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The life of Princess Diana: In pictures

The life of Princess Diana, in pictures, on her 60th birthday

The late Diana, Princess of Wales, was a trailblazer, a style icon and one of the most influential women of the 20th century.

But, by all accounts, once she stepped onto the stage of public life in 1980, self-preservation meant she lived in two separate worlds – one personality confidently in the spotlight as the adored People’s Princess, and the other as a more oppressed, scrutinised member of the royal family who struggled with insecurity and loneliness.

And never the twain shall meet.

As the thousands of newspaper articles shed light on her every move when she joined the royal household in 1981, books and essays revealed her inner turmoils and conflicts and documentaries spun various visual angles of her trajectory up to her death, possibly the most heartbreaking chapter of her life was just before she died.

She called her butler Paul Burrell in a marathon 40-minute phone call from her then boyfriend’s yacht the Jonikal floating in the Mediterranean. It was in the 24 hours before she was killed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. We only saw the paparazzi photos of her, looking slim and suntanned in designer one-piece swimsuits.

But in that candid chat she revealed so much more.

A recently completed ITV documentary, Diana, aims to tell “the definitive story of the most famous woman in the world” to mark what would have been her 60th birthday on July 1.

Executive producer David Glover says “her 60th birthday feels like the perfect time to re-examine her life and legacy and explore just how she went from a relatively unknown teenager to the most-mourned person who ever lived”.

However, there were possibly only a handful of people who could really lay claim to knowing the real princess behind closed doors.

Jul 02, 2021, updated Jul 02, 2021
1/401963: A young Lady Diana Spencer in her pram at Park House, Sandringham in Norfolk. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
2/401965: A young Lady Diana Spencer. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
3/401969: The Golden Wedding of the 7th Earl and Countess of Spencer. Lady Diana Spencer and Charles Spencer stand in the front. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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4/401969: A pre-teen Lady Diana Spencer. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
5/401970: Lady Diana Spencer holding a croquet mallet during a game at Itchenor, West Sussex. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
6/401971: Lady Diana Spencer during a summer holiday in Itchenor, West Sussex in Britain. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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7/401974: Lady Diana Spencer, age 14, being kissed by her pet pony 'Scuffle'. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
8/401980: Lady Diana Spencer is startled after stalling her new red Mini Metro outside her Earls Court flat in London just days before her engagement to Prince Charles. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
9/401985: Princess Diana and Prince Charles dance at a formal event in Melbourne in October.
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10/401981: The Prince and Princess of Wales on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day, July 29.
11/401981: Diana leaves Eastleigh airport in Hampshire at the start of her honeymoon in August. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
12/401981: Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales pose together during their honeymoon in Balmoral, Scotland, August 19.
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13/401981: Princess Diana of Wales smiling as she prepares to embrace a woman in the crowd, on the streets of Carmarthen, Wales, October 29. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
14/40Prince Charles and his fiancee Lady Diana Spencer with the Queen at Buckingham Palace on March 7, 1981.
15/401983: Diana attends a polo match at Cowdray Park Polo Club in West Sussex on her second wedding anniversary.
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16/401983: Diana, Princess of Wales, attends a banquet in Nova Scotia, Canada, wearing the Queen Mary tiara, June 15. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
17/401983: Princess Diana during an official visit to Edmonton, Canada. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
18/401983: Prince Charles and Princess Diana visit Uluru in Australia, March 21. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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19/401983: Prince Charles and Princess Diana visit Uluru in Australia, March 21. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
20/401983: The Prince And Princess Of Wales meeting school children during a trip to Alice Springs. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
21/401983: Diana holds her baby son, Prince William, at home in Kensington Palace. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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22/401984: Diana Princess of Wales and Prince Charles with new born Prince Harry, leave St Mary's Hospital on September 16. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
23/401985: Prince Charles kisses Diana, Princess of Wales, after she presents him with a prize at polo in Cirencester. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
24/401986: Diana sits on a step at her Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, July 18. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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25/401986: Diana and Charles with sons William and Harry, at home in the gardens of Highgrove House. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
26/401986: Prince William and his pony, at Highgrove House, with mum Diana. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
27/401987: The Princess of Wales stands next to her husband, Charles the Prince of Wales, during a function held in their honour on February 11, in Bonn, Germany. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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28/401988: Princess Diana attends a charity greyhound racing event at Wembley Stadium in London, April 20. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
29/401989: Diana, Princess of Wales, wears a Catherine Walker suit and a Philip Somerville turban hat during her official tour of the Gulf States on March 17, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
30/401989: Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing a red and purple suit designed by Catherine Walker with a matching hat and remembrance poppy, arrives on the Governor's launch on November 7, in Hong Kong, China. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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31/401991: Princess Diana running in the mothers race on school sports day in England. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
32/401991: Lady Diana laughs with Liza Minnelli at a party following the charity film premiere of <i>Stepping Out</i> at the Langham Hilton Hotel on September 19 in London. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
33/40Tom Cruise has enjoyed a close relationship with the royals since the long ago days when he was married to Nicole Kidman.<i>Photo: Getty</i>
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34/401993: Princess Diana at the Nemazura feeding centre – a Red Cross project for refugees in Zimbabwe, July. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
35/401995: Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing a Virgin Atlantic sweatshirt, leaves Chelsea Harbour Club, London in November. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
36/401995: The Princess Of Wales and princes William and Harry attend the Vj Day 50th anniversary celebrations In London. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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37/401997: Diana, Princess Of Wales, with children injured by mines at Neves Bendinha Orthopaedic Workshop in Luanda, Angola, January. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
38/401997: The Princess of Wales is given a tour of Imran Khan's charity cancer hospital with Khan and his wife Jemima in Lahore. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
39/401997: Newspapers announce the shock death of Diana, in a car crash in Paris on August 31. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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40/401997: Tributes to Diana, Princess of Wales, are laid outside Kensington Palace in the days following her death. <i>Photo: Getty</i>
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