In the collective memory of the people, Diana,
Princess of Wales was everything a royal should be. She was beautiful, composed, and full of compassion
for those in need. And when she died in 1997, it was a horrific
tragedy that shook the world. She had been robbed of a future that was looking
incredibly bright, and her sons would forever be without a mother. But the dark secrets of Diana’s life prove
“all that glitters is not gold.” Some people believe that her death was no
accident, and that it was actually an elaborate conspiracy designed by the royal family to
silence her. Early Life
Diana was born on July 1, 1961, to John and Frances Spencer. It had been tradition for members of the nobility
to marry one another for centuries, and her parents were no exception. Together with her two older sisters and two
brothers, they lived in a mansion called Park House in Norfolk, England. As you can imagine, Diana grew up with the
best things that money could buy, and she went on playdates with children in the royal
family. But all of the money in the world can’t
buy happiness. John and Frances had a toxic marriage.. All her life, Diana’s parents never said
“I love you” to one another, or their children. They pushed off most of the parental duties
on nannies and governesses. Her parents would eventually get a divorce
when she was 6. At age 9, her father sent her to boarding
school. Her mother remarried a man named Peter Shand
Kydd, who was the heir to a successful wallpaper company. Her father married a woman named Raine McCorquodale,
who was the daughter of a famous romance novelist. The children were not present at their father’s
second marriage, and they had to find out about it through in the newspaper. Diana and her siblings deeply resented Raine
as an “evil stepmother”, and blamed her for tearing their happy family apart. Diana was a shy girl, and she struggled in
school. She was labeled as “the thick one” by
her family, and this was enough for her to end up crying in school every time she got
a bad grade. Deep down, all she really wanted was to be
loved and accepted for who she was, and dreamed of a prince taking her away to live happily
ever after. Becoming a Princess
When she was just 16 years old, Diana met Charles, Prince of Wales, for the first time. He was 29 and dating her older sister, Sarah. The relationship between Sarah and Charles
never went anywhere, so they went their separate ways. However, Charles said that Diana made a big
impression on him, because he thought she was very cheerful and beautiful. When she came of age, Diana could have chosen
to party like a socialite or travel the world with her family’s wealth. But when she was 18, she chose the very normal
life of working as a kindergarten teacher. She used her own paychecks to share an apartment
with a few friends. Diana loved taking care of children, and it
made her very happy to give them the love and encouragement that she never got as a
little girl. At that time, Diana was filled with a lot
of hope about her future. She said that she felt this deep sense of
destiny, and that one day, she would grow up to do great things. Prince Charles had been dating several women
over the years, including Camilla Rosemary Shand. Camilla was not wife material in the eyes
of the Queen, so she abruptly married a multi-millionaire named Andrew Parker-Bowles, instead. But Charles and Camilla had never actually
broken off their relationship, and they continued having a secret affair the entire time she
was married. Charles was now in his 30’s, and under a
lot of pressure from his mother to settle down and produce an heir. He needed a wife that was a member of the
aristocracy, and Diana had all of the qualifications of a perfectly acceptable bride. After going on only 13 dates, Charles proposed
to Diana when she was a barely-legal 18 year old. Even though they hardly knew one another,
Diana felt as though becoming the princess was that sense of destiny that she had been
feeling all along. A couple weeks after their engagement, the
couple was interviewed by the press. Towards the very end, the reporter said that
they were both very much in love. Diana replied, “Of course!” Charles laughed, saying, “Whatever ‘in
love means’.” Watching the tape, you can clearly see that
Diana was heartbroken. In later interviews, Diana defines that instant
as the moment she knew that marrying him would be a huge mistake. However, the entire world had their eyes on
her, and she knew it was her duty to go through with the marriage. Even to this day, Diana and Charles still
go down in history for having one of the most expensive weddings. Experts estimate that today, their wedding
would cost anywhere from $70 to $100 million. From the perspective of the people watching
the wedding on TV, it seemed like a dream come true. Diana later said, “It was the worst day
of my life.” Their honeymoon was on the Royal Yacht Britannia,
where Diana reportedly spent most of the time sleeping. In 1982, Charles and Diana had been married
for less than a year, and she had already discovered Charles’ secret relationship
with Camilla Parker-Bowles. He started to gaslight her, saying that she
was paranoid. This made her so devastated, that she threatened
to kill herself. Charles ignored her, and started to leave
to go on a horseback riding trip. Diana threw herself down the stairs. The Queen rushed to her aid, screaming for
a doctor. While all of the attendants surrounded the
princess, Charles kept walking. To the outside world, the marriage between
Diana and Charles seemed like a fairytale had come to life. For the first time, people all around the
world were fascinated and invested in the royal couple. No matter what was going on behind closed
doors, she had to smile, wave, and pretend that everything was fine. The Secret Affairs
Diana was still just a teenager when she was put under the pressure to be a perfect princess
in the media. Combined with her unhealthy marriage, it was
enough to make her spiral into a deep depression, and she became bulimic. She had so much empathy for other people,
that a particularly difficult meeting visiting the poor, sick, and wounded made her mental
health a lot worse. Instead of recognizing that she needed help,
Diana was treated like she a child throwing a tantrum, and the royal family continued
to ignore her issues. William was born when Diana was 20 years old. Just barely out of her teenage years, she
was supposed to raise a future king. Little William brought a lot of joy and purpose
to her life. During interviews, the press would mostly
ignore her while they spoke with Charles, and only ask Diana how the baby was doing. Even though this was actually very demeaning
to her, Diana’s face would light up, and she would gush about how much fun she was
having with him. Even after giving birth to the heir, her relationship
with her husband remained cold and distant. She eventually decided that if she was going
to be stuck in an unfaithful marriage, she would have an affair, too. When she was 23, Diana fell in love with a
cavalry officer named James Hewitt. They were together about a year before her
second son, Harry, was born. In pictures showing the two of them side-by-side,
it is easy to see why many people believe that James Hewitt may be Prince Harry’s
biological father. This is such a popular theory, that it was
even turned into a stage play that was performed on the West End. Diana pushed Charles to be more involved in
raising the boys, instead of relying totally on nannies. She also wanted William and Harry to go to
school with other children. When the boys were old enough to go out, she
made sure they had normal experiences like water parks, McDonald’s, and shopping. She also brought them to homeless shelters
to pass out hot tea and food. Prince Charles scoffed at these ideas, asking
why it was really necessary. When she was 25, Diana fell in love with her
bodyguard, Barry Mannakee. They became best friends, and she felt very
safe around him. He brought a lot of joy to her life, but Diana
claimed that they never actually crossed the line. However, most people still consider this to
be an emotional affair at the very least. Once their friendship was revealed, Prince
Charles fired Mannakee. Not long after leaving his job at the royal
palace, Barry Mannakee was killed in a motorcycle accident. Charles told Diana were on their way to the
Cannes Film Festival in France when he told her the news. Charles mentioned Mannakee’s death so casually,
it was as if he was talking about the weather. Diana wanted to cry, but she knew that within
just a few moments, she would have to step out of the car and be photographed by hundreds
of people. So, she had to put on a smile yet again, and
pretend like nothing was wrong. She later said, “I think he was bumped off….But
we’ll never know.” Diana felt that if she did not escape the
marriage, she really just might take her own life. She knew that her only hope at getting a divorce
would be to get the public on her side. So, she spoke with a journalist named Andrew
Morton about the truth of the dysfunctional household. Morton eventually publisher her biography
called Diana: Her True Story--In Her Own Words. For the first time in history, the public
got a glimpse into the life of a royal marriage, and it wasn’t pretty. Charles responded by being interviewed for
a documentary in 1994 called Charles, The Private Man, The Public Role, where he admitted
to his affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles. Diana responded by doing an interview on BBC
Panorama in 1995. During this interview, she said that she believed
Charles was not a good person, and he wasn’t even fit to become the next King of the United
Kingdom. She believed that her son, William, would
do a much better job serving the people. Diana said of herself, “She won’t go quietly. That’s the problem. I’ll fight to the end.” Life After Divorce
Diana and Charles were seperated for years, and were seeing other people. After the bickering back and forth in the
media, the Queen herself demanded that they needed to officially get a divorce. In 1995, Diana began dating an Egyptian millionaire
named Dodi Fayed. His father was the owner of the successful
Harrods Department Store, and has the net worth of $1.6 billion- (Which, for the record,
is far richer than the Queen herself.) Charles and Diana were officially divorced
in 1996. Charles would eventually go on to marry his
long-time girlfriend Camilla Parker-Bowles. Even after leaving her position as Princess
of Wales, Diana wanted to continue her destiny by making a difference in the world. She was just terrible at public speaking,
which was necessary during charity events and public appearances. She started to receive vocal lessons from
a former actor named Peter Settelen. During their lessons, Settelen set up a camera
to record her progress, and he also asked her questions about her personal life. These became like much-needed therapy sessions
for her. She revealed secrets about her marriage, and
the royal family. Through these lessons with Settelen, she was
able to find her own voice, and learned to thrive as a public speaker. After her death, those tapes were confiscated
by the royal family, and the public was not able to see them until years later. Diana became a traditional celebrity. Without the benefit of royal security, the
paparazzi continued to follow her and write about her in the tabloids. Instead of allowing the press to only write
about her hair and fashion choices, she decided to make the best of being in the spotlight
by getting involved in causes that mattered to her. She raised awareness about the AIDS epidemic,
and traveled to several African countries to fight for the end of landmines in public
spaces. One of the most famous photographs of her
was with a young amputee who had her leg blown off. Almost immediately after getting the attention
of the press, the laws about landmines were changed. However, this was making a lot of politicians
unhappy. They said that she was getting involved in
issues she didn’t fully understand. Her response was that she truly didn’t care. She was going to fight for the people, and
not the politicians. Instead of wilting into quiet obscurity, Diana
was thriving. She was no longer bulimic or depressed. She was glad to trade her title for a life
of freedom. She auctioned off all of her designer gowns
and gave millions to charities she cared about. All of this only made the public love her
more, and she was still a princess in the hearts of the people. The Mysterious Deaths
After her divorce was finalized, Diana was dating an Egyptian man named Dodi Fayed. He was a multi-millionaire who lived a glamorous
life. Paparazzi took photos of them on vacations
around the world. The British press called him a “playboy”,
and wrote negative connotations about the fact that he was muslim. He was actually a successful movie producer
who was best known for the Oscar-winning movie Hook, starring Robin Williams. He was also the heir to the multi-billion
dollar Harrods Department Store fortune. The two were very much in love, and they planned
on getting married. Some believe that Diana may have even been
pregnant with his child. If this was true, it would have caused a lot
of issues for the royal family. The idea that William and Harry could have
a muslim half-sibling was unacceptable. And she constantly threatened to reveal more
and more secrets to the press. Her charity work often interfered with money-making
schemes among the nobility, as well. She received death threats on a regular basis. Not long before her death, Diana wrote a letter
to her butler saying that she believed her ex-husband Charles was trying to have her
killed in a car accident. She also called Dodi’s father, Mohamed Al
Fayed, and told him the same thing. On August 31, 1997, Dodi Fayed and Diana were
being driven through Paris by a man named Henri Paul. Just as they entered the Alma Tunnel, they
were apparently running from the paparazzi, and ended up in an accident. For whatever reason, every single one of the
security cameras inside of the tunnel just so happened to not be working that day, so
there is no recording showing exactly what happened. According to witnesses, the car went into
a pole at 65 mph, and no one was wearing a seat belt. On September the 6th, 1997, the streets of
London were lined with people mourning Princess Diana’s death. Millions tuned in to watch the funeral procession
on TV. The Royal Court held a trial, and found that
the crash was simply an accident. However, everyone present at that trial was
obligated to side with the royal family, and their findings were totally biased. In 1999, the French government investigated
the car crash, and came to the same conclusion that it was simply an accident. However, in 2008, an new independent investigation
found that the driver, Henri Paul, had been heavily drinking that day, and the original
trial had failed to mention that. They also concluded paparazzi vehicles were,
in fact, tailgating the car. The jury concluded that both Henri Paul was
responsible for the deaths, and that if he was still alive, he would be convicted of
manslaughter. For some, this investigation was still not
enough for Dodi’s father, Mohamed Al Fayed. He spent years of his life struggling with
the racism while running his business, and he was disgusted by how the media was portraying
Dodi, even though he was a victim, too. Mohamed Al Fayed claimed that he had evidence
for 175 separate conspiracy theories, and paid for a documentary called Unlawful Killing
to cover them all. Obviously, we can’t go too deep into all
of the conspiracy theories in this video, but it was enough for the British government
to ban the documentary from being seen in the United Kingdom. According to these conspiracy theories, Henri
Paul was actually sober that day, because the receipts from the hotel showed that he
only had two drinks at dinner, and he had gone through a medical exam by security beforehand. He had actually outrun the paparazzi, and
a mysterious white Fiat Uno followed them into the tunnel with a group of motorcycles. Some believe that these were MI6 agents who
were being paid by the government to kill her. After inspecting the car, they discovered
that the seatbelts in Henri Paul’s car had been tampered with, which is why no one was
wearing them. It took over an hour and a half for the ambulance
to get to the hospital, even though they were nearby. Doctors believe that if Diana was wearing
her seatbelt and had gotten medical attention sooner, she would have survived. Unfortunately, without video tape of the crash,
we may never know the whole truth of the circumstances surrounding her death. Today, Princess Diana is not truly gone, because
she lives on in Prince William and Harry’s legacy. Because of her, they both do charitable work,
and they married for love, instead of finding a mate inside of the royal family. If she could see them, she would surely be
proud.
