History and Timeline of Princess Diana

Diana was the wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. She was the mother of Prince Willam and Harry. She was a popular media celebrity and was involved in many social causes. Her sudden death in a car crash led to an outpouring of grief throughout the world.

Timeline

1961: Diana was born on 1 July 1961 in Norfolk, England. Her parents were Edward John Spencer and Frances Spencer. She was their third child.

1967: Her parents separated and a court battle for the custody of the children followed. In December 1967 her father won custody over Diana and her younger brother Charles.

Diana first attended Silfield School Kings Lynn,Norfolk then Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk and West Heath Girls' School.

1977: At the age of 16, she briefly attended Institut Alpin Videmanette, a finishing school in Rougemont,Switzerland. At about that time, she first met her future husband Prince Charles, who was dating her sister, Lady Sarah..

Her father, now known as Earl Spencer, married the Countess of Dartmouth, Raine on July 14,1977.

She lived in an apartment at Coleherne Court in the Earls Court area, until 1981 with three flatmates.

1981: On Feb. 24, 1981 her engagement with Prince Charles was announced. She married Prince Charles on 29 July,1981. The wedding was dubbed the "fairytale wedding" and was watched by 750 million people.

1982: On June 21, 1982 she gave birth to her first child, Prince William.

1984: On Sept. 15, 1984 she gave birth to her second child, Prince Henry Charles Albert David.

1986: In late 1986 she began an affair with Capt. James Hewitt.

1987: In April 1987, Diana was one of the first high-profile celebrities to be photographed touching a person infected with AIDS at the 'chain of hope' organization.

1989: During this time, perhaps even earlier, Prince Charles was involved in an affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles.

In the late 1980s, the marriage of Charles and Diana fell apart. This was at first suppressed, then sensationalized, by the world media.

1992: On March. 29, 1992 her father died of a heart attack. On June 16,1992 Morton's book Diana: Her True Story was published including the story of Charles' long affair with Camilla Parker Bowles and allegations of five suicide attempts including once during Diana's first pregnancy.

On December. 9, 1992 the Buckingham Palace announced the separation of Diana and Charles.

While she blamed Camilla Parker-Bowles for her marital troubles, as early as October 1993, Diana was writing to a friend that she believed her husband was now in love with Tiggy-Legge-Bourke and wished to marry her.

1993: Diana announced her withdrawal from public life on 3 December,1993.

1995: In December 1995, the British Queen asked Charles and Diana for an early divorce.

1996: The divorce happened on 28 August 1996. She received a thirty million dollar compensation. She gets to keep her title as "Princess" but does not have permission to be called "Your Royal Highness".

After the divorce,Diana lived in an apartment in Kensington Palace, and it remained her home until her death. After her divorce, Diana worked for the Red Cross and campaigned to rid the world of land mines. Her work was basically humanitarian rather than political. She was very aware of her status as mother of a future king and was prepared to do anything to prevent harm to her sons. She pursued activities in philanthropy, music, fashion and travel - although she still required royal consent to take her children on holiday or to represent the UK abroad. Without a holiday or weekend home, Diana spent most of her time in London, often without her sons, who were at boarding school or with Prince Charles

1997: She was linked romantically with 42-year-old "Dodi" Fayed, whose father, Mohammed al-Fayed, owned Harrod's Department Store and Paris' Ritz Hotel. On 31 August 1997, Diana died after a high speed car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris along with Dodi Al-Fayed and the acting security manager of the Hotel Ritz Paris, Henri Paul, while trying to elude the paparazzi. Their car crashed into the thirteenth pillar of the tunnel.

Diana's funeral took place in Westminster Abbey. Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to her former daughter-in-law .Her funeral was held on 6 September 1997 and was broadcast and watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Diana have been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories, perpetrated by Mohamed Al-Fayed. The long awaited Coroner's Inquest reported in April 2008 that Diana had been unlawfully killed by her driver and the following paparazzi.