its midst many of those diagnosed as psychotics, neurotics and other
sufferers who Victorian communities decided should be kept out of sight in the safety of mental institutions."[152] Despite the
protocol problems of travelling to a Muslim country, she made a trip to Pakistan later that year in order to visit a rehabilitation
centre in Lahore as a sign of "her commitment to working against drug abuse".[152]

Privacy and legal issues

In November 1980, the Sunday Mirror ran a story claiming that Charles had used the Royal Train twice for secret love rendezvous
with Diana, prompting the palace to issue a statement, calling the story "a total fabrication" and demanding an apology.[248][249]
The newspaper editors, however, insisted that the woman boarding the train was Diana and declined to apologise.[248] In
February 1982, pictures of a pregnant Diana in bikini while holidaying were published in the media. The Queen subsequently
released a statement and called it "the blackest day in the history of British journalism."[250]

In 1993, Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) published photographs of Diana that were taken by gym owner Bryce Taylor. The
photos showed her exercising in the gym LA Fitness wearing "a leotard and cycling shorts".[251][252] Diana lawyers immediately
filed a criminal complaint that sought "a permanent ban on the sale and publication of the photographs" around the world.[251][252]
However, some newspapers outside the UK published the pictures.[251] The courts granted an injunction against Taylor and MGN
that prohibited "further publication of the pictures".[251] MGN later issued an apology after facing much criticism from the public
and gave Diana £1 million as a payment for her legal costs, while donating £200,000 to her charities.[251] LA Fitness issued its
own apology in June 1994, which was followed by Taylor apologising in February 1995 and giving up the £300,000 he had made
from the sale of pictures in an out-of-court settlement about a week before the case was set to start.[251] It was alleged that a
member of the royal family had helped him financially to settle out of court.[251]

In 1994, pictures of Diana sunbathing topless at a Costa del Sol hotel were put up for sale by a Spanish photography agency for a
price of £1 million.[253] In 1996, a set of pictures of a topless Diana while sunbathing appeared in the Mirror, which resulted in "a
furor about invasion of privacy".[60] In the same year, she was the subject of a hoax call by Victor Lewis-Smith, who pretended to
be Stephen Hawking, though the full recorded conversation was never released.[254]

Personal life after divorce

After her 1996 divorce, Diana retained the double apartment on the north side of
Kensington Palace that she had shared with Charles since the first year of their marriage;
the apartment remained her home until her death the following year. She also moved her
offices to Kensington Palace but was permitted "to use the state apartments at St
James's Palace".[122][255] In a book published in 2003, Paul Burrell claimed Diana's
private letters had revealed that her brother, Lord Spencer, had refused to allow her to
live at Althorp, despite her request.[124] She was also given an allowance to run her
private office, which was responsible for her charity work and royal duties, but from
Diana meeting with Sri Chinmoy at
September 1996 onwards she was required to pay her bills and "any expenditure" Kensington Palace in May 1997
incurred by her or on her behalf.[256] Furthermore, she continued to have access to the
jewellery that she had received during her marriage, and was allowed to use the air
transport of the British royal family and government.[122] Diana was also offered security by Metropolitan Police's Royalty
Protection Group, which she benefitted from while travelling with her sons, but had refused it in the final years of her life, in an
attempt to distance herself from the royal family.[257][258]

Diana dated the British-Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, who was called "the love of her life" by many of her closest friends
after her death,[259][260][261] and she is said to have described him as "Mr. Wonderful".[262][263][264][265] In May 1996, Diana visited
Lahore upon invitation of Imran Khan, a relative of Hasnat Khan, and visited the latter's family in secret.[266][267] Khan was
intensely private and the relationship was conducted in secrecy, with Diana lying to members of the press who questioned her
about it. Their relationship lasted almost two years with differing accounts of who ended it.[267][268] She is said to have spoken of
her distress when he ended their relationship.[259] However, according to Khan's testimony at the inquest into her death, it was
Diana who ended their relationship in the summer of 1997.[269] Burrell also said the relationship was ended by Diana in July 1997.
[76]
Burrell also claimed that Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd, disapproved of her daughter's relationship with a Muslim man.
[270]
By the time of Diana's death in 1997, she had not spoken to her mother in four months.[271][272] By contrast, her relationship
with her estranged stepmother had reportedly improved.[273][274]

Within a month, Diana began a relationship with Dodi Fayed, the son of her summer host, Mohamed Al-Fayed.[275] That summer,
Diana had considered taking her sons on a holiday to the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, but security officials had
prevented it. After deciding against a trip to Thailand, she accepted Fayed's invitation to join his family in the south of France,
where his compound and large security detail would not cause concern to the Royal Protection squad. Mohamed Al-Fayed bought
the Jonikal, a 60-metre multimillion-pound yacht on which to entertain Diana and her sons.[275][276][277] Tina Brown later claimed
that Diana's romance with Fayed and her four-month relationship with Gulu Lalvani were a ploy "to inflame the true object of her
affections, Hasnat Khan".[60] In the years after her death, Burrell, journalist Richard Kay, and voice coach Stewart Pierce have
claimed that Diana was also thinking about buying a property in the United States.[278][279][280]

Death
Main article: Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

On 31 August 1997, Diana died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris while
the driver was fleeing the paparazzi.[282] The crash also resulted in the deaths of her
companion Dodi Fayed and the driver, Henri Paul, who was the acting security manager
of the Hôtel Ritz Paris. Trevor Rees-Jones, who was employed as a bodyguard by Dodi's
father,[283] survived the crash, suffering a serious head injury. The televised funeral, on 6
September, was watched by a British television audience that peaked at 32.10 million,
which was one of the United Kingdom's highest viewing figures ever. Millions more
watched the event around the world.[284][285]
East entrance to the Pont de l'Alma
tunnel[281]
Tribute, funeral, and burial
Main article: Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales
Further information: Althorp § Diana grave, memorial, and exhibition

The sudden and unexpected death of an extraordinarily popular royal figure brought
statements from senior figures worldwide and many tributes by members of the
public.[286][287][288] People left flowers, candles, cards, and personal messages outside
Kensington Palace for many months. Her coffin, draped with the royal flag, was brought
to London from Paris by Prince Charles and Diana's two sisters on 31 August
1997.[289][290] The coffin was taken to a private mortuary and then placed in the Chapel
Royal, St James's Palace.[289]
Flowers outside Kensington Palace
On 5 September, Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to her in a live television broadcast.[24]
Diana's funeral took place in Westminster Abbey on 6 September. Her sons walked in the
funeral procession behind her coffin, along with her ex-husband the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, Diana's brother Lord
Spencer, and representatives of some of her charities.[24] Lord Spencer said of his sister, "She proved in the last year that she
needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic."[291] Re-written in tribute to Diana, "Candle in the Wind
1997" was performed by Elton John at the funeral service (the only occasion the song has been performed live).[292] Released as
a single in 1997, the global proceeds from the song have gone to Diana's charities.[292][293][294]

The burial took place privately later the same day. Diana's former husband, sons, mother,
siblings, a close friend, and a clergyman were present. Diana's body was clothed in a
black long-sleeved dress designed by Catherine Walker, which she had chosen some
weeks before. A set of rosary beads that she had received from Mother Teresa was
placed in her hands. Diana's grave is on an island (52.283082°N 1.000278°W) within the
grounds of Althorp Park, the Spencer family home for centuries.[295]

The burial party was provided by the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Diana's coffin, draped in the royal
Regiment, who carried Diana's coffin across to the island and laid her to rest. Diana was standard with ermine border, borne
through London to Westminster Abbey
the Regiment's Colonel-in-Chief from 1992 to 1996.[296] The original plan was for Diana
to be buried in the Spencer family vault at the local church in nearby Great Brington, but
Lord Spencer said he was concerned about public safety and security and the onslaught of visitors that might overwhelm Great
Brington. He decided Diana would be buried where her grave could be easily cared for and visited in privacy by William, Harry,
and other relatives.[297]

Conspiracy theories, inquest and verdict

Main article: Conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales

The initial French judicial investigation concluded that the crash was caused by Paul's intoxication, reckless driving, speeding, and
effects of prescription drugs.[298] In February 1998, Mohamed Al-Fayed, father of Dodi Fayed, publicly said the crash, which killed
his son, had been planned[299] and accused MI6 and the Duke of Edinburgh.[300] An inquest that started in London in 2004 and
continued in 2007–08[301] attributed the crash to grossly negligent driving by Paul and to the pursuing paparazzi, who forced Paul
to speed into the tunnel.[302] On 7 April 2008, the jury returned a verdict of "unlawful killing". On the day after the final verdict of
the inquest, Al-Fayed announced that he would end his 10-year campaign to establish that the tragedy was murder; he said he
did so for the sake of Diana's children.[303]

Later events

Finances

Following her death, Diana left a £21 million estate, "netting £17 million after estate taxes", which were left in the hands of
trustees, her mother, and her sister, Lady Sarah.[304][305] The will was signed in June 1993, but Diana had it modified in February
1996 to remove the name of her personal secretary from the list of trustees and have her sister replace him.[306] After applying
personal and inheritance taxes, a net estate of £12.9 million was left to be distributed among the beneficiaries.[307] Her two sons
subsequently inherited the majority of her estate. Each of them was left with £6.5 million which was invested and gathered
substantial interest, and an estimated £10 million was given to each son upon turning 30 years old in 2012 and 2014 respectively.
[308][309]
Many of Diana's possessions were initially left in the care of her brother who put them on show in Althorp twice a year
until they were returned to the princes.[308][304] They were also put on display in American museums and as of 2011 raised two
million dollars for charities.[304] Among the objects were her dresses and suits along with numerous family paintings, jewels and
two diamond tiaras.[308] Diana's engagement ring and her yellow gold watch were given to Harry and William, respectively. The
brothers eventually exchanged mementos and William later passed the ring to his wife, Catherine Middleton. The ownership of
Diana's wedding dress was also given to her sons.[308][310][311]

In addition to her will,[305] Diana had also written a letter of wishes in which she had asked for three-quarters of her personal
property to be given to her sons, and dividing the remaining quarter (aside from the jewellery) between her 17 godchildren.[304]
Despite Diana's wishes, the executors (her mother and sister) "petitioned the probate court for a "variance" of the will", and the
letter of wishes was ignored "because it did not contain certain language required by British law".[304] Eventually, one item from
Diana's estate was given to each of her godchildren, while they would have received £100,000 each, had a quarter of her estate
been divided between them.[304] The variance also prevented the estate from being distributed between her sons at the age of 25
but postponed it until they were 30.[304][305] Diana also left her butler Paul Burrell around £50,000 in cash.[307][305]

Subject of U.S. government surveillance

In 1999, after the submission of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Internet news service apbonline.com, it was
revealed that Diana had been placed under surveillance by the National Security Agency until her death, and the organisation
kept a top secret file on her containing more than 1,000 pages.[312][313] The contents of Diana's NSA file cannot be disclosed
because of national security concerns.[312] The NSA officials insisted Diana was not a "target of [their] massive, worldwide
electronic eavesdropping infrastructure."[312] Despite multiple inquiries for the files to be declassified—with one of the notable
ones being filed by Mohamed Al-Fayed—the NSA has refused to release the documents.[313]

In 2008, Ken Wharfe, a former bodyguard of Diana, claimed that her scandalous conversations with James Gilbey (commonly
referred to as the Squidgygate) were in fact recorded by the GCHQ, which intentionally released them on a "loop".[314] People
close to Diana believed the action was intended to defame her.[314] Wharfe said Diana herself believed that members of the royal
family were all being monitored, though he also stated that the main reason for it could be the potential threats of the IRA.[314]