Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales, whose full name was Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, née Spencer (1 July, 1961 – 31 August, 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Her youth and beauty made her an icon of femininity when the couple's engagement was announced; however their marriage was not a success and she despised the media's intrusion which royal life brought. The couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996; she was killed in a car crash in Paris the following year. She had two sons with Charles: Prince William of Wales and Prince Harry of Wales, born in 1982 and 1984 respectively.

Sourced

• I was always told by my family that I was the thick one. That I was stupid and my brother was the clever one. And I was always so conscious of that. I used to go to the head mistress crying saying I wish I wasn't so stupid.
  • Said to voice coach Peter Settelen in 1992, as quoted in Tapes reveal more from Princess Diana: NBC News exclusive: Inside the life of the late icon, NBC News, 11/30/2004

• When I started my public life, twelve years ago, I understood the media might be interested in what I did. I realized then their attention would inevitably focus on both our private and public lives. But I was not aware of how overwhelming that attention would become. Nor the extent to which it would affect both my public duties and my personal life, in a manner, that's been hard to bear. At the end of this year, when I've completed my diary of official engagements, I will be reducing the extent of the public life I've lead so far.
  • Speech to the Headway lunch, December 3, 1993.

• Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.
  • Interview with Martin Bashir on BBC Panorama, November 20, 1995.
  • Responding to the question "Do you think Mrs Parker-Bowles was a factor in the breakdown of your marriage?".

• She won't go quietly, that's the problem. I'll fight to the end, because I believe that I have a role to fulfill, and I've got two children to bring up.
  • ibid.

• I'd like to be a queen of people's hearts, in people's hearts, but I don't see myself being Queen of this country. I don't think many people will want me to be Queen.
  • ibid.

• I do things differently, because I don't go by a rule book, because I lead from the heart, not the head, and albeit that's got me into trouble in my work, I understand that.
  • ibid.

• Everyone needs to be valued. Everyone has the potential to give something back.
  • The Guardian, December 9, 1995, p. 2.

Attributed

• Anywhere I see suffering, that is where I want to be, doing what I can.
  • Attributed to Diana by her biographer Andrew Morton, The Sun, September 1, 1997, p. 18.

About Princess Diana

• We clicked in an intangible way' probably because of our upbringing.
  • George Michael, world AIDS day concert, London 1994.[1]

• She was fun and accessible, thats why people loved her.
  • Elton John, London 1993.[2]

• After dinner at a friends house, Diana said, 'Do you have a pair of Marigolds?' I'll do the washing up. The host convinced her there was no need!
  • Cliff Richard, Tennis Federation Cup Nottingham 1991.[3]

• Only in storybooks do you get to dance with a princess until midnight. But it happened to me.
  • John Travolta, The White House 1985.[4]

• In the aftermath of her untimely death, which has thrown up a smog of irrelevant questions, -- like, did the media do it? -- we will soon be facing the only essential one: Will she be, posthumously, as much a destabilizer of the House of Windsor as she was when she was living?
  • Christopher Hitchens, The Haunting of the House of Windsor: In death, Diana will cause more problems for Britain's royal family than she ever did in life, Salon, September 2, 1997