Princess Diana: 10 Fascinating Facts About the People's Princess

Born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham, Norfolk, England, Princess Diana was the youngest daughter of Edward and Frances Spencer. She may not have always understood the ways of the Royal family but she certainly was of royal blood and heritage in her own right. She lived her life as the wife of the Charles, Prince of Wales and her death under the watchful eye of the media and the press.

He life tragically came to a horrific ending nearly one year to the day of her divorce from Prince Charles on August 31, 1997. She was only 36 years old. She left behind two young sons, a family that loved her and the millions who adored her around the world. Her legacy is one that continues to be scrutinized and revered even thirteen years after her death.

The better part of her legacy lives on through the lives of her sons. Prince William is rumored to wed long-term love Kate Middleton in August 2011. While Prince Harry is noted for following in the footsteps of his mother through his amazing and selfless charity work with children in Africa.

10 Fascinating Facts About the People's Princess

1. Diana's royal ancestry dates back to the aristocratic family of the Stuart.
2. Born Diana Spencer, Diana later became known as Lady Diana Spencer after the death of her grandfather Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer. The title was then inherited by her father Edward as the 8th Earl Spencer.
3. Her father's second wife, Raine, was the romance novelist Barbara Cartland's daughter.
4. Diana had an excellent bloodline that related her to cousins such as Audry Hepburn, Humphrey Bograt and Oliver Platt. Her maternal grandmother, Ruth, Lady Fermoy, was a lady-in-waiting and friend of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
5. There is even a link to Rainier III (who is also her cousin), Mary, Queen of Scots, Lady Catherine Grey and Mary Boleyn. Diana was also related to American heiress Frances Work, her mother's grandmother. It is easy to see how much the Royal family believed that Diana would make the perfect Princess and spouse of the presumed future King, Charles, at the time of their initial courtship.
6. She became engaged to Prince Charles on February 24, 1981 and the royal couple married on July 29, 1981.
7. Diana and Charles welcomed two sons into their royal family. William was born on 21 June, 1982 and Henry was born on 15 September 1984.
8. She was an international media and fashion icon of the 20th century.
9 Diana and Charles separated, December 9, 1992 and the estranged couple's divorce was finalized on August 28, 1996.
10. On August 31, 1997, Diana died following a car crash in the Pont D'Alma tunnel in Paris. The crash also took the life of her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and the driver when the car smashed into the 13th pillar in the tunnel. More than 2 billion people watched her funeral held on September 6, 1997.

See photos of Princess Diana's sons Prince William and Prince Harry here.

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