Hello! Magazine UK - Diana Her Legacy Of Love 2017

20th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTORS' SPECIAL

Diana HER LEGACY OF LOVE

THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHS AND EXCLUSIVE PERSONAL INSIGHTS INTO HER LIFE AS A PRINCESS, MOTHER, HUMANITARIAN AND FASHION ICON

Diana H E R L EG AC Y OF L OV E

CHAPTER 1 8 English Rose How she blossomed into the young woman who won the heart of a Prince CHAPTER 2 14 Fairytale Princess Her love story with Charles makes a nation’s dream come true CHAPTER 3 28 The Diana Effect The whole world fell for the captivating new Princess of Wales CHAPTER 4 34 Joie de Vivre She proved a breath of fresh air in the ancient halls of the palace CHAPTER 5 38 Magic of Motherhood Diana’s boys were her biggest joy and crowning achievement CHAPTER 6 44 Positive Spirit How she turned her trials into boundless empathy for others CHAPTER 7 48 Queen of Compassion Diana’s crusades for those society pushed aside CHAPTER 8 56 Shaping the Next Generation Preparing her sons to be true 21st-century royals CHAPTER 9 60 The Search for Love As her marriage ended... new stories unfolded CHAPTER 10 64 A Talent for Friendship How Diana connected with people from all walks of life

Exclusive interview: Rosa Monckton CHAPTER 11 70 Style Star From ingénue to fashion icon Exclusive interviews: Jacques Azagury, Jimmy Choo and Said Cyrus of Catherine Walker

CHAPTER 12 96 Media Magnet The Princess’s intense but troubled love affair with the camera CHAPTER 13 98 Uncharted Territory What Diana might have done next CHAPTER 14 100 Taken Too Soon The tragedy of her untimely death CHAPTER 15 102 Sea of Emotion An outpouring of grief that changed British society forever CHAPTER 16 106 Queen of Hearts Why Diana’s beauty, courage and humour bewitched us all CHAPTER 17 108 Princes of Hearts Her sons, the guardians of her legacy CHAPTER 18 110 A Modern Fairytale William and Kate’s happy love story owes much to Diana CHAPTER 19 120 The Royal Family Reborn As the dynasty flourishes her influence becomes clearer 20 Moments Diana would have loved CHAPTER 20 128 A New Kind of Princess Modern-day royals following in Diana’s footsteps 132 Eternal Cover Girl The icon’s most memorable moments captured in hello!

138 A Life through the Lens: Exclusive interview with photographer Jayne Fincher 142 Famous names on Diana 144 Then and Now: Mirror images show how the young royals are keeping Diana’s flame alive

Editorial FOUNDER Eduardo Sánchez Junco EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Eduardo Sánchez Pérez EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Isabelle de Courson EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS Belén Junco, Rosie Nixon and Thomas Whitaker DEPUTY EDITOR/CHIEF SUB-EDITOR Catherine Olive ART DIRECTOR/PRODUCTION EDITOR Adele Kelly ART CONSULTANTS Phil Philpott, Ronnie Whelan FEATURES EDITOR/WRITER Mulenga Hornsby FEATURE WRITER Barry Byrne CONTRIBUTORS Alison Eastwood, Juliet Herd, Sally Morgan, Emily Nash, Carmen Sánchez Pérez, Susan Springate PICTURE RESEARCH Freddie Sloan Photos Cover photo Terence Donovan/Camera Press All Over Press, Alpha, AP, Avalon/Photoshot Collection, Best Image, Camera Press, Darren Fletcher Photography, The Duchess of Cambridge, EMPICS, Getty Images, Ian Jones, Ian McIlgorm, James Robinson, Jayne Fincher/Getty Images, John Swannell/ Camera Press, Lord Lichfield/Camera Press, Lord Snowdon/Camera Press, Mario Testino/Art Partner/PA, Mark Stewart Photography, Mega, Middleton family collection, Mirrorpix, PA, Pilar Bustelo/¡HOLA! ARGENTINA, Reuters, RexFeatures/ Shutterstock, Terry Fincher/Getty Images, The Passage, Tim Graham/Getty Images, Spencer family collection, Sunday Mirror, Topham Picturepoint, Trunk Archive, Wenn.com Distributed by Marketforce, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. Tel +44 (0)20 3148 3300. Printed in the UK by YM Chantry. Printed in Australia by Blue Star Print Group and in South Africa by Paarl Media. HELLO! is a trademark of HOLA, S.L. Depósito legal: M 16.334-1988. © HELLO! All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission strictly prohibited. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office.

3

4

20 facets of the People’s Princess and the precious gifts she left us

5

From fairytale beginning to tragic end, we celebrate the legacy of HELLO!’s eternal icon

Diana S

eldom in the history of any publication has there been a personality as central as Princess Diana is for Hello! For years, we shared her triumphs and joys, but also the pain and challenges she faced. And her tragic death broke our hearts as it did those of so many millions of people all over the world. Together we mourned the loss of the “People’s Princess”, the title she won for her humanity and her ability to empathise with the suffering of others.

The news of her death – on that Sunday morning, 31 August 1997 – shocked us as much as the death of a loved one. We all made our way to the newsroom to listen to the terrible reports coming in from Paris. An order was given to stop the printing presses, which were busy rolling out the latest issue – whose cover was to feature a beguiling picture of Princess Diana. It was a long, dark, sad night and we worked with heavy hearts to write a very different chapter.

Our shared story had begun ten years earlier, in the summer of 1987, when the idea was first floated of launching Hello!

Since her debut public appearance, the young Diana Spencer had become the most dazzlingly iconic and beloved woman of her time. Her every move was followed with intense fascination and her every gesture, her style and even her hair, were imitated. Her wedding to Prince Charles, watched by hundreds of millions, was more akin to a Hollywood romance than to real life. Finally, in July 1988, Hello! magazine hit the newsstands. That very first issue featured a charity polo match in Windsor, attended by Charles and Diana. From that moment, Diana, Princess of Wales was to become part of our family. She’d wooed and conquered us all.

She was to grace the cover of Hello! more than 80 times, and there was scarcely a week in which she failed to appear somewhere in our pages. Thanks to her, we gained the most heartwarming insights into the little Princes, their schooldays, their ups and downs, their first public appearances. She uncovered and spoke out against injustices, devoted herself to charity work, fought against landmines, struck up a touching friendship with Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and always remembered her friends.

But there were shadows behind all the lights and, slowly but surely, her happiness began to slip away. Soon, there were cracks in her marriage. Diana undeniably suffered tremendously and she wasn’t always able to put a brave face on it, once even bursting into tears in public.

But this let us see her humanity, and many people identified with her all the more for that.

Because life isn’t always easy, and sometimes we suffer, we fall, we pick ourselves up and we start over.

On that tragic dawn of 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died after a fatal accident aged just 36 and when she still had a whole life – and, no doubt, plenty of opportunities to be happy again – ahead of her. There is no sadder ending to a fairytale. She would have been 56 now, and enjoying her little grandchildren, George and Charlotte. She would have shared the joy of William’s wedding and would be dreaming of a bright future for Harry.

She may have been taken from us too soon, but her legend lives on. Her legacy remains alive. At Hello! we have never forgotten her nor ever will. And now, on the 20th anniversary of her death, we remember her as an inseparable part of our own story.

Meanwhile her sons, Princes William and Harry, have openly spoken of the pain and loss they feel every day, and how they are keeping her spirit alive. In theirs and in many other hearts, her legacy H of compassion, her unique style and tenderness continue to reign.

6

spellbinding aura

CHAPTER 1

ENGLISH ROSE During a classic aristocratic childhood Diana already stood out

A

Rose, she slipped into the world on a gloriously sunny day. Born on 1 July 1961, at Park House on the Queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, Diana was the third girl for Johnnie Spencer, Viscount Althorp, the heir to the Spencer earldom, and his wife the Hon Frances Roche.

“The Sandringham cricket team were playing outside the window on the local pitch,” the proud mother would later tell hello! “Just as Diana came into the world there was this enormous roar and applause – it was for the local traffic cop who had just scored a century. I was thrilled to bits.”

Her birth was to be the first of countless times in her life that Diana brought joy where there had previously been suffering. After the arrivals of her elder daughters, Sarah in 1955 and

V

s a child, Diana Frances Spencer already showed glimmers of the magnetic quality that would later entrance millions, turning her into a truly global star whose iconic status has never been matched. Early home movies show the 20th century’s most adored woman as an impish youngster delighting in the sort of pastimes that all children enjoy – playing in a Wendy house, cuddling her dogs, scooting around in a red pedal car and playing roughand-tumble with her baby brother. In her teens Diana blossomed into an enchanting young lady with a great memory for names and a kind word or gesture for those around her.

Fortuitously for the girl who became England’s

9

Diana’s birth brought joy where there had been suffering…

She was christened in the same church where her granddaughter Princess Charlotte would be, 54 years later

10

brother Charles, now Earl Spencer. Recalling his first day at school he says: “The head teacher was teaching Diana and said she was impossible, wriggling around and unable to pay attention. So she said to her, ‘Go and check on him now.’ Diana came to my classroom then went back and said, ‘He’s fine!’ and sat down. She always had this affinity for younger children.”

The lives of Diana and her future husband, the Prince of Wales, were intimately linked even before either of them were born. Her maternal grandparents, Lord and Lady Fermoy, were on

close terms with the current Queen’s parents – he had been an equerry to King George VI, while she was a lady-in-waiting and lifelong confidante to Queen Elizabeth, the current Queen’s mother.

“George VI was a visitor to our house and played tennis with my father. Sandringham House didn’t have a court,” explained Frances. “Queen Mary, the Queen Mother, used to take us to the pantomime in London once a year. It was a big outing. We’d meet at Clarence House, scrubbed up and immaculately dressed.”

Equally importantly, Diana’s father, Johnnie, had been an equerry to Queen Elizabeth II. Johnnie and Frances’s children enjoyed a privileged existence.

Charles once told hello!: “We grew up in a wonderful house, beautiful grounds, the setting for an ideal childhood.”

Sadly, the idyll wasn’t to last. The Spencers’ marriage was disintegrating, due in part to the strain of their long quest for a male heir, and by 1967 they were heading for an ugly divorce battle. Frances had fallen in love with another man and Johnnie, backed by the

V

Jane two years later, Frances had lost a son named John – he had lived only ten hours and, following the wisdom of the time, she was not even allowed to hold him. Her relief and delight at the birth of a new, healthy baby, blessed with her own blue Roche eyes, was something she never forgot.

Diana’s christening took place in St Mary Magdalene Church, where her granddaughter Princess Charlotte would be baptised 54 years later.

Three years after Diana came a boy, Charles, who was the heir to the title, but even in a busy household of four children she stood out.

Anthony Duckworth-Chad, who married Diana’s older cousin Elizabeth Wake-Walker, told author Rosalind Coward: “You could always tell that she was going to be quite something. She had a sparkle... and was always very sweet, very chatty too.’’

Early indications of her loving nature came in the care she lavished on pets. “She loved everything that’s small and furry, or got feathers,” said her mother. “She outgrew it and took on people I think.”

Diana also loved to take care of smaller children, starting with her

‘We grew up in a wonderful house, beautiful grounds, the setting for an ideal childhood’

A shadow fell over Diana’s idyllic country childhood with her parents’ bitter divorce battle. Her father Earl Spencer was awarded custody of the children, while her mother Frances (above far left) started a new life with her second husband in Scotland. The Earl, seen left with Sarah, son Charles, Jane and Diana, later remarried to Raine, Countess of Dartmouth 11

‘Everybody had eyes for her…

She’d talk to everybody and they loved that’

The death of her grandfather in 1975 meant a move to the sprawling ancestral home of the Spencers, Althorp House in Northamptonshire, and a new title as Lady Diana. She sought solace from the trials of home at boarding school, going first to Riddlesworth Hall, followed by West Heath, where she excelled at tennis, diving and ballet 12

establishment, fought back, eventually winning custody of the children.

Speaking to hello! many years later about his fractured childhood, Charles said: “It just wasn’t a particularly happy time in my life. I have a very good memory but a lot of my childhood is a blank. I’ve been told that when my mother left, I used to cry the whole time, sob all night.” Diana recalled lying in the next bedroom, feeling helpless.

Then in 1975, Johnnie’s father died and he inherited the earldom.

The family moved into their ancestral home, Althorp in Northamptonshire, a grand but rather gloomy place. The following year the Spencer children faced more disruption when their father remarried. Their new stepmother was Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, whom they initially resented.

Diana sought solace in school, starting as a boarder aged nine. At West Heath, staff remember her practising her ballet steps every morning before breakfast, and how, while volunteering at a home for the disabled, she made a point of dancing with residents in wheelchairs face-toface, at eye level.

As well as developing the seeds of a social conscience, she was maturing into a beauty. According to the Spencers’ housekeeper, Maudie Pendry, she was as thoughtful as she was pretty: “When she used to come down to dinner with all this jewellery on everybody had eyes for her…

She’d talk to everybody and they loved that.”

She was also loyal. At 19, when she was about to become a Princess in the wedding of the century, she assigned a prime seat in St Paul’s to Maudie.

As for Diana’s Prince Charming, he first became aware of her early on, after being invited to Althorp as a guest of her sister Sarah in 1977. The heir to the throne remembered meeting a “very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old”.

Not that he could have imagined then that their destinies would soon H be inextricably linked...

spellbinding aura

CHAPTER 2

THE WEDDING OF THE CENTURY SET THE SEAL ON A LOVE STORY THAT ENCHANTED THE WORLD

I 14

endearingly awkward and undeniably sensual, here was the delicate English Rose the enraptured public had long dreamed of for their Prince.

Britain’s heir to the throne had first got to know Diana when he visited her family estate, Althorp, as a guest of her vivacious elder sister Sarah. That was in 1977, and Diana was just 16.

She recalled: “I remember being a podgy, no make-up, unsmart lady, but I made a lot of noise and he liked that.” When they met again in July 1980, Charles, now 31, was moved by the young a r i s t o c r a t ’s t e n d e r n a t u r e a n d l i v e l y, approachable character – and he was soon wooing her with invitations to join him in Scotland, at concerts or aboard the royal yacht Britannia.

At tweedy Balmoral, a place of rigid

V

t was love at first sight, a spellbinding once-upon-a-time moment, the very instant Diana stole all our hearts.

Electrified by news that Prince Charles, the world’s most eligible bachelor, was seeing a pretty teenager who worked at a London kindergarten, the press set up camp outside. They didn’t have to wait long. Emerging into the dappled September sun, Diana shyly, yet spectacularly, stepped onto the world stage – and photographers captured that first iconic image of the magnetic 19-year-old future Princess.

She was the very picture of natural warmth and affection, timidly looking up through her fringe, holding a child in one arm and another by the hand – as the gentle sunlight hazily silhouetted her long legs through her skirt. Both

Charles and Diana’s courtship and wedding will remain, for all time, as an indelible vision of romance

The world’s bated breath burst out in joyful cheers as Diana and Charles shared a passionate kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace (above left). It was the climax of a wedding day that had seen Shy Di transformed into a Princess. A relaxing Balmoral honeymoon followed (above)

When the world found out that the heir to the throne was wooing a pretty 19-year-old, Diana was beseiged by the press, who were camped outside her Coleherne Court flat in London. It was the beginning of an enduring fascination

routines, she was a breath of fresh air for the Prince, joining him for rambles over the moors, happy to fall into bogs and try her hand at fishing – which impressed the Queen. As Charles’s close friend and member of the Balmoral party, Patricia Palmer-Tomkinson, recalls: “She was a sort of wonderful English schoolgirl who was game for anything… sweet and clearly determined and enthusiastic about him, very much wanted him.” And Diana’s interest was clearly r e q u i t e d , s a y s P a t r i c i a ’s husband Charles PalmerTomkinson: “They got on like a house on fire. They were passionate about each other.”

Soon Charles was confiding in friends that he thought he had found The One. Hot on the heels of the kindergarten photo, newspaper snaps of Diana appeared daily, with the press imploring the Prince not to let this beguiling young lady slip through his fingers. The cameras loved her and she quickly learned how to handle the spotlight. It was the beginning of her stellar trajectory from “Shy Di” to “People’s Princess” to “Queen of Hearts” – and of a new, less distant relationship between royals everywhere and their public.

After a string of further dates and months of media speculation, in February 1981, at Windsor Castle, Charles finally popped the question.

Diana giggled and said yes, and he presented

Soon after their courtship began, Charles confided in friends that he thought he’d found The One

V

Diana was the delicate English Rose the public had long dreamed of for their Prince

Emerging into the dappled autumn sun, Diana shyly, yet spectacularly, steps onto the world stage outside the London kindergarten where she worked. She was the very picture of natural warmth and affection, hiding behind her fringe as the gentle sunlight hazily silhouetted her long legs

her with a spectacular sapphire and diamond engagement ring. Charles later recalled he was “positively delighted and frankly amazed that Diana is prepared to take me on”. Diana said she too was “delighted and thrilled, blissfully happy…” adding that, “with Prince Charles beside me I cannot go wrong”. When her brother Charles caught up with her later, she was glowing. “She looked absolutely blissful and was beaming away,” he recalled.

That month, the Princess-to-be moved into Clarence House to learn the royal ropes and ready herself for what was already being dubbed the wedding of the century.

As the world’s press were briefed on that magical summer’s morning, 29 July 1981, a poker-faced BBC boss told the restive reporters, to general amusement and some mild dismay, that the carriage would not be “all glass and it’s not all driven by mice”.

Because the world was expecting absolutely nothing less of this fairytale wedding.

Charles was ‘delighted and frankly amazed that Diana is prepared to take me on’

V

Diana and Charles pose outside Buckingham Palace after the announcement of their engagement. The future Princess of Wales sported a magnificent sapphire and diamond ring, which her son, Prince William, would later give to his fiancée in a moving tribute to his mother

19

Lady Nancy Reagan. “The stuff of which fairytales are made,” enthused the Archbishop of Canterbury, presiding over the nuptials inside the lavishly decorated and fanfare-filled St Paul’s Cathedral. A defining moment for all those who watched it, the royal wedding extravaganza broke records worldwide as the media event of all times, with 750 million people in 74 countries tuning in. And they all held their collective breath, then gasped as one as Diana stepped from the Glass Coach.

“It was like seeing a butterfly emerge from a

chrysalis,” said the talented design duo behind the astonishing dress, David and Elizabeth Emanuel. They had created a stunning ivory silk taffeta gown with puffed shoulders and a billowing skirt over a crinoline petticoat, using fabric produced by tens of thousands of silkworms in Dorset. Their aim was to create a design that would not be lost in the vast grandeur of St Paul’s. But more than that, it had to show an adoring public that this was, in effect, the consecration of a future Queen.

They more than succeeded. The 25ft train

V

All across Britain and around the world, furniture was mindfully rearranged, as families and friends gathered around the clunky TV set to watch the pomp and pageantry. The streets of London were thronged with hundreds of thousands of wellwishers, all impatient to catch a view of the magnificent procession and gorgeous bride. And in towns and villages from Scotland to Cornwall, streets were cordoned off and festooned with festive bunting, while trestle tables groaned with sandwiches and party food. ”It was like a fairyland,” rhapsodised US First

A defining event for all those who watched it, the royal wedding broke records as the media event of all times

V

looked magnificent on the 625ft red carpet which stretched from the West Door to the altar, and Diana looked both regal and heartstoppingly lovely.

And it was a sight that spoke to the hearts of generations of bridesto-be. With just one tiara’d nod, Diana dismissed the low-key, laidback weddings that had been becoming fashionable during the 1960s and ’70s, and brought the big white wedding spectacularly back into style.

Typically though of the new Princess of Wales, even while the spotlight shone on her with all its force, her attentions, at this nervewracking moment in history, were focussed firmly on others. She kept her little bridesmaids reassured and at ease, and she gently supported her fragile father, Earl Spencer, as the pair made their three-and-a-half minute walk down the aisle together, her shimmering gown floating around her.

Only when she demurely cast back her cascade of a veil to say her vows, did her own nerves show briefly as she mixed up the Prince’s names – calling him Philip Charles Arthur George, rather than Charles Philip. The forgivable little blunder only served to endear her more to all those watching. Certainly nobody seemed to mind, for at the very instant Diana said her vows, such was the roar from the crowd outside St Paul’s, recalls wedding guest Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia, that “it washed over us like a great wave. It felt as if there were no walls separating us from them.”

This democratising and rejuvenating effect on the Windsors was apparent from that day on.

Young Diana was immersed in the world of pop culture in a way the tradition-bound royal family had never been. Half a generation younger than Charles, she was lively, impulsive and a lover of pop music.

On the ver y morning of her wedding, as she slid into the great cocoon of her dress, surrounded 22

A delightfully informal portrait by Lord Lichfield shows Diana overcoming her own nerves by reassuring her youngest bridesmaid. Diana’s dress was a stunning ivory silk taffeta creation with puffed shoulders and a billowing skirt over a crinoline petticoat – and a 25ft train 24

Typically of Diana, her attentions, even at this nerve-wracking moment, were firmly focussed on others

V

by her little bridesmaids, she burst into the joyful jingle from the advert for Cornetto icecream. “Soon we all joined in: ‘Just one Cornneeeettttoooo’,” recalls bridesmaid India Hicks of the high-spirited little scene.

But the greatest legacy of that day is apparent in the way its unforgettable bride, and the heartbreaking failure of her marriage, reframed all future royal matches. Her wedding to Charles was perhaps the last ever to be founded on an uneasy alliance between dynastic duty and romantic love. Subsequent royal matches throughout Europe, from Scandinavia to Spain, were to be relations of greater equality in age, interests and affections.

By the new century, Europe’s thoroughly modern young royals were marrying personal trainers, reality TV stars, TV journalists and single mothers.

Writing at the time of Prince William’s wedding to Catherine Middleton, historian David Starkey explained: “If anything, the legacy of Diana is that William has been able to choose for himself his partner in life.”

Diana’s friend Rosa Monckton agrees: “William was secure enough in himself to be able to marry for love, and that is Diana’s greatest legacy.” And

25

it’s a legacy William movingly honoured when he gave his late mother’s sapphire engagement ring to his own future bride. It “was very special to me,” said William, and giving it to Catherine was “my way of making sure my mother didn’t miss out on today.”

Though her marriage was to founder, it is certain that Diana’s belief in love never did. And if her wedding was to remain, frozen in time, as an indelible vision of romance, the mature Diana moved beyond the fairytale to find new ways to express that boundless love which was the essence of her nature. As a wonderful mother, a friend and a compassionate champion to the suffering, she proved herself to be not only a fairytale Princess, but a Queen of Hearts.

But back on that July day in 1981, few could ever have imagined the legacy of the extraordinary event they’d just witnessed. The Glass Coach may not have been pulled by little mice and the bride may not actually have worn glass slippers.

But, as dashing Charles and a glowing Diana emerged on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to kiss and bask in the affection of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, it really did seem to be the perfect fairytale beginning of H a perfect happily ever after.

Diana seemed to glow in the early years following her marriage. Above: pregnant with William less than a year after the wedding.

Opposite: Charles kisses her after she presents him with a polo prize at Cirencester in 1985.

Right: a jaunty train ride in Australia and, left, dancing the night away in Melbourne 26

touching lives CHAPTER 3

THE DIANA EFFECT Everyone was fascinated by the new Princess.

And she made each and every one of us feel special

T

V

he zest for life and giggly infectious charm that had captivated Prince Charles soon entranced the world.

Riding the wave of enthusiasm created by the wedding of the century, the blushing bride now found herself the focus of every gaze. Those 750 million viewers who’d tuned into the magnificent nuptials were eagerly awaiting another instalment of the fairytale. As the Duchess of Cambridge would experience three decades later, there was insatiable curiosity to know what Diana would do next.

Other members of the royal ‘Firm’ had made their mark through duty and hard work, but Diana’s enchanting freshness, her radiance and youth set her apart. The arrival of a newcomer renewed fascination with the Windsors and energised the image of Britain abroad. Nowhere was this more keenly felt than in the fashion business.

“She was enormously important for British fashion, a shot in the arm for an industry that, before she came into it, was very small,” says fashion journalist Louise Chunn. “In the ’90s many British designers went off to join Paris houses. I think nobody would have been looking at London without Diana having given British fashion a huge boost.”

If her appearance was that of a lovely young Princess, her manner said: “I’m one of you.” On the royal roadshow the new Windsor wife cast her spell with simple gestures that came as naturally to her as breathing -- crouching down to talk to a small child, or tucking a blanket around an elderly wheelchair user who had waited for hours to see her, as wellwishers did on the Prince and Princess’s first rain-lashed trip to Wales.

In the place which gave them their royal title, Diana was given a standing ovation as she accepted the freedom of the city of Cardiff in endearingly halting Welsh. In the years to come her army of admirers would only grow ever greater.

28

HELLO! CANADA EDITOR

ALISON EASTWOOD On Diana Mania around the world

N

owhere was Diana’s ability to inspire adulation more evident than on her early tours abroad as Princess of Wales. While her mother-in-law the Queen had dazzled overseas, Diana took it to new heights, attracting fans on a scale formerly reserved for pop stars and Hollywood idols.

“The arrival of the Waleses in America was the most frenzied British invasion since The Beatles,” Newsweek quipped of the couple’s 1985 tour.

Indeed, who can forget the image of the young Princess, stunning in her off-the-shoulder midnightblue gown, taking to the dancefloor with John Travolta? That now-legendary night at the White House etched Diana into pop culture history. It also encapsulated her magic. Making official engagements as much about pleasure as duty, as much about rulebreaking as tradition, had already become a hallmark of the Princess’s reign of popularity.

Diana’s determination to breathe new life into an old institution was clear from her very first tour abroad in 1983, when she and Charles travelled to Australia and New Zealand. Diana had insisted she wouldn’t endure a six-week separation from ninemonth-old baby William, and the public adored her all the more for it.

Disembarking from the plane at Alice Springs with little William in her arms, the 21-year-old Princess of Wales exuded a carefree spirit that was infectious. A smiling Prince Charles, 34, waved his hand around his son’s face. “His first Australian fly,” the Prince jokingly explained.

Less than two years into their marriage, the royal couple appeared very much in love. It was a fairytale sprung to life, and the world was captivated.

Barely taking a breath after their trip Down Under, in June 1983 Charles and Diana embarked on a tour of Canada – where Diana Mania was much in evidence.

“It’s really the royal visit of the Princess of Wales,” observed one official to the Toronto Star. “The Prince is playing second fiddle.”

Charles took it in good part, noting in his Canada Day speech in Edmonton, Alberta, that it was Diana’s first visit to the country. “I have a feeling, of course, that if my wife hadn’t married me, she wouldn’t have met nearly so many Canadians,” he added humorously.

It was 1 July – Diana’s 22nd birthday. On 1 July 2011 – what would have been the Princess’s 50th birthday -- newlyweds Prince William and Kate were on their ‘honeymoon tour’ of Canada. Fans, who had taken William to their hearts, particularly after his mother’s death, were poignantly reminded of Diana – especially when Kate mingled with the crowd on walkabouts. “We had a longing to come here together,” said William.

And when the royal couple made their Hollywood debut at a glamorous gala in LA, Kate outshone every celebrity – just as Diana had done on that starry night in Washington.

The People’s Princess might be lost to the world, H but her magic was still very much alive.

30

Diana attracted fans on a scale formerly reserved for pop stars and Hollywood idols

Hundreds of thousands thronged to see Britain’s sweetheart on a series of successful tours abroad, starting with an enchanted Australia, when Diana took baby Wiliam along (above and far left); followed by Canada (right); the US; and Indonesia (left).

North America’s enduring love affair with Diana lives on in the welcome given to her sons on their trips across the Atlantic

touching lives

MAKING ROYAL FASHION FUN Diana’s early style choices delighted her fans with their fresh, youthful mood

B

efore she became Queen of Hearts, Diana ruled the fashion world. In her previous life as a nursery assistant there hadn’t been much call for formalwear. But from the moment a future King slipped that gobstopper-sized sapphire onto her finger every style choice was critiqued and copied.

If the royal sweetheart wore polka dots or pop socks the shops would suddenly be full of them.

Magazines even advised readers on how to recreate Diana’s make-up, down to her signature blue eyeliner.

Their heroine rose to the challenge of crafting an image with the verve and sense of fun that she approached pretty much everything in life. When she first stepped into the limelight her wardrobe was woefully inadequate. “I had one long dress, one silk shirt, one smart pair of shoes and that was it,” she recalled, adding:

32

“My mother and I had to buy six of everything. We bought as much as we thought we needed and we still didn’t have enough.”

The blue suit for her engagement announcement was a panic buy from

‘She was enormously

important for British fashion, a shot in the arm’ Harrods. It was followed by a décolletage-revealing black gown by her wedding dress designers that launched a thousand tabloid headlines.

Clearly it was time to call in some help. Her sisters did so via contacts at

Vogue, recruiting the magazine’s deputy editor Anna Harvey, who called in the fashion cavalr y, introducing Diana to designers such as Victor Edelstein, Bruce Oldfield, Catherine Walker and Jasper Conran.

Given her youth, Diana’s first efforts were understandably girly, featuring frills and flounces with bows at the neckline. Evening gowns were often re-runs of the Emanuels’ fair ytale wedding confection, with enormous puffed sleeves or lace trimming and sometimes both.

Later, of course, her wardrobe evolved into the unforgettable pared-down look of the ’90s as she emerged from the chrysalis once more as ‘Dazzling Diana’. In the learning curve of those early years, however, there were hits and there were misses. What there never were, with the People’s Princess, were any H dull days.

touching lives

CHAPTER 4

SHARING HER JOIE DE VIVRE Diana brightened the lives of those around her, and her light still shines to this day

O

whose light still shines to this day.

Dancing was the perfect way to express her spirit, and she threw herself into it wholeheartedly. Even when no one was around – as Prince William fondly remembers.

“We used to catch her dancing to her music – we’d walk out of the room, rather embarrassed that our mother was just dancing around. It was a big release for her.”

Ever graceful, Diana had dreamed of being a ballerina since she was a little girl, and her lessons paid off when she stepped onto the dancefloor of the White House for a twirl with John

V

ver the years Diana was to become many things for many people – a fashion icon, a tireless charity crusader and a media star. But for those who knew her and loved her, what shone through always was her irrepressible zest for life, her bright, joyful laughter and her boundless, exuberant energy. Both privately and publicly, whether in the company of world figures or of the humblest member of her household, she was a luminous presence, someone who could light up any room, and

Above: Diana enjoys some in-flight laughs aboard the royal flight to Australia during a tour of the Pacific. Right: her boundless energy and zest for life shine through as she crosses the finish line during sports day at Prince William’s school in 1989 34

Travolta in 1985. Stunning in her midnight-blue velvet dress, Diana brought everyone under her spell as she put the King of Disco through his paces to the irresistible beat of Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

“You could feel the awe in the moment from people in the audience,” Travolta later recalled. “It was dense with life, filled with life, and you’d have to have been dead not to feel the joy around it… There really was something lovely and girlish about her,” he remembers, “and I felt that I had taken her back to her childhood, when she had probably watched Grease – and for that moment I was her Prince Charming.”

Photographer Jayne Fincher, who followed the Princess throughout her public life, tells how her spirit shone through in even the most troubled times. “My lasting memory of her will always be the laughter in her blue eyes. She always managed to smile and joke with those of us in the British press pack. Her sense of humour and her kindness lightened the workload for all of us. There will never be anyone else like her.”

36

Diana wasn’t averse to mischievous pranks – often indulged in with the effervescent Sarah, Duchess of York.

The pair famously dressed up as policewomen to gatecrash Prince Andrew’s stag night.

But those who most basked in her sunshine were her young sons William and Harry. Her sheer joy in life was the gleeful antidote to the temperance and selfrestraint of traditional royal childhoods.

She let them wear jeans and baseball caps and joined in the fun on school sports days – with a snap from one such escapade encapsulating forever Diana’s unfailing, infectious exuberance.

Rushing ahead of the other mums, she jubilantly crosses the finish line during the high-stakes mothers’ race, the very picture of delight and fun. It’s a joie de vivre that filled the lives of her young sons, and one that she passed H on to her beloved boys.

‘My lasting memory of the Princess will always be the laughter in her blue eyes’

Above: ever graceful, Diana puts the King of Disco through his paces as she and John Travolta take a memorable twirl on the dancefloor of the White House in 1985.

Above left: making a splash on the Caribbean island of Nevis in 1993

spellbinding aura CHAPTER 5

MAGIC OF MOTHERHOOD Diana’s boys know she treasured every moment she spent with them

T

ten years after her untimely passing. “We miss her. She kissed us last thing at night.

Her beaming smile greeted us from school. She – like our father – was determined to provide us with a stable and secure childhood.”

Being a mother was the one area of her life in which Diana felt supremely confident. It was a role she had been auditioning for

While Prince Charles was a loving father, he deferred to his wife’s vision of how their sons should grow up. She openly showered William and Harry with affection and encouraged them to mix with children outside the privileged royal milieu 38

V

he down-toe a r t h , lionhearted Princes whom we see today are the result of Diana’s careful tutelage. In her brief time with William and Harry, the fiercely devoted matriarch made an indelible impression on their lives. “She was quite simply the best mother in the world,” said Harry, speaking

all her life, first with her younger brother Charles Spencer, then with a succession of pets, and finally as ‘Miss Diana’ with her y o u n g c h a r g e s a t t h e Yo u n g England Kindergarten.

After William was born on 21 June 1982 and Harry followed on 15 September 1984, she threw herself wholeheartedly into caring for her babies. To the public they were the future of the Crown, but to Diana they were her whole world. After the Princess’s death, the Queen went out of her way to praise her former daughter-in-law’s maternal touch, telling the nation in a televised tribute: “I admired and respected her for her devotion to her boys.”

Diana was a great believer in hugs, famously saying that they had no known side effects. Protection officer Ken Wharfe, who guarded the family between 1987 and 1993, remembers: “The deep loving bond between Diana and her sons was truly wonderful to witness.”

Knowing that the cares of duty and protocol would all too soon be thrust upon her sons, Diana determined that their childhood would be as normal as possible. That meant going to school with other youngsters from an early age, which allowed them to make lifelong friends, and experiencing play dates and trips to amusement parks such as Disney World in Florida. “We went around Space Mountain 12 or 14 times, so much so that my policeman was unwell and had to get off!” Harry remembered gleefully in 2016.

Diana even insisted on chores and queuing. “She didn’t want William to go through life thinking, ‘You’re a member of the royal family, and that’s how you live your life all the time,” said her friend Lord Archer.

She could not have been more involved in her beloved little Princes’ lives. A friend of the Princess, fashion designer Lana Marks, commented: “She would drop everything whenever the boys came home from school. It didn’t matter which head of state she had to see or what gala she had to attend. Those were secondary.”

From the outset, the young Princess had made it clear that she would be the one to do the mothering of her children,

‘She was quite simply the best mother in the world. Her beaming smile greeted us every day from school’

V

Diana was delighted by the arrival of William (above left), just before her 21st birthday, and Harry (left) two years later.

Despite a busy schedule as Princess of Wales, her life revolved around the school run.

Dressed in a mum’s uniform of jeans, she would drop the boys off at kindergarten herself. She revelled in being with them as much as possible, pioneering a new style of royal motherhood and paving the way for Kate to raise her family in a similar way 41

‘The deep loving bond between Diana and her sons was truly wonderful to witness’

insisting on taking baby William with her on a tour of Australia. This was in contrast to previous generations of royals.

And, as royal snapper Jayne Fincher noticed: “She was the one going to carry him out on her hip; he wasn’t going to be carried out by the nanny.”

When the Princes eventually went to boarding school, their parents chose first Ludgrove and then Eton College, where Diana’s brother had been so happy. Whenever they came home she liked to make a fuss of them, ordering her chef Darren McGrady to make their favourites – loaded potato skins, fried chicken and burgers. But having treats didn’t mean there was any deference to

Following her own instincts, the devoted young mother allowed her boys ordinary childhood treats, such as this 1993 trip to Thorpe Park. And even at official events (right and above right) she was careful to include them and made sure they never felt they should just be seen and not heard

their princely status. “The food was put on the sideboard and they would just go and help themselves,” said the royal chef.

In another break with tradition Diana took William and Harry to homeless shelters and to visit aids patients to make them sensitive to others less fortunate than themselves.

“I want them to have an understanding of people’s emotions, people’s insecurities, people’s distress and their hopes and dreams,” she said.

Were she alive today Diana would be thrilled to see that her boys have matured into the People’s Princes, universally adored and the standard bearers H for everything she held dear.

43

touching lives

CHAPTER 6

Positive SPIRIT

From childhood on, Diana turned her own troubles into an inexhaustible well of empathy for others

E 44

childhood. While in many ways the young aristocrat had every advantage, growing up in a grand country house, she also had to face and adapt to the many difficult changes brought on by her parents’ divorce and her father’s inheritance of the Spencer title. This was to give her a sensitivity to others and a natural understanding of what it takes to adjust to new circumstances.

Diana’s mother Frances Shand Kydd spoke exclusively to hello! in 1997, offering a unique insight into this.

When Frances and Diana’s father, Johnnie, separated all too publicly, custody was awarded to her father, after her deeply traditional maternal grandmother Lady Fermoy sided with her son-in-law in court.

Decades on, Frances confided to us the heartbreak of being separated from her children. “I was devastated but there was nothing I could do about it,” she said. “I always spoke to them every day and they came to me for weekends. It’s still

V

ven for an energetic young woman like Diana, adapting to a new life as a royal was a steep learning curve. Suddenly, she was permanently on display and constantly in demand thanks to her effervescent charm.

Describing the baptism of fire she experienced on her first tours abroad, where the Waleses were greeted by hundreds of thousands of well-wishers, the Princess told BBC reporter Martin Bashir: “You had to either sink or swim.

And you had to learn that very fast.”

The girl from Nor folk swam spectacularly well, launching the era of Diana Mania. In time she grew accustomed to the limelight and even began to enjoy it. More than that, she came to see it as her responsibility to use the media spotlight for good, championing those whom others had rejected.

To understand Diana’s extraordinary qualities, it’s instructive to go back to her

Whatever difficulties she faced, Diana displayed an ability not only to keep going but to do so with verve and style

In Diana’s life a single image often speaks volumes. This beautiful picture of her dancing seems to sum up her qualities of resilience and optimism, highlighted by so many who knew her. In 1985, the young Princess danced on stage at Covent Garden, giving a flawless performance even though behind the scenes her life was far from perfect 45

H

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

ROBERTO DEVORIK ‘I can still hear her spontaneous, refreshing, genuine laugh’

F

rom her early days in the public eye, the fashion fraternity formed a praetorian guard on whom Diana could depend. With designers and stylists, the young ingénue felt able to relax and unburden herself of her deepest secrets.

One close friend was Roberto Devorik, an Argentine businessman who represented Ralph Lauren. As the Princess grew in confidence as a global campaigner, she joined forces with Roberto in the crusade against aids. He also persuaded Britain’s golden girl to visit Argentina in 1995, helping rebuild a relationship that had been frayed by the Falklands dispute.

Of the woman he came to regard as a beloved younger sister, he says: “I’ll never forget her love and her smile. I still have them in my heart now.

Our communication went beyond words. I could look at her during a function and know immediately if she was uncomfortable or if she was having fun. Our friendship began through Vogue editor Beatrix Miller, who asked me to advise on her wedding trousseau. When she said, ‘I’d like to introduce you to Lady Diana Spencer’, I didn’t make the connection until she said, ‘She’ll be the future Queen of England.’

“That’s when my legs started to shake. She looked at me shyly with those eyes and her

cheeks went red. She was dressed like a schoolgirl -- Shetland sweater, kilted skirt and moccasins. She looked like a typical English country girl, but she clearly had class, just like a thoroughbred.

“Later she polished her style and fashion became her weapon. Her biggest evolution came with the divorce: the haircut, the wet hair, the smile, the make-up. She used fashion for communication, as a tool to convey a message. It wasn’t that she was frivolous and she wanted a better dress than the other Princesses. That didn’t matter to her.

“Even so Diana was tremendously proud to be royal. She respected the Queen immensely and wanted her son to be King. But she had to fight for a dream that didn’t come true: more than being a Queen, more than being Her Royal Highness, she wanted to have a happy marriage. She was terribly in love with Charles.

“She didn’t want to just be a Queen, she wanted to give love and help those in need.

At a hospital in Argentina I saw her kissing burn victims. She didn’t do it so other people would see because there were no cameras.

“When people die, there’s always a memory that lingers, with Diana it’s her laugh. The day that I die, I’ll be able to hear her spontaneous, funny, refreshing, human, genuine, and real laugh.

“I could see her now working with the UN or unicef. She always said: ‘When the world gives you so much, there’s got to be some kind of balance. The only balance that I have is giving.

“She left behind a legacy of love, peace, unity and goodwill, just like Gandhi and Mother Teresa. What better H legacy could there be?”

Diana’s special qualities were seen at first hand by her friend of many years, fashion boss Roberto Devorik (above left). After her engagement he was brought in to help craft her image and later went on to collaborate with the Princess in the fight against aids.

The Argentine businessman was by her side on many red carpet occasions (left) including this 1992 charity premiere for Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte’s film The Prince of Tides

‘The biggest disease this world suffers from... is the disease of people feeling unloved, and I know that I can give love – I want to do that’

something that hurts to talk about.”

Speaking about the effects of divorce, she went on: “The rug is quite literally pulled out from under each member of the family. We all suffered enormously... Of course there were tears on both sides, from all my children. It would be ridiculous to suggest that it was anything other than traumatic.”

Frances had a survivor’s resilience, and she passed that on to her daughter. Whatever difficulties she faced in life, Diana displayed an ability not only to keep going but to do so with verve and style.

Even more importantly, she emerged from her early years with a very real understanding of what it means to suffer. From then on, not

only did she turn any adversity she met into a source of strength for herself, it also became the wellspring of her inexhaustible compassion for others.

As she once explained to her brother Earl Spencer, “it was her innermost feelings of suffering that made it possible for her to connect with her constituency of the rejected”.

“When I used to sit on hospital beds and hold people’s hands, people used to be sort of shocked because they said they’d never seen this before, and to me it was quite a normal thing to do,” she told journalist Martin Bashir.

During that BBC interview she spelled out her personal philosophy that “the biggest disease this world

suffers from... is the disease of people feeling unloved and I know that I can give love -- I’m very happy to do that and I want to do that.”

In turn, Diana found meaning for her own life in giving. With every bedside visit and every hand held, she felt renewed and of value, as if she’d found her mission in life.

Diana owed much more to her mother. When Frances shared her life story with Hello!, it was clear that Diana’s infectious joie de vivre and ready wit came in part from her.

Frances told us: “I fell out of the egg with a happy nature and a big sense of humour, shared by all my children.”

When Diana herself became a mother, she was determined to spend as much time with her

children as possible. She made it clear that a Princess could be every inch a hands-on mum, setting a new pattern for royal parenthood.

And though her time with her sons was to be cut tragically short, no one who saw them together could be in any doubt that she made every second count.

When, like her mother’s, Diana’s own marriage very publicly ended, she was once more mindful of Frances’s experience. She came out fighting against traditionalists within the palace, whom she felt were trying to undermine her position, and while fully supporting her sons’ relationship with their father and his family, she stayed right at the centre H of their lives.

47

touching lives CHAPTER 7

QUEEN OF COMPASSION Diana was fearless in her support for the suffering, showing an empathy few can match

G

V

iddy with excitement, the thrilled toddler, in tiny pink overalls, begged her first-ever real-life Princess for a very special treat: a fun-filled jaunt around town in Diana’s green Rolls-Royce.

Beaming back, Diana didn’t give her new fan’s unusual request a second thought, scooping up the giggling three-year-old – nicknamed First Lady by staff – in her arms. Within minutes, the pair of new friends were gaily gliding round the block outside Grandma’s House, a Washington DC refuge for children with HIV, a place where, till then, hope had been in short supply.

It was a tiny, touching act of kindness that brought sunshine to the life of the little patient – and one that melted the hearts of millions. The kind of act Diana was to repeat so many times all over the world, from the leprosy wards of Indonesia to the child Aids units of Harlem, and from the homeless shelters of Britain to the landmine fields of Angola. Glowing with compassion and unafraid of inconveniencing the establishment, everywhere Diana went on her many missions of mercy, she raised morale, money, tears and, most importantly, hope. She touched the untouchables, hugged

Diana had a unique ability to understand, perhaps from her own suffering, that of another. Here she reaches out to comfort a crying Bosnian mother in a cemetery in 1997. Right: on a mission of mercy to an orthopaedic workshop in Angola to meet victims of the scourge of landmines 48

Dressed in body armour and a ballistic visor, she bravely stepped within inches of scores of potentially lethal landmines

One of the most powerful images of Diana on perhaps her greatest ever mission: to the killing fields of Angola (above). Below: international humanitarian specialist Michael Stone at his home in Devon with a treasured framed photo from the 1997 trip, which he organised for the Red Cross

Wherever she went, Diana reached out to the world’s forgotten and reviled. Left: she bends to shake hands with old women in India in February, 1992. Above: bringing joy to a new fan at a hostel for HIV-positive children in Brazil. And right: helping out at a feeding centre for refugees in Zimbabwe

the outcast and inspired the world – and, in saving others, she also saved and empowered herself.

Even now, 20 years after her tragic death, her legacy lives on, not only in the countless lives she saved, but also in the spirit of charity that she passed on to her big-hearted sons William and Harry.

Diana’s compassion for others began young.

Her brother Earl Spencer proudly recalls being “the first beneficiary of Diana’s kindness to young people. She looked after me as a baby,” he reminisced.

“And the thing that really counted was that she was kind to younger children in her school.”

Later, as a newly-minted young royal, Diana set up a trust, shortly after her wedding in 1981, so that she could donate her own money to others. Of course, in adopting a charity role, she was initially doing what was expected of royals, especially women, since Victorian times: Victoria herself and her daughterin-law Princess Alexandra had regularly ministered to injured soldiers and the sick. Diana’s new inlaws, too, were all stalwart in their commitment to good causes, particularly Princess Anne. Prince Charles, meanwhile, through The Prince’s Trust, offered training and mentoring to unemployed youth. Yet Diana boldly and imaginatively brought something different to the field. “I am not a

political figure, nor do I want to be one. But I come with my heart,” she said of her very intimate, intuitive charity work, which almost never went by the book.

“Diana was not an academic person but she was good at lots of things,” says Earl Spencer of her unique humanity, a humanity that was built on so much more than compassion. As Michael Stone, who was commissioned by the Red Cross to lead the

of Angola, where, dressed in body armour and a ballistic visor, she bravely stepped within inches of scores of potentially lethal landmines. “She was imagining herself in the same position as the mothers of these children, and there were tears in her eyes.”

Photographer Arthur Edwards, who was covering the expedition, vividly remembered Diana meeting seven-year-old landmine victim Helena, who was lying exposed on her back. “The first thing she did was something instinctive. She made the child decent, covered her up. It was the thing a mother would do. She was concerned for the child’s dignity.”

In television the Princess found a powerful ally for her causes, because it was able to capture both her words and her body language as she connected with the people she met, putting herself at the same level. Above all, it captured her gesture of reaching out and touching them – cementing forever her iconic image as the Princess who literally felt their pain.

She herself was well aware of the impact of such an unprecedented gesture. Diana embraced what were till then unpopular causes, battling the stigma surrounding people who were HIV positive at a time when society was terrified of the condition – and she embraced those who suffered the scourge of aids and leprosy. She explained that

She touched the untouchables, hugged the outcast and inspired the world – and, in saving others, she also saved herself

V

50

Princess on her landmine mission in Angola, told Hello!: “Compassion is a feeling of sorrow for another with a desire to help. She moved beyond this towards empathy, an ability to understand, perhaps from her own suffering, that of another.”

Motherhood deepened that empathy. “I could see her processing the situations she encountered as a mother to two little boys,” explains Michael Stone of the Princess’s mission to the killing fields

Diana’s compassion for others began young when she looked after her baby brother Charles, now Earl Spencer.

And her maternal instinct only increased when she had children of her own. Here she cradles a young patient in her arms during her 1996 visit to a cancer hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, founded by her friend Imran Khan

she was “trying to show in a simple action that they are not reviled, nor are we repulsed”.

In 1987, when she famously shook hands with an aids patient at London’s Middlesex Hospital, one leading specialist said: “A handshake from her is worth a hundred thousand words from us.”

Away from the frontline, Diana worked tirelessly to support her causes whichever way she could. She swept spectacularly onto the charity gala scene, turning previously dry-eyed, do-good events into sensational fundraisers. The chief executive of Barnardo’s, Sir Roger Singleton, witnessed this firsthand, when she teamed up with designer Bruce Oldfield for a bash in aid of his charity. “Diana used her power just like a magic wand, waving it in all kinds of places where there was hurt… And everywhere she used it, there were changes, almost like a fairytale,” he said.

And like a true fairytale Princess, she had the humility to recognise that those she helped also gave a great deal to her. She felt an affinity with the forgotten and outcast, and her work with them gave her a much-needed sense of self-worth. Speaking to BBC’s Panorama she said: “They weren’t aware just how much healing they were giving me, and it carried me through.”

Diana spent her last months helping others.

After her Angola trip, she caught up with her friend Mother Teresa in New York and visited Bosnia. In June she auctioned off 79 of her dresses, raising $3.25 million for cancer and aids, and a poignant quote from that month perhaps best reveals her heart and her hope to go on helping. “Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of my life, a kind of destiny.

Whoever is in distress can call on me, I will come H running, wherever they are.”

‘I am not a

political figure, nor do I want to be one. But I come with my heart’

52

touching lives

THE DIANA LEGACY AWARDS Princes William and Harry honour young people following in their mother’s footsteps

T

he Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry have paid moving tributes to their late mother and told how they feel she lives on through the good deeds of others. William said that Diana, Princess of Wales still inspires “countless acts of compassion and bravery”, while Harry spoke of his mother’s “quiet selflessness”.

The brothers shared their memories of Diana as they presented Legacy Awards in her name to 20 young people from around the world who have achieved extraordinary things – often overcoming adversity – to help others.

Speaking at the event at St James’s Palace in London, Prince William said: “This summer marks 20 years since our mother died. She achieved so much in her life. From helping to shatter the stigma around aids to fighting to ban landmines and supporting the homeless, she touched the lives of millions.

“The truth is, though, that she was taken at only 36, just slightly older than I am today. Of course, we can never know what she would have gone on to do. But in one sense Harry and I feel that our mother lives on in the countless acts of compassion and bravery she inspires in others.”

54

Standing beside his brother, Prince Harry added: “One of the things our mother taught William and I was the value of doing good when no one is watching. She visited hospitals late at night to comfort patients, she spent hours writing letters to privately support the work of others. She achieved a lot by shining a spotlight but she worked just as hard when the cameras were gone.

“It is this spirit of quiet selflessness that unites these 20 recipients of the Legacy Award.”

William, 34, and Harry, 32, were joined by Dame Esther Rantzen, Holly Branson and Sinitta at the first ever Legacy Award Ceremony run by the Diana Award, a charity set up in the late Princess’s name to reward young people who have selflessly transformed the lives of others.

Since the Diana Award started in 1999, more than 47,000 young people from across the globe have been recognised. The special Legacy Award was launched this year to mark the 20th anniversary of her death.

Among the winners, who came from as far afield as Belize, India, Canada and the United Arab Emirates, was Jonathan Bryan, 11, from Chippenham, Wiltshire, who was born with

cerebral palsy and kidney failure and is unable to speak. He writes a blog via a spelling board and campaigns for all disabled children to have access to literacy.

Also receiving Legacy Awards were Mercy Ngulube, 18, from Wales, who was born with HIV and is chair of the Children’s HIV Association’s Youth Committee, and Jemima Browning, 16, who set up a swimming club for disabled children in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, after being inspired by her brother, who has Down’s syndrome.

Nicholas Nikiforou, 11, was rewarded for challenging his diagnosis of facial “disfigurement” and now promotes kindness and facial equality by handing out his artwork to the public.

“Diana, Princess of Wales believed that young people have the power to change the world,” said Diana Award chief executive Tessy Ojo. “Our mission is to foster, inspire and develop them to do that.”

Harry added: “Our mother said if we all play our part in making our children feel valued, the result will be tremendous. This result was H tremendous.”

For more information on the Diana Award: www.diana-award.org.uk

William and Harry pose in St James’s Palace with the 20 Diana Legacy Award winners chosen from around the world (above left). Harry enthused: “Our mother said if we all play our part in making our children feel valued, the result will be tremendous. This result was tremendous”

‘Our mother lives on in the countless acts of compassion and bravery she inspires in others’

people’s princess

CHAPTER 8

SHAPING THE NEXT GENERATION Diana helped her sons to stay grounded and grow up to be true 21st-century royals

T 56

Diana was a warmhearted and demonstrative mother, and it’s thanks largely to her example that the brothers routinely share their own emotions with each other – strengthening an unshakable bond that has helped them to survive her aching absence. Just as importantly, her almost magical knack for making everyone seem special guaranteed that little Harry would always feel the match of his best friend and big brother who was being groomed for kingship.

Her care paved the way for the successful double act her sons present today. Very different personalities, but equally popular with the public, they make a

V

wo casually dressed young boys and their mother sat chatting easily with residents at a community centre for homeless people.

From the group’s broad smiles you could tell that despite the men’s straitened circumstances the encounter had considerably brightened their lives, especially given that the visitors were the future King and his brother. The private visit to the Passage shelter in 1994 was one of many which Diana used to prepare William meticulously for the ‘top job’ as she described it, while at the same time coaching Harry to be his greatest supporter.

The Princess prepared William meticulously for the ‘top job’, as she called it, while at the same time coaching Harry to be his greatest supporter

The Princess is seen here with her boys in a stunning portrait by Lord Snowdon. She gave a lot of thought to their upbringing, ensuring that Harry would always feel the match of the best friend and big brother who was being groomed for kingship 57

The doting mother explained to her sons that there were ‘fun days’ that involved casual clothing and treats such as riding at Highgrove (far left) and ‘work days’ when they would be on display, including William’s first day at Eton College, where he signed the register in keeping with tradition at the historic school (above right)

Diana was determined that her sons should be different from previous royals. She wanted them to ‘come out from behind the glass window’ and experience life outside the palace walls formidable team on their joint campaigns for mental health and forces veterans.

For centuries young royals had grown up separately from those they would reign over. Diana was determined that her sons should be different. She wanted them to ‘come out from behind the glass window,’ and experience life outside the palace walls, said Meredith Etherington-Smith, who helped organise the Princess’s famous dress auction in 1997.

The proud mum often spoke of her boys. “The thing that mattered most to her was her sons. They were at the heart of her life,” recalls her hairdresser Sam McKnight. “Her absolute preoccupation was to give them as normal a life as possible.”

Unlike their father, who was taught by a governess until he was eight, the boys were allowed to mingle with other children right from kindergarten. Modern royal mum Diana encouraged friendships with fellow pupils through play 58

Diana and her sons in 1994 at the Passage, a homeless shelter where they spent the afternoon playing cards with residents. She took them on many such private visits, William later said, to see “the rawness of real life”

dates. “They’d all come back to the nursery at some point, throw jelly at each other and have a fight behind the garden,” remembered royal bodyguard Ken Wharfe.

The choice of senior school was made with particular care, according to Meredith Etherington-Smith: one of the reasons Diana wanted them to go to Eton was “because they would have proper friends there and not sycophants. She said, ‘There’s no messing around at Eton about someone being the heir to the throne. If you’re not popular, charming, intelligent or good at games, you’re not going to rate.’”

Of course, the Princess knew that she needed to prepare her sons for a future filled with ceremonial duties.

She explained to the boys that there were ‘fun days’, with trips to the cinema or fast food places, and other, ‘work days’, when they would have to be smartly dressed, wellbehaved and ready to shake hands.

Her private secretary Patrick Jephson explained her approach:

“Diana said to William, ‘It may only be ten seconds out of your life, but it could be years of happy memories for the person you meet.’ And that sense of respect for people in the crowd is something that I think we can see she has passed on very successfully to her children.”

Their mother’s ability to charm a crowd, making time for everyone, has indeed been seen on countless occasions, such as in 2011, when the pair made an impromptu walkabout to thank well-wishers gathered outside Clarence House on the eve of William’s wedding.

Away from their public engagements, both Charles and Diana sought to limit their children’s exposure to the spotlight, just as William and Kate now try to shield George and Charlotte from excessive press interest.

Photographer Jayne Fincher comments: “Diana was absolutely adamant that they didn’t experience that pressure. The deal was, you didn’t photograph them at school

and then occasionally there would be a photocall, for example at the Christmas play.

“I said to her, ‘It must be really difficult if you’re William. What does he think when there are all these people shouting his name?’ She replied, ‘I try to counteract it by saying, there might be some people there today who want to take your photograph. Be really good and if you are, maybe we’ll have a nice outing or a treat.’”

The lessons the Princes learned from their beloved mother are today a key part of her legacy, with William following in her footsteps as patron of Centrepoint, while his younger brother has taken on her mantle on aids.

“She very much wanted to get us to see the rawness of real life,” said William in a 2012 TV interview. “And I can’t thank her enough for that, ’cause reality bites in a big way. One of the biggest lessons I learned is just how lucky and privileged so many of H us are – particularly myself.”

The Princes learned to deal with the cameras early on, although their parents were careful to limit their exposure to the press, allowing snappers access to just one or two school photocalls per term. Diana was “adamant” that her children wouldn’t experience the same pressures she was facing, she told one photographer

spellbinding aura

CHAPTER 9

Search FOR LOVE

As Diana realised her fairytale with Charles had ended, other stories began to unfold

I 60

marriage was crumbling amid the crushing burden of the Princess’s popularity, which at times overwhelmed her and alienated the husband who came to resent being eclipsed. Nor did the age difference help. Ironically, the most adored woman on the planet came to feel unloved and lonely.

As he admitted to his biographer Jonathan Dimbleby, the Prince strayed. Diana herself found an outlet for her intensely romantic nature in a relationship with household cavalry officer James Hewitt, which lasted from 1986 to 1990. Four years later, her lover collaborated with a book

V

n the first year of her life with Prince Charles, Diana wrote to her childhood nanny Mary Clarke, “I adore being married and having someone to devote my time to.” For his part Charles, who’d left an encouraging note for his bride on the eve of their nupitals, saying, “I’m so proud of you. Knock’em dead,” confided to a friend that “marriage was very jolly”.

The arrival of two fine sons should have cemented the couple’s happiness, and in the weeks before Harry’s birth in 1984, the young parents were the closest they would ever be. But by the mid-’80s the

After the birth of their sons, the royal couple’s marriage was crumbling.

Ironically, the most adored woman on the planet felt unloved and lonely

Just before Valentine’s Day 1992, on a trip to India, the Princess posed alone in front of the Taj Mahal, the ultimate monument to love, while her husband was 1,200 miles away meeting business leaders 61

As their marriage broke down, the Prince and Princess appealed to the public through the media. The heir to the throne gave a TV interview in 1994 in which he admitted his infidelity, while saying that he and Diana had striven to make their relationship work. The following year, Diana herself told journalist Martin Bashir that “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded”, while confessing that she had herself been in a relationship with household cavalry officer James Hewitt

In Dodi, Diana found someone who looked up to her and was eager to be seen at her side. But her confidantes believe the relationship would have run its course about their relationship, which led to Diana’s admission to BBC interviewer Martin Bashir: “I was in love with him. But I was very let down.”

In 1992, the Waleses separated.

It was in September 1995, three years after their split, when Diana met the man who many consider was the other great love of her life apart from Charles. While visiting a

friend in hospital she crossed paths with tall Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, a man so immersed in his patients that at first he didn’t recognise her, thus immediately piquing Diana’s interest. Once she had managed to catch his eye, their relationship enthralled her. “I admire him so much,” she told her hairdresser Natalie Symonds. “I live for his late night calls. After I talk

to him I’m so happy and excited.”

Following her divorce in 1996 the topic of marriage came up and Diana travelled to Pakistan to test the terrain with Hasnat’s family. Ultimately, however, Hasnat, an intensely private man, had doubts about being subsumed by her global fame.

Given his reluctance to go public, Diana decided to holiday with Harrods tycoon Mohammed Al Fayed

THE MEN SHE LOVED AND LOST

James Hewitt

Hasnat Khan

Dodi Fayed

In the ’80s Diana romanced cavalry officer James Hewitt, their affair coming to an end in 1990. Eventually, his place in her affections was taken by handsome surgeon Hasnat Khan, but he was wary of the merciless spotlight that accompanied her every move. Her last love, Dodi Fayed, showered her with the attention she craved

62

and his son Dodi. For the first time in her life she was not only free to pursue romance where she chose, but had found, in Dodi, someone who both looked up to her and was eager to be seen at her side. But confidantes who spoke to her that summer firmly believe the relationship would have run its course.

We know, of course, that the friendship with Dodi ended in tragedy. At Diana’s funeral Hasnat walked in alone, broken with grief.

Years later he told police investigating her death: “I think that if Diana were alive today, we would have remained very good friends, whomever she was with. It is a huge loss when someone very close to you dies.”

Her choice of Hasnat and Dodi, both Muslims, was a clear departure for a British royal. Had she lived, the People’s Princess might have forged another partnership with someone who shared her humanitarian interests and helped her to build bridges between cultures.

Diana’s endless capacity for love, which drew all those around her into its force field, whether it be children, friends or the sick and downtrodden, has been inherited by her sons. They share her compassion for all, and when it comes to romance, they have fearlessly followed their hearts out into a world much wider than traditional royal circles. And that’s something their mother would have H wholeheartedly applauded.

Had she lived, Diana might have forged a partnership with someone who helped her to build bridges between cultures

Diana’s passionately romantic nature was just one aspect of her endless capacity for love, which drew all those around her into its force field, whether it be children, friends or the sick and downtrodden

touching lives

Both thrust into royal life, Sarah and Diana shared an instant and mischievous rapport (above). Below: finding their feet in Klosters in 1987. Far right: stepping out in style together

CHAPTER 10

TALENT FOR FRIENDSHIP With her kindness and love of fun, Diana will always be remembered as a friend in a million 64

The vivacious Duchess of York soon became both Diana’s friend and her partner in pranks.

“Nobody made me laugh like her,” says Sarah

S

model she never had. And pop stars and fashion friends who brought fun, fizz and flamboyance to her sometimes stifling palace existence.

Some of her earliest friends were to remain faithful through the ups and downs of her life.

Carolyn Pride, now Bartholomew, was an old school pal and the pair set up house together in Coleherne Court in 1979. Here at the fun-filled flatshare, Diana was in charge of clean-up duty and emblazoned her title of “Chief Chick” on her bedroom door. Together, they shared Diana’s excitement and jitters throughout her soonblossoming romance with Prince Charles.

But after her engagement was announced, Diana moved to Clarence House. Surrounded by

footmen and other staff, and with no company her own age, she was desperately lonely and missed her giggly, girly nights with her friends at Coleherne Court. “It was as though she’d been whisked off to an ivory tower… never to be seen again,” lamented Carolyn.

So when the effervescent and breezy Sarah Ferguson burst into the gilded cage, it was a whirlwind of fresh air for the still awkward young Princess. Diana and Fergie were soon indulging in girl talk and pranks that echoed through the vast halls of the palace. As writer Tina Brown put it: “The two girls would burn up the telephone wires trading gossip and irreverent royal tidbits they could share with no one else.”

V

ome cherished her warmth and loyalty, others saw firsthand her kindness and compassion, while many gleefully relished her often wicked sense of humour. In her tragically short life, Diana touched the lives of all those friends she made, friends who could always count on her in their hour of need. Her keen emotional intelligence and her vulnerability allowed her to form life-changing bonds with people from all walks of life: there were her loyal childhood pals, steadfast sounding boards for the Princess in her darkest hours and with whom she could live a semblance of a normal life. Motherly mentors who filled her yearning for the strong female role

65

Diana built up an astonishing and ever-widening circle of friends. Far right: with Mother Teresa, and, clockwise from above, Jemima, daughter of Annabel Goldsmith and wife of Pakistani politician Imran Khan; Nelson Mandela, Hillary Clinton, George Michael and Elton John

Diana’s keen emotional intelligence allowed her to form life-changing bonds with people from all walks of life “I loved her so much,” Sarah later said. “Diana was one of the quickest wits I knew; nobody made me laugh like her. But because we were like siblings – actually, we were fourth cousins and our mothers, who went to school together, were also best friends – we rowed.” Though the two royals grew apart in later years, Sarah was always convinced that their bond, forged in challenging circumstances, could never be broken. “I knew she’d come back. In fact, the day before she died she rang a friend of mine and said: ‘Where’s that Red? I want to talk to her.’”

Also offering Diana a refreshing dose of normal life was her friend Julia Samuel of the banking line of the Guinness dynasty, who later became godmother to Prince George. The pair instantly hit it off when they met in 1987 at dinner.

66

“We started laughing together. There was something about her and something about me that just worked,” recalled Julia. They lunched and went to the gym and when Diana popped by Julia’s home, “she loved it when she could do the ordinary stuff like washing up or emptying the dishwasher”.

Growing in confidence after her separation from Prince Charles in 1992, Diana began to carve out a glittering new circle of friends who offered her a chance to be her high-spirited self.

One such friend was George Michael, who enjoyed a rip-roaring friendship with Diana for several years after meeting at a World aids Day concert in 1993. They were close in age and they had both been thrust into the unforgiving limelight at the same time, helping cement a

bond between them. “Diana was the only person that I knew who made me feel like an ordinary person. That’s what I thought was so amazing about her,” the late singer later recalled.

Sometimes, remembers Diana’s chef Darren McGrady, George would arrive with his friends Elton John and Gianni Versace. “She would come alive when they were here. She used to laugh like crazy… She loved catching up on all the showbusiness gossip.”

As Elton later remembered: “You always felt elated after you’d spoken to her. And she had the best sense of humour. She had a wicked giggle.”

As she began to find her true place in the world, she was joined by the three women who were to cherish her most in her final years: her dear friends Rosa Monckton, Annabel Goldsmith

V

and Lucia Flecha de Lima. Rosa and Diana helped each other through challenging times, with Diana comforting her friend when she lost a baby, and becoming a model godmother to Rosa’s daughter Domenica, who was born with Down’s syndrome.

Annabel Goldsmith, meanwhile, was a tender, motherly figure who offered a warm, family-centred haven for post-divorce Diana. Lady Annabel’s daughter Jemima was also to become a close confidante when the Princess sought her advice on her romance with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.

67

Finally, Diana struck up an enduring and close friendship with the glamorous and sophisticated Lucia Flecha de Lima, wife of Brazil’s ambassador to the UK. Diana was the the same age as Lucia’s eldest daughter, but despite the 20-year age gap and their cultural differences, the pair clicked instantly. “I was older and a foreigner – but in some ways this helped our friendship.

And because of my age I could give her advice. She was like any other child,” said Lucia.

Another motherly and inspirational figure was Mother Teresa, with whom Diana had a profound and touching relationship. “She was very concerned for the poor. She was very anxious to do something for them, and it was beautiful. That is why she was close to me,” explained Mother Teresa just days before her own death, the same week as Diana’s.

The Princess’s charity work also brought her into contact with Simon Barnes, who had became a paraplegic after breaking his back on a Territorial Army assault course at age 21. He and Diana developed a friendship through their shared efforts with the International Spinal Research Trust.

“My overriding memory of Diana is of her openness and ability to engage with people. She drew you in and was a real friend,” says Simon. “She told me that when we’d found a cure for paralysis and I was back on my H feet, she’d have the first dance with me.”

68

Diana’s charity work led to a friendship with Simon Barnes (above left). From top to bottom: the Princess gained a trusted confidante in Lucia Flecha de Lima; enjoyed a semblance of normality with Julia Samuel (who is now godmother to Prince George); and cherished her schooldays chum Carolyn Bartholomew

H

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

ROSA MONCKTON on the friend who ‘loved music, dance and laughter, and gave of herself absolutely’

A

s the Queen remarked in her tribute to the iconic Princess, “no one who met Diana will ever forget her”. Those who formed part of the royal’s inner circle are lucky enough to have a treasure trove of memories by which to remember their special friend. Former businesswoman Rosa Monckton will always be grateful for Diana’s unconditional support on the births of her children, particularly Domenica, who was born with Down’s syndrome in 1995, and who counted Diana as her godmother. Rosa says: “Thanks to her complete, instant acceptance of Domenica, she made it easier for me to follow.”

Today the inspiring mother runs Team Domenica, a charity to help other young people with learning disabilities receive training and employment opportunities. She tells hello! that she feels sure Diana would approve of her mission, which is influenced by the Princess’s own legacy of caring.

“She would have been incredibly proud. Diana was an extraordinary woman who gave comfort and care to many. She was a woman who loved music, dance and laughter, a woman who gave of herself absolutely and who had genuine feeling for the suffering, the rejected and the abused.

“I first met her in 1987 when I was MD of Tiffany in London. We held a ball and the Princess of Wales was our guest of honour. I vividly remember her shyness – she was as timid as a fawn – her lack of pomposity and her dislike of standing on ceremony.

“In 1993, we met again. Her life was complicated at that time, and she was lonely and troubled.

She’d drop in to my office, or come to lunch at our flat. I was pregnant and she became concerned that I’d made little preparation for the baby. She arrived one day with a list of things she said I needed. We went to Mothercare and she propelled me round, ticking things off. A few

days later my daughter Savannah was born.

“Then I lost a baby very late on in pregnancy. It was then my friendship with Diana cemented.

She intuitively understood what to do. She took over and was with us when we buried her. A year later I had Domenica, who was diagnosed as having Down’s syndrome. Again Diana was extraordinary. She said: ‘I am taking this one on, you’ll need all the help you can get’, and offered herself as Domenica’s godmother.

In the brief time she knew her goddaughter, she taught me many things: that communication doesn’t require language and that I should love my daughter for what she is and not what she might have been.

“The last time I saw Diana was in August 1997 when we holidayed in Greece. We had six glorious, fun-filled days together on a tiny motorboat with three crew. We gossiped, talked about our children and lit candles for them in tiny Greek churches.

“The Princes are young men now and I’m delighted with how they’re commemorating their mother. They are doing whatever they can to ensure that her spirit H lives on.”

Diana volunteered herself as godmother to Rosa’s daughter Domenica, who has Down’s syndrome.

(Below, at her christening, and right, today.) The Princess holidayed with Rosa just weeks before her death (below right)

fashion and fascination CHAPTER 11

STYLE STAR Diana became one of the greatest fashion inspirations ever, as she blossomed in the spotlight from Shy Di to poised world ďŹ gure

The Princess instinctively understood both the power of fashion and how to express her own personality through it

In her final apotheosis as the fashion legend who is etched in our collective memory, Diana settled on a hallmark, feminine style as distinctive as Jackie Kennedy’s or Grace Kelly’s. On the night her husband confessed on television to the failure of their marriage, she ensured that her entire demeanour proclaimed confidence (right). For those who’d had a front row seat for the evolution of a style icon from hesitant Princess-in-training (left) it was a thrilling ride 71

F

irst there was ‘Shy Di’, charming us as she struggled to find her fashion feet on the world stage. Then came the playful young Princess of the early ’80s, expressing her high spirits with spotty frocks and pop socks. Gradually that Diana evolved into the perfectly poised fashionista whose looks wowed the world and made her its most photographed woman. And, finally, there was the Diana forged in the heartbreak of divorce, whose understated, yet devastatingly confident style showed us that she’d not only survived, but grown stronger.

We watched every stage of her progression as she first mastered the language of fashion, then learnt to express herself in it so fluently that we could read her feelings and intentions, hopes and dreams, in each and every outfit.

She began by learning, then she broke, and finally remade the rules of royal dressing. And we were enthralled, knowing that what we were witnessing was the making of a style icon. Now, 20 years after our heroine has exited the stage, time has proved us right. What Diana wore, and why, is more fascinating H today than ever.

FRESH AND FUN

First steps in fashion The girl who had hardly shopped before suddenly had a dress allowance befitting her status as the third most senior royal lady in the land after the Queen and Queen Mother. It was a joy and a fearsome responsibility. Her first efforts tended to be overblown and fussy, but they earned her an appreciative following beguiled by her ethereal looks and joyful enthusiasm.

Her fans would surely have agreed with Valentino’s final verdict on her: “Diana was a delight to dress because she gave real life to the clothes. She did not dress to be glamorous, she dressed to please. Everything she did was to please the people.”

72

Sitting pretty in a yellow frock on her 1983 tour of Australia (opposite); showing her sense of humour and winning smile at the polo in a ‘black sheep’ jumper (above); and a dress by Jan Vanvelden, who made most of her maternity wear, adapting it after baby William was born so she could go on wearing it (right)

UNIQUE AND UPBEAT

No one expected a royal lady to dress quite like this Still so young, the new darling of British fashion wanted to experiment and put her own individual stamp on her clothes, hence the girly prints, bold palettes and playful features. Diana wanted to communicate the lively personality behind her formal title as Princess of Wales. And her public responded warmly to – and copied – her style, right down to the frou-frou bows and quirky collars.

73

H

HELLO! FASHION MONTHLY EDITOR

JULIET HERD On why Diana’s fashion still reigns

I

74

V

Diana looking radiant in a romantic creation by her wedding dress designers the Emanuels (left); one of Bruce Oldfield’s eye-catching designs worn in Australia and Canada (above left); and (above right) a Murray Arbeid dress in primrose, an unusual colour for Diana

t seems strangely coincidental that in the 20 years since her untimely death, Princess Diana’s fashion influence has never been more pronounced than now. Designers certainly chose a symbolic moment to stage an early 1990s revival – evoking a time when Diana’s star power post-separation was at its peak and her sense of style at its most assured.

From oversized Prince of Wales’s check blazers and pleated knee-length skirts to the earlier ’80s ruffle one-shoulder dresses, the international catwalks have been awash with Diana’s signature styles. When online retailer asos released a Diana-inspired collection last year, millennials rushed to buy the preppy cricket jumpers, varsity bombers and pearltrimmed cocktail dresses. That arbiter of millenial taste Alexa Chung had got there first, of course, making Di’s pie-crust collars and ‘mom’ jeans her own.

It’s hard to believe that the woman widely regarded as the world’s most enduring style icon was ever known as ‘Shy Di’, so complete was her transformation. Not only did she put British fashion on the global map but she rewrote the royal rulebook, pushing style boundaries and creating new, more accessible protocols.

The Princess instinctively understood both the power of fashion and how to express her own personality through it. She enjoyed experimenting, worked closely with favourite designers such as Catherine Walker and David Sassoon, and always retained a sense of fun.

She kept a keen eye on the design of her outfits from the start, asking Bill Pashley to make two versions of the tweed suit she wore on

Diana rewrote the royal rulebook, pushing style boundaries and creating new, more accessible protocols

STATEMENT DRESSING

Making waves at home and abroad During the ‘80s the Princess graduated from the frothy fairytale confections of the early years to more regal looks that heralded the arrival of a major player in the fashion world. As a mother of two, she began to court the limelight in a more considered fashion, helped by her trusted favourite designer Catherine Walker, who crafted this dress worn in Berlin. The London-based French couturier explained that the brief she gave herself for Diana’s eveningwear was to create a “dignified showstopper”.

75

Visiting Sandhurst Academy in 1987 to inspect cadets, Diana channelled the miltary look herself (left), sporting a white suit with gold braiding in a cheeky nod to the occasion. She wore a rose-print suit to accept the freedom of the city of Northampton(above right), and embraced colour in Hong Kong (opposite page). In her later years, she opted for a pareddown, but still stunning, look to reflect her maturity and focus as an independent woman (right and far right)

H

WORKING WARDROBE

The diplomacy of dress Developing a fashion vocabulary, she learned how to flatter her hosts – and her figure – through her wardrobe. In Japan, Diana dressed for diplomacy with a red ‘rising sun’ design to emulate the country’s flag (left). To meet blind people she wore velvet for them to touch. For day she favoured crisp suits with clean lines. Eventually, she dispensed with established royal protocol altogether, wearing surprisingly body-confident dresses which showed off her best features, her strong shoulders and endless legs.

It was the same womanly look she had always aimed for, but without the fragility that marked her earlier, doll-like dresses.

H

V

honeymoon – a more fitted jacket and a larger one for country pursuits. With its nod to the ’80s bomber, this was an early example of Diana’s ability to tap into street style and influence trends. Everything she wore was copied on the high street.

Like the Queen, she made a point of honouring the nations she visited on tour by giving a nod to local styles, but often added her own twist – for example, at a gala in Spain in 1986 she teamed a black and red flamenco-themed dress with mismatched evening gloves. She was the first royal to wear a tuxedo look, adopting the trend made popular in the ’90s by the likes of Cindy Crawford and Madonna. She also introduced black into her wardrobe – not usually associated with royalty but a colour the Duchess of Cambridge has since adopted.

Kate’s penchant for restyling and recyling could also have come straight from the Princess’s handbook. It was classic Diana to make a previously worn outfit look fresh by changing accessories or the trim, ensuring she kept an eye on her clothes budget but still satisfied the fans who expected to see their idol in something new each time.

Like the Queen, Diana honoured the nations she visited with her outfits, but added her own twist

‘Diana let the clothes do the talking for her when she couldn’t – like a film star in the silent movies’ – JOHN GALLIANO

H

But as bold as Diana’s choices were, she always made sure they served their purpose. She generally opted for cheerful colours that would appeal to children and stand out in a crowd. On walkabouts and charity visits she preferred not to wear gloves, so that there was nothing between her and the people whose hands she shook.

She used clothes to convey her feelings, most notably when her husband publicly confessed to his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles in his 1994 TV interview. That same evening at a soirée in the Serpentine Gallery she wore a dramatic black Christina Stambolian cocktail dress that was emblemtic of the spectacularly sexy look that came to characterise her eveningwear.

By the mid-’90s and now single, Diana was very much the independent woman, dressed in slim-line suits with neutral accessories to keep the focus firmly on her charity work. In the field for her landmine campaign, she wore chinos and white shirts.

What would Diana be wearing today, aged 56? No doubt she would have continued to embrace a more relaxed approach to fashion. Her penchant for discreet luxury would draw her to Ralph Lauren and Max Mara, and closer to home, Stella McCartney, Burberry, Erdem and possibly some Victoria Beckham.

And who knows, she may even have worn one of Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri’s emblematic “We Should All Be Feminists” T-shirts. H

DIVINE DETAILS

All-round perfection By the ‘90s the Princess had become the consummate public performer, considering her appearance from every angle – for instance, the drama of this velvet gown (left) was all in the back, emphasised by a knotted string of pearls. Of her preparations, her friend fashion boss Roberto Devorik recounted: “Once we were due to appear together at the Palazzo Farnese in Italy and she asked what it was like. I told her: “It has high ceilings, cream-coloured walls and beautiful Renaissance paintings.” She replied: “So I can’t wear anything too pale because the people who come and see me pay fortunes. I’m doing this for charity, so they must be able to pick me out at the end of the hallway.”

78

For one of Diana’s first appearances after Andrew Morton’s tellall account of her marriage, she wore this pink and white column

by Catherine Walker (centre left). It seems like a silent appeal to her public, telling them that she’d been a decorous, dutiful consort, especially as it was a dress that had been seen before, thus highlighting her prudent recycling.

Left: Diana loved this draped-backed stunner

by Victor Edelstein, wearing it several times in the ’90s

Most of Diana’s early hats were by John Boyd, who fashioned the one for her ‘going away’ outfit after her wedding. and this one created for a trip to Sicily in 1985 (above left). Later that year the Princess of Wales chose a pageboy cap adorned with a Prince of Wales feather for her first trip to Wales (below). She later said she thought that her clothes were all wrong on that tour, but the crowds were thrilled

80

‘There’s nobody who could compare with Diana’ – ROYAL MILLINER PHILIP SOMERVILLE

HATS OFF

From demure to dramatic Although in the final stages of her life Diana rarely stepped out in a headpiece, reasoning: “You can’t cuddle children in a hat,” she had certainly mastered wearing them, learning that photographers groaned if the shape obscured her face and that wearing the same hat in a different position on her head made it look new.

Her most dramatic headgear was made

by Philip Somerville, who told her that a wide brim would balance out the strong shoulders that she liked on suits. An imposing white one of his (far left) topped off her outfit as she inspected a military parade in Germany, while the unusual turban style (above) was created to be appropriate for the modesty required in Dubai.

‘Her style evolved through her successes and failures, the births of her children, her differences with the royal family and, of course, her separation’ – FASHION BOSS ROBERTO DEVORIK

STUNNING SIMPLICITY

Moving into a solo role As Diana entered the 1990s her personal life was in turmoil, but her wardrobe was going from strength to strength. Soon, the world’s top cover girl was choosing gowns so sleek and streamlined that they stand the test of time 20 years on. The star of her 1996 trip to Sydney was a sliver of turquoise by Versace (above right).

Equally powerful was this purple affair worn in Chicago (above left). Diana, who divorced that year, no longer felt obliged to buy British. Asked if she’d chosen purple because it was the signature shade of the city’s emblematic Northwestern University, she laughed flirtatiously but didn’t reply. Throughout Diana’s life her all-time favourite silhouette was the one-shouldered gown.

Fashion forward at the time, the trend has dominated the red carpet ever since she left us.

Diana chose this white dress (left) for a trip to the ballet in 1988. It had a midi length that mirrored a dancer’s tutu and was teamed with her ever-present pearl choker featuring a sapphire that was a wedding present from the Queen Mother.

Right, an ivory and pink silk crepe gown originally created for a 1991 tour of Brazil, and later worn again 83

STAR POWER

Iconic looks to wow the world Among Diana’s most memorable evening gowns was the ravishing Edwardian-style dress that enchanted America and her dance partner John Travolta in 1985 (far left). Another was a lilac Catherine Walker gown created for a 1989 tour of the Middle East, and later altered to a more fitted, pencil shape for a visit to South Korea in 1992 (left). “This started with the idea of the romance of the desert moonlight. We worked up the samples of English rose embroidery on lilac silk,” says Said Cyrus, co-founder of the company with his wife. Back in 1987, the couple had made headlines when they draped the young Princess in strapless pale blue chiffon for the Cannes film festival (right), as a homage to Grace Kelly, the actress-turned-royal whom Diana so admired

It’s hard to believe that our most enduring style icon was ever known as “Shy Di”, so complete was her transformation

85

CROWNING GLORY

The story behind that signature hairstyle Aside from a few experiments with longer tresses, Diana will forever be known for her layered blonde crop. The idea to snip it into a sleeker silhouette was suggested by hairdresser Sam McKnight in 1991 after their introduction on a photo shoot. Persuaded on the spot, she let him get to work, launching a million ‘copy cuts’ on the high street.

Sam was also behind the famous ‘wet look’ style she sported in New York (right). Meanwhile, his colleague, make-up artist Mary Greenwell, steered Diana away from blue eyeliner and towards a neutral palette. The overall effect was more modern and suited to the work Diana was passionate about in hospitals, with the homeless and among landmine victims.

1982

1984

1984

1988

1995

‘I would sometimes tell her “Your hair looks fine.” She would reply, “But these people are expecting Princess Diana!”’

– STYLIST SAM McKNIGHT

1993

1997 87

H

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

JIMMY CHOO On fun times with his sole mate Diana

I

1995

n 1990, I told my mum and dad back in Malaysia, ‘Lady Diana wants to see my shoes,’ and they said, ‘Jimmy, stop dreaming!’ I remember the first time I met her, I was very nervous. She was beautiful, so nice. She showed me all the dresses and asked me which shoes would go.

“Afterwards, she insisted on walking me to my car. Back then, I was driving an old VW Scirocco. I said, ‘No, don’t see me out,’ but she came with me.

“She pointed first at a BMW, then a Mercedes, asking me, “Is that your car?”

Each time I said no, then we got to my car and I said,‘I have an old banger.’ But she was so nice – she just said ‘My sister has a car just like yours – it’s very good.’

“Over the next seven years, whenever she had a special event, she would invite me to the palace to design her shoes.

She always said thank you. Instead of me saying, ‘Thank you for giving me the opportunity,’ she said, ‘Thank you for coming to see me.’

“She would ask, ‘How’s your dad?

How’s your mum?’ Each time, she helped me to put the samples back in the case and carry them to the car.

“Every time the Princess went out, her picture was in the newspapers the next day. Everyone wanted to copy her.

“When I first met her, she’d ask for heels that were no higher than two inches but eventually she asked for three- inch heels, then four.

“I said, ‘Ma’am, four inches is too high for you, it will be difficult to walk.’

But she would joke, ‘Jimmy, I won’t be going out walking here and there. I want to look taller than the men.’” H

DAZZLING DIANA

The ‘Elvis Dress’ From the label so closely associated with her, Catherine Walker, this world-famous creation was studded with 20,000 pearls and popularly dubbed the ‘Elvis Dress’ because of its collar. Diana wowed Hong Kong with it in 1989. “We wanted something that symbolised ‘the orient’ along with the fact that she was a British Princess,” says Said Cyrus. “We looked back to the roots of royal dressing: Queens Alexandra and Mary, even Elizabethan court dressing.”

1989

89

ICONIC JEWELS

Gems fit for a Princess The former kindergarten assistant whose only adornment had been a simple gold chain with a letter D now had access to a treasure trove of jewels. As well as her family’s Spencer tiara (left), the Princess regularly set off her outfits with the Cambridge Lovers’ Knot tiara (right), featuring 19 diamond and pearl arches, which was given to her by the Queen for her wedding and is now worn, appropriately enough, by the Duchess of Cambridge.

This page, clockwise from left: The Spencer tiara teamed with a diamond and sapphire suite from the Sultan of Oman; Diana loved pearls, the more strands the better; her spectacular sapphire ring which now of course belongs to her daughter-in-law; a pendant featuring the Prince of Wales feather brooch loaned to her by the Queen Mother; the pearl and diamond ‘Swan Lake’ suite, so-called because Diana wore it to the ballet

90

Exquisite family heirlooms and wedding presents from foreign royals only added to Diana’s regal allure

91

H

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

JACQUES AZAGURY On how Diana shaped her signature style

W

ith a mischievous smile and a sassy swing in her step, Diana paraded down an imaginary catwalk. Watching in awe was master of style Jacques Azagury, who is credited with creating the stunningly pared-down look of the Princess’s later years. She giggled as she paused.

“Mario Testino showed me how to catwalk,” she told him.

Poignantly it was summer 1997, just before the Princess’s tragic trip to France.

She was at the peak of her beauty, and seemed truly content, says Jacques.

“She was happier than I had ever seen her. There was something about the way she carried herself; a certain new-found confidence. I saw her through the worst part of her life, but she never once gave out anything about her unhappiness.

“Yet in the final stages of her life, she seemed super confident and brimming with joy. Her skin was glowing, her hair was an amazing colour.”

That summer, as a surprise for Diana, Jacques created an evening dress for her,

92

and had the long, black, hand-beaded gown delivered on her birthday, 1 July.

“She loved it. She wore it that night at a gala at the Tate Gallery,” he smiles.

Another showstopper that year was the scarlet dress Diana wore to a Red Cross ball in Washington DC on her return from her landmine mission to Angola.

“She wanted a dress suitable for making a serious speech,” explains Jacques. “It also had to look appropriate for the party afterwards, so we created a plunging V to the waist so that her back was naked. She loved it. We worked together on that; she was very inventive.”

He credits Diana with being very much a partner in shaping her look. “She knew what she wanted and being with her was an inspiration. She made me think more deeply about my designs,” he says.

Taking pride of place in his showroom is a picture of herself with the message, ‘Dearest Jacques, Lots of Love, Diana x.’

“It was delivered the day she left for H Paris. Her final parting gift,” he says.

‘She knew what she wanted, and being with her was an inspiration.

She made me think more deeply about my designs’

NEW DIRECTION

Pared-down chic post-divorce Now, no longer an HRH, Diana divested herself of her grand state gowns and no longer wore tiaras, telling friends, “I’ve nowhere to go!”

She was joking, of course. She was more sought after than ever, especially across the Atlantic. Uncluttered by fads and with minimum jewellery, she was beyond fashion, exuding a timeless elegance in dresses tailored to emphasise her incredible figure. She looked fabulous and she knew it.

93

fashion and fascination

Twenty-five of the Princess’s outfits, worn over 18 years, are included in the exhibition, which also celebrates her status as the ultimate magazine cover girl (above right). Over half the dresses featured were designed by Diana’s favourite label, Catherine Walker, including this dazzling creation (right)

DIANA’S DRESSES RETURN HOME Kensington Palace hosts a special anniversary exhibition

T

o mark her 20th anniversary year, an exhibition charting the evolution of Diana’s image is being held at her former home, Kensington Palace.

Diana: Her Fashion Story features 25 of her outfits, worn over 18 years, from a Regamus gown chosen for a ball at Althorp in 1979 to a chic embroidered Catherine Walker shift dress for a 1997 Christie’s gala to launch the famous charity auction of her dresses.

Reflecting the changing fashions through the decades, pieces also include a pale-pink chiffon blouse from 1981 and a daringly low-cut, ice-blue silk

94

Versace gown from 1991.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing discoveries is a set of marks on a striking green silk velvet gown created by Victor Edelstein in 1985.

The dress was a favourite of the Princess and one she often wore in private. More than 30 years later, it still bears impressions that some historians believe could have been left by the tiny hands of her young sons, Princes William and Harry.

Curator Eleri Lynn told hello!: “There are a cluster of small indentations in the silk velvet on the right knee. Fashion historians have speculated that heat and moisture from small hands could easily have H made these marks.”

H

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

CATHERINE WALKER Her husband Said shares memories of dressing an icon

E

legant, easy and never overstated despite the formality that was often required, Diana’s outfits were a stroke of genius that propelled her onto the world stage. A huge number were by designers Catherine Walker (below) and her husband Said Cyrus (above).

After Catherine died in 2010, Said continued her eponymous label, winning over a new royal generation including the Duchess of Cambridge.

The couple were party to many of the secrets that transformed Diana into the most photographed woman on the planet. “We saw our job as giving her the tools of the trade,” Said says. “Diana was always very appreciative and whenever she wore a dress that was admired she’d thank us.”

Poignantly, he reveals that during the last weeks of her life, the Princess ordered a long tuxedo coat and a crimson draped cocktail dress. She’d agreed to write a foreword to mark the 20th anniversary of their business. “She was going away so we said it would be fine if she wrote it when she came back.

She never did...”

Earlier that summer Catherine had supported Diana as she prepared the charity auction of her wardrobe in New York. “We were all optimistic about how much the dresses would raise for charity,” recalls Said. “She will always be remembered for her humanitarian work. In the H end she used her dresses to save lives.”

spellbinding aura

CHAPTER 12

MEDIA MAGNET Diana’s love affair with the camera was to prove a double-edged sword

D

iana was the unparalleled media star of the 20th c e n t u r y, w i t h a luminous presence and reach the likes of which the world had never known. As many lesser mortals were subsequently to find out, such power comes at a price.

From the moment the engagement ring was slipped on her finger, she was never to escape the spotlight.

Everywhere she went the cameras were waiting, and she fed them with compelling images. First it was by pure chance, as when the sunlight filtered through her transparent skirt as she posed outside the kindergarten where she worked, or got out of a car in a riskily low-cut gown. Later it was by design – she drew the world’s attention to the horror of landmines by courageously picking her way through a minefield, and revealed the failure of her marriage by posing pensive and alone at the Taj Mahal.

The public -- and the press -- couldn’t get enough.

More often than not the Princess used the media attention to h i g h l i g h t cherished causes.

But in the most controversial moves of her life Diana also laid bare her unhappiness within the royal family, collaborating first with Andrew Morton’s book Diana: Her True Stor y, and then with BBC reporter Martin Bashir on the e x p l o s i v e Panorama interview where she revealed that both she and Charles had been unfaithful, and seemed to question his fitness as King. These accounts precipitated her divorce, her departure from the royal Firm and her loss of the designation HRH. And in 1993, she decided to dispense with her protection officers, leaving her more vulnerable than ever to the paparazzi, who hounded her often to tears and who many feel bore some responsibilty for the accident that robbed her of life.

In spite of this harassment she continued to impress responsible journalists with her campaigning zeal, changing the fate of causes like aids and landmines forever. And of course, leaving us with a precious legacy of incredible images that fascinate us as much today, 20 years after her death, as they did the day they were taken. H

While impressing responsible journalists by turning the spotlight on good causes, Diana proved irresistible to the paparazzi Even as a child, Diana had a special rapport with the camera, posing effortlessly for family photos. When she started dating Prince Charles, the public were enchanted with pictures like these (right). Later, of course, she was to put her gift to good use on missions such as this one to Bosnia (above).

But as her star blazed ever brighter, she felt relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi, who many feel bore some responsibility for the car accident in which she died 97

people’s princess Today she would perhaps be the most brilliantly connected humanitarian on the planet, an inspiration to stars like Angelina Jolie and George Clooney

Diana was poised to take the plunge into an exciting new role as a global philanthropist, which she’d conceived with the help of powerful friends such as Tony Blair, Hillary Clinton, Mother Teresa and Vogue editor Anna Wintour. This striking image of the Princess on holiday, now free to steer her own course and mulling her next move, was to have featured on the cover of hello!

The apalling news from Paris meant that week’s issue will now be remembered for a darker and tragically different cover

98

CHAPTER 13

UNCHARTED TERRITORY Who knows what Diana would have become if her life hadn’t been tragically cut short?

T

he statuesque beauty contemplating the azure waters of the Mediterranean must have thought the possibilities in her life were as limitless as the horizon. With her ever keen eye for a telling image, Diana was communicating that she planned to take the plunge into a new role. She had been the world’s most famous Princess-bride and then the poster girl divorcée; she had been a celebrated fashion plate who could make a designer’s reputation; she had been a healing angel soothing the sick and the afflicted; she had been adored and had then withstood the shocks as the tabloid media grew ever more critical. Now she was about to engineer her most dazzling and audacious reinvention yet.

Buoyed by the success of her antilandmines campaign -- brought into focus by a mission to Angola in January 1997 and another to Bosnia three weeks before she died -the Princess was hoping to become a roving global British ambassador, flying into trouble spots to promote her favoured humanitarian causes.

She’d even organised media training to allow her to make in-depth documentaries devoted to her campaigns. Today Diana would perhaps be the most brilliantly connected humanitarian on the planet, an inspiration to stars like Angelina Jolie, George

Clooney and Shakira, and with a social media reach running into the millions.

Friends who met her in those final months said the former nursery assistant was brimming with confidence and there were those in the establishment who were starting to take her seriously in this new guise. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair told journalist Tina Brown that he’d considered her to be the figurehead of his Africa initiative on overseas aid and debt cancellation. The pair had discussed the project over lunch at Chequers after a game of football with William.

I t ’s p o s s i b l e t h e P r i n c e s s w a s contemplating a move to America, where they’d invented celebrity as big as hers and where she had many powerful friends. She could have started anew there, met a kindred soul and found love – possibly having another child, the daughter she always longed for. “The Prince of Wales was a hard act to follow. She needed someone strong, who could deal with publicity; someone right for her children; someone with e n o u g h m o n e y, ” commented her close friend Lucia Flecha de Lima.

The tragedy of Diana’s death is that her story is forever pressed on pause on that one chaotic night in Paris, never to evolve.

Had she lived, she would surely have found calmer waters, and embarked on yet another adventure full of significance for us all. H 99

people’s princess A week after her death on 31 August 1997, Diana’s funeral took place. Her coffin was draped in the royal standard and bore three flower arrangements, one from her family and one each from her sons – the white roses from Harry dedicated, heartrendingly, to “Mummy” (below left)

CHAPTER 14

TAKEN TOO SOON Diana’s death at 36 brought her poignant life story to a heartbreaking end

S

ome were woken by phone calls from friends at 4am. Others exchanged the grim tidings with strangers on street corners early on that terrible Sunday morning. Soon, all of Britain, and the entire world, had awoken to the awful truth.

In Balmoral, though, the shockwaves were only just cruelly striking home. It was 7.15am before Prince Charles went to

William and Harry’s room to carry out the most painful duty of his life: to tell them their beloved mother had died in a Paris car crash.

A week later, Princess Diana’s two boys, aged just 15 and 12, brought tears to millions as they made their dignified milelong walk behind her funeral cortège to Westminster Abbey. Walking with them was their uncle, Earl Spencer, their father and their grandfather, Prince Philip. The three generations were followed by 500 representatives of the charities to which the Princess had devoted her life and her big heart.

“God bless you William”, “God bless you Harry”, came cries from the vast crowd who stood sobbing in the streets.

That so many people worldwide felt “that they too lost someone close to them in the early hours of Sunday morning,” was a remarkable tribute to Diana’s legacy, said her brother Earl Spencer in his electrifying funeral oration inside the Abbey.

“Today is our chance to say thank you for the way you brightened our lives, even though God granted you but half a life.

We will all feel cheated always that you were taken from us so young and yet we must learn to be grateful that you came H along at all.”

‘You brightened our lives, even though God granted you but half a life’

101

people’s princess CHAPTER 15

SEA OF EMOTION Grief and shock brought people together in unprecedented scenes of public mourning

I

V

t was a week of sheer disbelief, almost unbearable sadness and pain. But it was also a week of momentous, inspirational unity, when the British people came together and by so doing realised their country had forever changed. The stiff upper lip had quivered, ordinary people felt empowered by their grief and a new, more caring and compassionate Britain had emerged from the despair. “The massive outpouring around her death has really changed the British psyche for the better,” Prince William recently told GQ magazine.

It started out with individual tears, the tears of millions, who had for 16 years felt as their own the joys and heartbreaks of their People’s Princess. Brokenhearted, they wept for the nightmare end of the fairytale. Then, as they gathered in their hundreds of thousands, their tears became a sea of emotion, whose tides washed over the candlelit streets and parks of London, lapping at the gates of Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace and leaving in their wake mountains of bouquets, teddy bears, heartfelt poems, messages, and most movingly, children’s crayon drawings. Amid the sobs of those who could not bear to face their grief alone, strangers embraced and clustered before makeshift shrines, where they sat on the grass, sharing their sorrow in a quiet but comforting murmur.

They came from all walks of life, black and Asian faces alongside white, the old crying alongside the young.

Having touched the lives of so many, having reached out to society’s forgotten and outcast, having suffered herself, Diana belonged to them all and over the next few, extraordinary days, there was a public outpouring of grief the likes of which Britain had never seen before.

Faced with this unstoppable tide, the royal family broke protocol and abandoned tradition, as they were

102

A new, more caring and compassionate society emerged from the despair. ‘The massive outpouring around her death changed the British psyche for the better’ – PRINCE WILLIAM

A Queen of Hearts balloon floats among an astonishing sea of flowers and tributes outside Diana’s home, Kensington Palace – a moving testament to the depth of love for Diana that Prince Charles witnessed along with his heartbroken sons William and Harry (left) 103

The devastation at Diana’s death brought together people from all walks of life. In Paris, grief-stricken mourners turned the Flame of Liberty monument into a makeshift shrine (below). Crowds struggle to contain their grief (left) as the hearse carries Diana on her last journey to her final resting place (above) on an island at her family’s Althorp Estate (right)

104

summoned from Balmoral to the capital to share the suffering of the people.

There, the Queen took the unprecedented step of making an address on live television. Diana, she said, “was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness.” She added: “I for one believe that there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death. I share in your determination to cherish her memory.”

World leaders united in praise for Diana’s humanitarianism, with heartfelt tributes pouring in from Japan and Cambodia, Russia and France, from all across South America, and from Canada, Australia and the rest of the Commonwealth. A shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair phoned US President Bill Clinton, who was on holiday. “She was such a rock of stability,” the PM told Clinton, adding, “It’s like a star falling…”

First Lady Hillary Clinton, who attended the funeral, praised Diana’s “courage, perseverance and loving kindness… Today the shadows are longer because we have lost a light that shined brightly and gently, and we will miss her,” she said.

Her sentiments were echoed by all those who had known Diana.

From President Nelson Mandela, who said she’d “captured the imagination of our people” to John Travolta, who revealed how he cried.

And Sir Elton John, who paid a heartfelt tribute that perhaps captured why so many had turned out to bid her farewell. “Diana could connect with anybody. She made H everybody feel special.”

‘Diana was an exceptional and gifted human being… There are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death’ – THE QUEEN

105

spellbinding aura

CHAPTER 16

Queen OF HEARTS

More than a Princess, more than a star, Diana was a unique figure who belonged to us all

T With her beauty, charm, humour and enthralling storybook journey, Diana was Queen of all our hearts. Her star power and compassion made her the world’s first great celebrity charity icon. And though she had her heroic flaws, we loved her all the more for that

he world had seen iconic women before. Princess Grace. Jackie Kennedy. They were internationally admired, and their tragedies affected us. But Diana was different. She belonged to the world. Her story was ours.

With her beauty, her charm, her humour, her passion, her sidelong glances that betrayed every emotion, she stole her way into all our hearts – and then she was gone. And when the news broke, her death was shattering. It felt like the loss of a family member, no matter how far away we were.

So how did Diana affect so many millions of people on such a personal level? It was her paradoxical appeal as fairytale girl-next-door.

She was a Hollywood script come to life, the timid 19-year-old who transformed into a dazzling, tiara-crowned beauty. It was love at first sight, on a global scale. Here in Canada, almost everyone has a story about how they or their families got out of bed early to watch the royal wedding live on television, or where they were when they received the unthinkable news that she’d died.

She wasn’t just the face of royalty. She was royalty. In many countries, notably the US, little was known about the royal family before the spotlight fell on “Shy Di” in 1980, and this lack of understanding of British tradition sparked a fierce protectiveness in legions of

Diana admirers around the globe. As she struggled with her place in the system, they felt she was misunderstood. She always sat just a little on the outside – like us.

And her empathy reached mythic proportions in all corners of the earth. While other public figures performed acts of kindness, Diana was a ministering angel who stepped where even angels feared to tread.

She literally walked through minefields in Angola. She reached out and took the hand of an HIV-positive patient at the height of global terror over aids – a single, simple act that transformed her into an idol akin to Mother Teresa. She was the first great celebrity philanthropist, opening the door for the likes of Angelina Jolie and George Clooney.

Fearless, she put herself in harm’s way, both physically and politically, and around the world, admiration was layered onto adulation.

At the same time, like all the best heroes and heroines, she was flawed. She was impulsive, sometimes self-destructive. And we loved her for it. We didn’t expect her to be perfect. But we did want her to get her happy ending.

And that’s why, when she left us, the world’s sights turned to the one thing in life that had always made Diana happy: her two young sons.

H The Princes of Hearts.

ALISON EASTWOOD, EDITOR OF HELLO! CANADA

107

reinventing royalty

CHAPTER 17

PRINCES OF HEARTS Diana’s spirit is alive today in her sons, who have inherited her warmth and charisma

H

andsome, charitable and assured of a deafening rock star welcome wherever they go, William and Harry are poster-boy Princes from central casting. With Diana’s boys on the beat, walkabouts often become hug-athons, while their social media following rivals that of any boy band worthy of the name. This is monarchy reinvented for the 21st century.

Together they make an unbeatable double act, underpinned by the sort of brotherly banter that makes it alright for Harry to rib his sibling about his hairline – as he did on a photo call in front of the world’s media, quipping: “His baldness was established at school.” To which he was told: “That’s pretty rich coming from a ginger.”

The brand of magic that the Princess’s brother Earl Spencer remarked upon has 108

very clearly been inherited by her sons. Those two motherless boys, whom the world took to their hearts as they followed Diana’s cortège on her final tragic journey, have grown up into worthy guardians of her flame. But while she famously chafed at palace protocol, her children have found a place for their talents within the royal fold, and helped to change it from within.

Blessed with her striking looks and natural nobility, William is the King-in-the-making she always dreamed he’d be. The year after Diana’s death, he was met in Vancouver by swooning girls shouting ‘Marry me’, providing yet more fodder for Harry. “Go on, William, wave at the girls,” he was heard teasing his big brother.

When the Duke of Cambridge did finally wed, he and his bride Kate dazzled anew on their first trip abroad, memorably wowing Hollywood, where the stars scrabbled for an introduction to the royal visitors.

Meanwhile, Harry has Diana’s sensitivity towards others and mischievous sense of fun. On a 2012 tour to Jamaica, he disarmed Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller with a hug hours after she’d called for a referendum on the monarchy. He then cheekily ‘beat’ Usain Bolt in a race by setting off when the champion wasn’t looking.

But the glittering popular façade would be nothing were it not backed by substance. A veteran of Afghanistan and founder of the Invictus Games for wounded soldiers, Harry’s just as happy chatting with his army buddies or playing with orphans in Africa as he is mingling with celebrities. And his brother served for many years as an air rescue pilot, showing up to accidents as plain William Wales.

Not a day goes by, the Princes say, when they don’t think of their mother and try to do her proud.

To that end they have recently taken up her stance on mental health, urging people not to bottle up their fears and sorrows, and sharing their own.

William spoke about his crippling grief over her loss, saying: “I still have that shock within me – people say it can’t last that long but it does.”

In an equally courageous move, his brother admitted he sought counselling over her death after “20 years of not thinking about it and two years of total chaos” in his personal life.

Like Diana, the Princes understand the power of a single gesture in our media-savvy global age.

In 2013, Harry recreated his mother’s walk through a minefield and he’s also taken an aids test on TV to encourage others to get tested.

Highlighting the plight of the homeless, William once slept on the streets for the night in his capacity as patron of Centrepoint, a role he took over from his mother.

In his mission to help paraplegic veterans Harry has spent hours in the rehab centres where they put their lives back together. These campaigns are, he says, the “unfinished business, the unfinished work that my mother never H completed”.

Like Diana, the boys are wildly popular. And just as their mother did they’ve used the media spotlight that accompanies their every move to highlight their personal crusades, helping the homeless, paraplegic army veterans and orphans who’ve lost their parents to aids

Not a day goes by, say William and Harry, when they don’t think of their mother and try to do her proud 109

reinventing royalty

CHAPTER 18

M odern FAIRYTALE

His mother’s influence has helped William and Kate to forge the happy family life Diana could only long for

O 110

Diana would have been tickled to witness her beloved elder son presenting his fiancée to the watching world, with the very same sapphire she herself once sported so proudly. William had planned an elaborate Out of Africa proposal at a remote cabin in Kenya, after which the lovebirds toasted their future with champagne. The choice of ring was, the dashing young Prince said, his way of keeping his mother “close to all the fun and excitement”. Echoes of Diana could also be seen in the blue dress Kate had picked out to complement the enormous sapphire – the first of a number of sartorial homages the Duchess has paid to the inspirational mother-inlaw she says she would have loved to meet.

Many in that global audience will have agreed with the jubilant verdict of actress Joan Collins, who had been friendly with the late Princess: “I think she would be very pleased indeed that

V

ver three decades ago royal watchers were entranced by the image of a radiantly beautiful young aristocrat marrying her handsome Prince. In the 21st century, the internet generation had an update of the fairytale, starring their son and his university sweetheart, whom he’d courted for years, in a bid, he admitted, to learn the lessons of the past. How thrilled Diana would be to see the happy united front presented by the future King William V and his Queen Catherine. Britain’s golden couple have found the ‘happily ever after’ that sadly eluded his parents. Together they have taken on and conquered the world, beguiling multitudes of well-wishers from Canada and the US to Malaysia, Bhutan, New Zealand and Australia.

William and Kate announced their engagement after a prudent eight years of dating, having had plenty of time to get to know each other well away from the spotlight. A Middleton family snap catches the lovebirds in a tender moment five years earlier (right)

Seeing the couple blossom in each other’s company over the course of their long romance, no one could doubt the depth of their love or devotion

112

engagement interview the Prince joked that Kate had several pictures of him up on her wall prior to their introduction. To which she replied cheekily: “He wishes. No, I had the Levis guy on my wall, sorry.” Speaking about their bond, William said: “It is just really easy being with each other, it is really fun,” and added a little quip of his own: “I’m extremely funny and she loves that.”

Allison Pearson in The Telegraph wrote of the nuptials: “The wedding is the culmination of an eight-year romance between William and Kate, but it is also, to a remarkable degree, the fruit of another great love: that of a mother for her son.

William’s choice of Miss Middleton from Bucklebury, Berkshire – the first commoner to win a Prince’s heart for 350 years – comes straight out of the People’s Princess Handbook.”

At 29, his bride was an independent working woman when she floated down the aisle of Westminster Abbey and nearly ten years older than Diana on her wedding day. She had been

V

William chose Kate to be his wife. When I heard he’d given Kate his mother’s diamond and sapphire ring... I thought it was wonderful and it made me cry. She seems like a really nice girl. She’s well-dressed and absolutely charming.”

Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton is certain that she would have revelled in the role of supportive mother-in-law. Speaking to hello!

Canada, he said: “Diana would have been thrilled that William has found someone who he feels comfortable with and who cares for him as much as he seems to care for her. The one thing Diana wanted to do was to have a daughter and to mentor that daughter through her work. She would have been thrilled to have helped Kate and advise her on how to behave as well as some of the things to watch out for.”

In the event the couple have done her proud, charming an enchanted public from the outset. It’s clear to royal watchers that William and Kate adore each other and share a sense of humour. In their

After sharing their happy news with the world, William and his bride-to-be Kate confidently face the press at a photocall at London’s St James’s Palace in 2010. In a sweet gesture, Kate wore a royal-blue outfit, as Diana had done 113

‘Our mother would be so proud of you,’ Harry told William, as bride and groom buzzed with happiness on the best day of their lives

114

child that he could be a policeman to keep his mother safe, has fulfilled his promise to protect Kate. On the odd occasion when an overzealous photographer has taken an intrusive picture of his wife, the royal reaction has been swift and firm. In 2012 he roundly condemned intimate pictures of Kate taken while she was on a private holiday in France and won an injunction against the paparazzi.

In this he was undoubtedly supported by Harry,

who later found himself forced to speak out about harassment of US actress Meghan Markle, whom he announced to be his girlfriend in a statement at the end of 2016.

And whenever Harry’s sister-in-law is asked what life is like as a Princess, Kate is quick to reply that she’s very well looked after by her husband. Theirs is a successful high-profile partnership that rivals those of the most famous couples on the planet, such as Barack and Michelle Obama, George and Amal Clooney.

While Kate has been welcomed with open arms by the royals, William makes sure they spend Christmases and holidays with her family too. On leaving hospital with his son and heir Prince George in 2013, the proud father buckled the baby into his car seat himself and took the wheel to drive his wife and child home. It was a powerful signal of intent in front of the world’s media. Then, after spending one night in Kensington Palace, the young family went where the new mother felt safest – the Middleton home in Bucklebury, probably the first

V

allowed to live with her Prince Charming first and get to know him thoroughly. The result is a relationship that has stood the test of time and on their special day they radiated joy, tenderness shining in William’s eyes as he promised to love and cherish his bride.

Wedding guest Millie Pilkington, a family friend and photographer who’d collaborated with the Middletons’ company Party Pieces, had been invited to take informal pictures of the exultant couple throughout the day for their own personal album. Describing their happiness she said: “They were drawn to each other magnetically throughout the day. Their love for each other was so evident.

Everyone could see it. They just looked like they had been made for each other. They were buzzing with happiness and seemed to be having the best day of their lives.”

Harry, so often the spokesman for the two brothers when it comes to Diana, is reported to have told the groom during his speech as best man: “Our mother would be so proud of you.”

William, who once wished as a

116

V

Love and teamwork: The royal couple double up to join in traditional dancing at a welcome ceremony in Tuvalu (above left).

Left: Kate rewards Will with a kiss after a charity polo match, before slipping into a flowing lilac gown to join him on the red carpet that evening at a bafta event in Los Angeles (above)

time a future King has ever started life outside palace walls.

Which was precisely the point. As William recently explained to GQ magazine: “I want George to grow up in a real, living environment, I don’t want him growing up behind palace walls, he has to be out there.

The media make it harder but I will fight for [my children] to have a normal life.”

Meanwhile, little George’s muchloved grandmother was very much in everyone’s minds when the Duke and Duchess began a family.

“We’re all so pleased: it’s wonderful news,” said Diana’s brother Earl Spencer, speaking about George’s debut on 22 July 2013. “My father always told us how Diana was born on just such a blisteringly hot day. It’s another very happy summer’s day, half a century on.”

When the couple’s second summer baby, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, arrived on 2 May 2015, the Earl said the names were per fect. The Earl, whose own youngest daughter is called Charlotte Diana, tweeted: “Perfect names. My two-year-old Charlotte Diana will be thrilled at cousinly name-sharing.”

Sitting in the same spot where Diana was the picture of loneliness in 1992, Will and Kate show true team spirit and real chemistry

117

Little George and Charlotte can look forward to the more relaxed regal upbringing Diana always favoured

118

Of the tribute the Princess’s friend Simone Simmons said: “Diana would be over the moon. It’s William’s way of honouring his mother’s memory. A way of making sure Diana’s legacy lives on. This way she will never be forgotten.”

Certainly the loving bond between mother and son will always remain with William as he raises his own young family. George has been enrolled in a school that puts encouraging kindness in its pupils on a par with academic matters, which speaks for itself. He and Charlotte can look forward to just the kind of more relaxed regal upbringing William and Harry enjoyed, thanks to Diana’s pioneering example.

Kate and William are demonstrative, loving parents who are committed to working as a real team to give their children the best start.

“I could not do my job without the stability of the family,” says William. “Stability at home is so important to me. I want to bring up my children in a happy, stable, secure world and that is so important to both of us as parents.”

Of all the gifts that Diana bequeathed the son who so channels her intoxicating combination of shyness and charisma, surely this chance at the blissful family life she H longed for, is the greatest of all.

The Cambridges look picture perfect as they arrive for a children’s party during the royal tour of Canada (above). Left: hands-on dad William holds his beloved George. Above left: a family skiing holiday. Far left: George has been closely bonding with his baby sister from day one 119

reinventing royalty

CHAPTER 19

ROYAL FAMILY REBORN Diana’s legacy has been key in helping the Windsor dynasty to flourish

I 120

privacy of Balmoral, the royal family returned to London, where they joined the heartbroken throngs amid a sea of flowers outside Buckingham Palace.

Here was the first sign that things would never be the same again. Though they had been merely following protocol in their stifflipped and stoic reaction to the Princess’s death, the people wanted them to take a page from Diana’s more open book. They wanted a less aloof, less buttoned-up royal family, one that shared with them the joys

V

t was the closest thing to an acknowledgement from the Queen that the Windsors had misjudged the national mood, a rare moment of public soul-searching. Speaking to the grieving nation, as both sovereign and, crucially, as a grandmother during the tumultuous week following the death of Diana, Her Majesty said: “I for one believe that there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death.” Leaving behind the

In the two decades since the tumultuous events of 1997, the royal family have taken a page out of Diana’s book to give the people a less aloof, more accessible monarchy. By the time the Queen celebrated her 90th birthday in 2016 (above) the Windsors were basking in the restored and renewed affection of a nation. Meanwhile, more laid-back public appearances have helped them reveal themselves as a close-knit and affectionate family (right)

121

The royals are now welcoming new bloods like Harry’s girlfriend, actress Meghan Markle (far left), while the Queen was game for a laugh during her Olympic Bond skit (left). Above: fun and games with Prince George and President Obama. Opposite: the Queen poses with her great-grandchildren – the royal famiy has truly been reborn, with the arrival of a clutch of new young members including Prince George, who will one day be King

and sorrows of life, one that reached out and, like Diana, touched them all.

Since then, heartfelt interviews by the younger royals, themed receptions at Buckingham Palace, bowing and curtseying being made optional – all are signs that the Windsors have been carefully experimenting and innovating over the two decades since Diana’s death in an effort to strike a note more in tune with the public.

And it was the Queen herself who most clearly saw the way forward. In an interview to mark her 60th anniversary on the throne, Prince Harry credited his beloved grandmother with reimagining the royal ‘brand’ for the 21st century.

“She’s managed to get the family to move with the times,” he said. “I think that’s incredibly important. You can’t get stuck in a sort of old-age 122

situation when everything around you is changing.”

She was also one of the first to wear her heart on her sleeve. During a speech on the occasion of her Golden Wedding Anniversary just months after Diana’s death, the Queen spoke touchingly of her husband as “quite simply… my strength and stay all these years”.

Following that milestone celebration, the Windsors were able to capitalise on a succession of other upbeat events, starting in 1999 with the wedding of Prince Edward to the poised and prepared Sophie Rhys-Jones, daughter of a tyre salesman and a secretary. It was a sign that they were getting better at welcoming new members into the fold, that the Firm was open to new bloods rather than just bluebloods. William’s long courtship of Kate would have been unorthodox

in the past, and Harry’s romance with sassy Californian actress Meghan Markle probably unthinkable. The People’s Princess would be proud of the more modern approach.

And she would definitely love to have been watching when, last year, her former husband Prince Charles and her adored boys all joined the kings of light entertainment for the ITV documentary When Ant and Dec Met The Prince.

Because as William and Harry joyfully teased their father about his knack of embarrassing them at school plays, his constant “rabbiting on” and his appalling handwriting, we saw a fresh, new-style Windsor family, a family once considered dysfunctional and antiquated, but now one that was close-knit, affectionate and thoroughly H recognisable to all.

Thanks to the way the Queen has embraced change, and the charisma of the new generation, the future of the monarchy is assured 123

reinventing royalty

20

MOMENTS

1

WILLIAM AND KATE’S MARRIAGE

When William gave his beloved Kate his mother’s sapphire and diamond engagement ring, it was a bold declaration of loyalty to her memory and a moving way of having her present throughout the excitement of the nuptials. It’s a touching symbolism that Diana would have loved. She’d have nodded her approval too that among the wedding guests was a formerly homeless woman from Centrepoint charity, and that the couple eschewed gifts in favour of donations to 26 good causes.

2

THE BIRTH OF PRINCE GEORGE

Family-centred Diana would have been elated to welcome her first grandchild, while Kate, who suffered severe morning sickness during her pregnancy, would have found her sympathetic presence soothing. Her mother-in-law would also have been a great source of practical advice. She would have delighted in hitting the boutiques for baby clothes, and maybe even helping to decorate the nursery.

And as she watched little George growing up, so much like his adoring dad was as a child, she would have been proud indeed.

3

FAMILY CONFETTI

4

CHRISTMAS AT ANMER

She’d have been the first to congratulate her beloved nieces Emily McCorquodale and Laura Fellowes on their marriages, and would have thoroughly enjoyed being guest of honour on the big day of her goddaughter and charity campaigner Lady Edwina Grosvenor when she wed TV historian Dan Snow.

What pleasure Diana would have taken in seeing the Cambridges create a loving and private home for their young family at Anmer Hall in Norfolk. With its child-friendly kitchen, this was a

5

A SALUTE FROM HER TWO SOLDIER PRINCES No one would have been prouder than their mother when William graduated from St Andrews University and when he and Harry marched in their ‘passing out’ parades after qualifying as officers at Sandhurst military academy.

Later, though no doubt a little anxious, Diana would have cheered along with the rest of the country when, in 2010, William made his first air-sea rescue as a helicopter pilot. And she would have been even more delighted than Harry himself when he received his first medal for frontline military service in Afghanistan in 2008.

124

iana D world away from the formal palace life, abuzz with butlers and footmen, that Diana found herself in as a young mum. She’d have thoroughly enjoyed joining in the fun there when Kate and William gave the traditional and ver y Victorian Windsor Christmas a miss and laid on some over-the-top festivities complete with tinsel and flashing lights.

6

HER SONS’ CHIVALRY

7

HARRY TAKING AN AIDS TEST LIVE

Trailblazing Diana was always going to be a hard act to follow but she’d be thrilled that the one to do so would be none other than her son Harry. In 1987, Diana took the unprecedented step of shaking hands with an aids patient – and she

dedicated the rest of her life to fearlessly fighting the stigma of the disease. Three decades on, Prince Harry movingly carried on her legacy by popping into a London hospital for an HIV test and urging others to do the same – all on live social media.

8

KATE’S STYLISH TRIBUTE

Whether sparkling in the Princess’s favourite tiara at a gala, or opting for a spotted dress to present her new baby, rather like Diana wore to show off William, Kate often uses clothes to make a sweet nod to her mother-in-law. And she’s equally successful at boosting British fashion.

THE LANDMINE BAN

Just months after Diana’s death, her bravest work led to a worldwide rejection of landmines.

In December 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines won the Nobel peace prize, with the committee recognising Diana’s commitment to the cause. That same month in Ottawa, the Mine Ban Treaty was signed and subsequently ratified by parliaments across the globe, including the UK’s. Foreign Secretary Robin Cook praised “the immense contribution made by Diana, Princess of Wales, to bringing home to many of our constituents the human costs of landmines.”

10

V

The Princess would have applauded her sons’ unstinting and chivalrous efforts to protect their loved ones from invasions of their privacy, such as William’s court

battle to sue over intimate holiday photographs of Kate. They reminded him, he said, of the paparazzi “harassment” suffered by his mother. Harry, meanwhile, has stoutly defended girlfriend Meghan Markle from sexist and racist smears in newspapers and on social media.

would have loved 9

THE BIRTH OF PRINCESS CHARLOTTE

By naming their baby girl Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, William and Kate paid tribute to some leading lights of British royal history while making sure that William’s mother’s memory lives on in the royal family. Always having longed for a daughter herself, having a little girl to spoil would have been a real treat for doting grandmother Diana. And she’d have been touched to see the growing bond between Charlotte and her big brother George, a bond she encouraged with such loving tenderness between her own darling boys.

125

13

SETTING SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT

14

CELEBRATING CHANGE

15

WILLIAM AND HARRY SPEAK OUT

Always one to speak her mind, Diana would have set the internet on fire. Social media would have allowed her to set her own media agenda, and Instagram would have given her control over her image. And she’d most likely have dethroned Katy Perry as Twitter Queen (almost 100 million followers), giving her a vital platform to promote all her charitable causes.

11

PRINCE HARRY WOWING THE CROWDS

While the heir is always groomed for great things, the so-called spare may find himself at a loose end. Not so Harry, who has energetically thrown himself into royal duties and is doing wonders for the royal family and for Britain, particularly on a string of hugely successful foreign tours. Representing the Queen on a tour of the Caribbean last year, he demonstrated his knack for combining fun and formal, setting female hearts aflutter wherever he went. And in Nepal, he was refreshingly outspoken on women’s rights.

Over the years, Diana would have dazzled at many top society and A-list weddings, including that of her longtime friend Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish. The couple wed in 2014 after 21 years together, following the legalisation that year in the UK of same-sex marriage.

She’d have doted, too on their sons, Elijah and Zachary.

Diana’s sons have spoken out against bullying and spoken up for those suffering from mental health issues, taking their example from their mother, who always tried to give a voice to those who were suffering unheard. Her sons have

shown themselves to be not only brave in exposing their own vulnerabilities, but emotionally highly literate, in tune with their generation. Diana knew that while age-old tradition is a key part of m o n a r c h y, b e c o m i n g m o r e approachable was also vital to keeping the monarchy relevant. She would be extremely impressed with how William, Harry and now Kate have joined the Queen in moving the family forward.

17

THE PRINCES TAKE CENTRE STAGE

When the royal family emerged onto the balcony at Buckingham Palace in 2012 to view the Diamond Jubilee RAF flypast there was a little more room than on previous occasions. As Britain continued in the grip of austerity, here was a slimmed-down royal family – in the absence of Prince Philip, who was feeling unwell, there were just five people there in addition to the Queen: Prince Charles and Camilla, William and Kate, and Harry. The extended Windsor clan has shifted to the sidelines and background in keeping with public feeling that the core royal team should be kept small. Diana would approve of this respect for the people, and couldn’t help but feel pleased that, from here

12

MEETING MEGHAN Diana and US actress Meghan Markle would have found plenty to talk about. She’s a passionate charity campaigner and fashionista, embodying both glamour and genuine compassion. Like Diana, she’s equally at home on the red carpet and in refugee camps.

And she’s a breath of fresh air from outside closed British aristocratic circles, allowing the monarchy to win wider appeal – and make Harry a happy man.

126

16

ALTHORP FLAME

When the Olympic torch reached Althorp on its path to the 2012 Games, it seemed symbolic of how Diana’s childhood home is also keeping her own flame alive. Her brother, Earl Spencer, has settled down with his third wife, Canadian philanthropist Karen, who is busy turning the daunting ancestral pile into a family home, complete with a fun bouncy castle in the dining room. It’s the perfect playground for the couple’s five-year-old daughter, Charlotte Diana.

on, the focus is firmly on her charismatic sons.

18

HARRY BECOMES A FUN UNCLE

What could be better than seeing your sons bond over your grandchildren? Always best friends, William and Harry grew up in the spotlight together and have remained incredibly close since the loss of their mother. Diana would have loved to see Harry act as William’s best man at his wedding, and now that William’s a father, she’d take delight in seeing her younger son in his role as playful uncle. As an affectionate and demonstrative parent, who wore her heart on her sleeve, she brought up her boys to be each other’s greatest supporters, and she’d be thrilled at how her children are passing on her legacy of love to the next generation.

19

KITTY SPENCER’S CATWALK DEBUT Diana would have been honoured to see that her niece, Lady Kitty Spencer, is heir to her fashion sense. The 26-year-old socialite was crowned catwalk queen when she made her runway debut at the Dolce & Gabbana show during Milan Fashion Week this year.

20

THE CAMBRIDGE TEAM TRIUMPH

Mob-scene walkabouts and mesmerised crowds: when Charles and Diana made their landmark 1983 tour of Australia, she was taken aback at her sudden star power – and so was he. Neither was prepared for the “Diana Effect” and how the spotlight would fix itself on the Princess, often leaving her Prince in the shade. This proved a challenge for both throughout their married life.

That’s something Kate and William have learned from. Their shared looks, jokes and sheer delight at doing things together show what true teamwork looks like. The newly minted Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were the perfect double act when they made their first trip to Canada, just over two months after their 2011 wedding. Joyfully they joined forces to upend protocol and precedent by playing chef, paddling a canoe and donning cowboy hats – in a move towards H creating a more approachable monarchy that Diana would have celebrated.

127

reinventing royalty

CHAPTER 20

A NEW KIND OF PRINCESS The younger generation of royals owes more than a little to the trail blazed by Diana

B 128

bravely championed thorny issues including inter-faith dialogue, refugees, the fight against terrorism and child abuse. Of her humanitarian campaigns, the mother-of-four says modestly: “I don’t think of myself as courageous. I think of myself as representing those who are voiceless.”

Another doyenne of this fresh new style is Argentine-born Maxima, wife of the Dutch King, who could quite rightly be described as the European country’s own Queen of Hearts. The vivacious Latina is not afraid to show emotion publicly in a similar manner to Diana, who always wore her heart on her sleeve. That she shed tears of joy on her wedding day and at her husband’s coronation only made the Dutch people love her even more. And in 2014, the sadness etched on her face as she paid tribute to victims of the shocking 2014 Malaysia Airlines tragedy resonated with everyone grieving their loss.

Diana, who regarded herself as a mother first and foremost, would also be delighted with the way her successors are dealing with motherhood.

Princess Charlene of Monaco clearly loves

V

efore Diana it would have been hard to imagine a Princess embracing her subjects or crouching down to touch, kiss or cuddle a young child. Today’s more progressive, hands-on royals are the inheritors of her crusade to make monarchy move with the times. The most popular of these, such as Queen Rania of Jordan, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Queen Letizia of Spain and Queen Mary of Denmark, exude a regal dignity combined with the warmth of a school-run mum, which is what many of them actually are. Very much in the mould of Diana, they can’t seem to give enough hugs or pose for enough selfies with their public.

After becoming the world’s youngest Queen at 28, Rania set up a Twitter account on which she describes herself to six million followers and counting as “a mum and a wife with a cool day job”. It was an expert move that could have been taken straight from a Diana guide to becoming a global icon. Like the People’s Princess, she has

Today’s Queens and Princesses exude a regal dignity combined with the warmth of a school-run mum

Princess Mary of Denmark meets young mothers in Burkina Faso, West Africa (above). Clockwise from below: Belgium’s Queen Mathilde in Liberia; Queen Rania of Jordan shows her daughter Iman the royal ropes; Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco comforts a cancer patient; Queen Letizia of Spain takes a hands-on approach with sick children

129

tending to her twins. After their birth in December 2014, her husband Prince Albert praised her devotion, saying: “I don’t think they would be as smiling and happy as they are if she weren’t as good a mother as she is.” Over in Denmark, Crown Princess Mary is happy to talk about how she puts her children to bed. In the morning, she makes her youngsters porridge, before cycling with them to the local state school.

This generation’s choice of spouses from outside royal circles may also be a direct result of D i a n a ’ s democratising influence. When Prince Haakon of Norway met his wife MetteMarit, she was a single mum; at their wedding in 2001 her son played the role of p a g e b o y. I n neighbouring Sweden, Princess Victoria wed her former gym trainer, who helped her overcome an eating disorder. Her family’s decision to speak openly about her illness was a new departure for royals and probably wouldn’t have been possible before Diana spoke about her bulimia. After their wedding, the overjoyed bride told the crowds: “Dear friends, I would like to thank the Swedish people for giving me my Prince.” In fact, their modern fairytale may also owe more than a little to one former nursery assistant-turned-royalH superstar.

That Princes and Princesses can now follow their hearts when it comes to love may be due in part to Diana

130

Charismatic Queen Maxima of the Netherlands (far left).

Centre left, Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who was a single mother when she married her Prince; and (left) Sweden’s future Queen Victoria, a great believer in hugs like Diana, with her daughter Estelle. Above right: Princess Charlene of Monaco tending to her twins; right, Princess Mary on the school run in Denmark 131

Eternal COVER GIRL

Diana brought sparkle, style and grace to our iconic covers as we followed her poignant life story

A STAR IS BORN For hello! readers Diana has been a constant companion, with the Princess gracing some of the publication’s most emblematic covers ever since the magazine’s birth in 1988. These were the years when we all still felt the glow of the fairytale wedding of the century, when Diana and her Prince seemed to bask in each other’s affections. It was a time, too, when Diana was still learning her role in the royal world – even if she made it all look so easy. Her effortless charm and magnetic presence brought adoring crowds under her spell whenever she stepped out in public. Most touchingly, our covers showed a growing, happy family as Diana blossomed with the joys of motherhood.

132

V 133

THE POWER OF LOVE By the early 1990s a more confident Diana had arrived on the world stage. The mother of two adorable little Princes, a role in which she felt completely confident, she was also more at ease in her royal duties.

Not only was she accustomed to the spotlight, she was now inspired to use it to highlight causes close to her heart. And having decided that charity was to be her personal goal, she made it a truly global one. She was helped in her missions of mercy by her unforgettable appearances on hello! covers. As she gazed out from the newstands with her beautiful, beseeching eyes, she pleaded with each of us to remember the less fortunate. And as she crouched down to reach out to society’s forgotten, she seemed to reach out to every one of us as well. Meanwhile, the royal marriage was, at least outwardly, on course, with Diana tenderly nursing Charles’s broken arm while on a summer sailing trip in Majorca in 1990.

134

She smiled, reached out and stole all our hearts.

And when she had to bravely set out into an uncertain future, we supported her every step of the way

A NEW DIRECTION In 1991 the world looked back ten years to that magical day when a shy English Rose saw her dreams come true on a glorious wedding day. Although the future looked bright, in reality the marriage was slowly crumbling, and after its sensational collapse, Diana was to begin a heroic new journey. We joined her along the way as she threw her energy into charity and often unpopular causes with ever greater fortitude. On one such trip to Africa she stands defiantly with hands on hips, her eyes burning with a new-found fiery passion. No longer beseeching, here she’s challenging us to do something. We accompanied her, too, as she struck out alone to take on the US, where even diehard republicans became fans. Her style continued to fascinate us too, as she refined her look to its confident, feminine essence. hello! even mustered a panel of international couturiers to select her most – and least – elegant outfits of 1996.

V 135

Readers still cherish their copies of HELLO!, with their heart-wrenching covers, from that tragic week

FOREVER WITH US Diana’s final year among us was marked by the heartbreak of divorce – and a steely determination to start afresh. Though no longer Her Royal Highness, she was our Queen of Hearts and seemed to revel in her new freedom. When she was so tragically taken from us we found some solace that we were not mourning alone. We never have, and never will, forget her.

136

Diana graced the covers of hello! as a loving mother, style icon and charity crusader; as an exuberant young woman enjoying the best that life has to offer and as an older, wiser person dealing with life’s setbacks. But this dazzling cover from 1998 captures like no other the beauty, radiance, zest for life and tender compassion of the most photographed woman in the world.

137

H

EXCLUSIVE FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT

A LIFE THROUGH THE LENS Photographer Jayne Fincher followed Diana from fresh-faced debut to solo stardom

D 138

looks. Sometimes when she looked really stunning with a new dress and a tiara on, she’d walk into the room, do a wiggle and a shake and give you really good pictures. There were also times when you could tell from her body language that she absolutely hated it.

Diana quickly learned how to make deals with the press. Once, before her engagement, walking the baby she looked after, she said: “Let me go for a walk quietly. When I come back you can take as many pictures as you like.”

Diana Mania started with the engagement.

After the wedding, on the tour to Wales, the crowds were amazing. The weather was really bad but the streets of these tiny Welsh towns were so thick with people that we couldn’t see a thing.

So we all had to rush and buy ladders. That was the beginning of the ‘ladder brigade’. You thought ‘Wow! I’ve done a lot of royal visits and they’ve not been quite like this’.

In Australia in 1983

V

i a n a d i d n ’t t h i n k s h e w a s glamorous. She wasn’t a diva like that. At first she was totally unaware of her beauty. I wasn’t much older than her and we grew up in our jobs at the same time. She grew up and changed beyond recognition. But the sweetness was still there.

I’ll never forget the moment I first saw her outside the Ritz in London. I was taking photos at Princess Margaret’s 50th birthday party when this young girl, with no make-up on and a dress that looked as if it had been borrowed from her mother, squeezed through the press pack, saying ‘excuse me, excuse me’.

Someone said: ‘I’m sure that’s Lady Diana Spencer’, and she went absolutely bright red, like she always did. You instantly liked her because she looked so appealing and had a softness about her.

Later on she became more confident and aware of her

Close in age to Diana and the only woman in the royal press pack, Jayne (above left and below left) had a privileged view of the Princess’s time on the world stage, as her pictures on these pages show. Diana Mania grips Australia in 1983 (above); the newlywed Prince and Princess on honeymoon (far right); Jayne’s first ever picture of Lady Diana Spencer (right)

‘What set Diana apart was her natural talent for putting people at ease.

Whether it was the King of Saudi Arabia or a dustman, she treated them the same’

139

‘Diana would have been a really wonderful motherin-law and she would be cuddling George and Charlotte non-stop’

The Princess invited Jayne to take family portraits with the boys at Highgrove (above).

Diana’s natural sensitivity was a special gift that made her a loving mother and helped her give solace to society’s most vulnerable members.

Left, in Mother Teresa’s hospice in India and (top right) at a London centre for HIV and aids patients 140

outside the Sydney Opera House it was just a sea of people as far as the eye could see. Prince Charles looked very proud, like he’d been given the best birthday present ever. When they got out of the car on walkabouts, the side where he was would go: ‘Oh no!’ because they all wanted her. To begin with he’d laugh and say, ‘I’m really sorry you’ve got me.’ So it was very good humoured.

She was a bit overwhelmed by it, coping with the crowds, and she had a new baby. It was overwhelming for us, let alone her.

What set Diana apart was her natural talent for putting people at ease. Whether it was the King of Saudi Arabia or the dustman down the street, she treated them the same. Even the most hardened, cynical journalists dissolved into gooey schoolboys within seconds of meeting her.

She came into her own with children and ill people. She’d walk into a room and instead of standing at the end of the bed, she would sit down, take their hand, stroke their head and give a child a kiss. She was very tender. When we went to Mother Teresa’s hospice for the dying in Calcutta, it was a sad, awful place, quite overwhelming. It gave you a lump in your throat, but she had a knack of being able to judge the situation and how sensitive it was.

In Indonesia she visited lepers and was touching their hands – no one had ever done that before. With the untouchables in India, when they touched her feet as a sign of respect, she responded by touching their hands.

She shook the hands of adults and cuddled babies with aids at a Harlem hospital in the US. The patients were taken aback that she was so physical and the staff were over the moon. They couldn’t achieve what she was achieving in just a few clicks of the camera. That one picture would tell a million words and that’s what she was good at doing.

She adored children, couldn’t

resist them. Her own sons were the apples of her eye, her face lit up whenever she saw them. You could see the close bond.

It was a very difficult time for her, because she was still growing into her role. Everything changed in that short time, and with her still only so young. It was like a huge powder keg, wasn’t it?

But whatever was going on, the boys provided the major stability in her life. She absolutely adored them and they adored her. If you went to Highgrove there would be boots, toys and kids’ paraphernalia along the corridor and in the kitchen.

At Kensington Palace it made me laugh; it was all very elegant, with amazing furniture and paintings, and then there was this plastic table

cloth where the kids had their meals.

Nothing was precious. It was a home.

I wish I’d been able to repeat the picture I took of her and the two boys at Highgrove with them now as grown men.

I think how much she would love to have seen William and Harry as grown-ups, with so much of her in them. They both definitely learned so much from her.

Diana would be bursting with pride over William’s family. I’m sure she’d have embraced Kate and done everything she could to help. Kate would have found her a really wonderful, guiding mother-in-law.

She would be cuddling and kissing George and Charlotte non-stop.

I walked away from the job in the December before she died. I was stressed out by all the paparazzi

problems. In the last few months there was a breakdown in her relationship with the press because she was outside the protection of the palace. Everything was so awful and chaotic.

It was a wretched time for everyone – not just her but the small group of us that had worked with her all those years. It’s quite sad that the everlasting memory is that she had a bad relationship with the press. Our little group had a nice working relationship, with lots of fun.

Diana knew who was married, who was divorced, who was having a baby. When I had my eldest son I called him William after my grandfather. She teased me that I’d copied her. I also ended up calling my second son Harry – he was born after her death. I know she’d have

said: “I told you that you copied me!”

When she died I was very shocked.

It was like a member of the family had died. I went back to photograph her funeral and it’s a good thing that I had autofocus because I was crying so much.

When you talk to young people now, all they remember is that she was pretty and wore lovely clothes. I hope they learn that there was more to her than just this film star Princess, that she broke down barriers with her charities, with aids, leprosy and the untouchables in India.

Diana would feel so at peace that the boys are continuing her work and that they’ve taken on board all those visits she took them on to homeless shelters. She’d be so proud and pleased about their H compassion.

141

CELEBRATING

DIANA

Why we will never forget her

142

THE QUEEN

In good times and bad, Diana never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her – for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys. No one who knew Diana will ever forget her. Millions of others who never met her, but felt they knew her, will remember her.”

“

JEMIMA KHAN

MADONNA

“

We all need people to look up to. The bravest and most dignified thing about Diana was that while she exposed herself to the public, she also said: ‘I’m not perfect, I have my problems... I’m flawed and I’m vulnerable.’”

SIR RICHARD BRANSON Who will ever forget those incredible photographs of a lonely figure in the midst of a landmine field? But I don’t believe she was ever truly aware of how many people in the world loved her.”

“

She was an amazing and remarkable woman, a loyal friend and genuine crusader who did a great deal for others.”

“

PRINCE WILLIAM

20 years on seems like a good time to remind people of the difference that she made not just to the royal family but also to the world.”

“

TONY BLAIR

“

She was a wonderful and warm human being.

Though her own life was often sadly touched by tragedy, she touched the lives of so many others with joy and with comfort. She was the People’s Princess.”

JOHN TRAVOLTA

She was the real deal.

And I think that was partly because she followed the rule that ‘it’s okay to be important as long as everyone else is equally important.’”

“

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON People saw more in her than her radiant beauty, but instead a different kind of royalty… She did hard work in difficult places and she softened hearts and lifted spirits.”

“

143

1982 William’s birth

1997 Anti-landmine campaign

1997 Flowers at Kensington Palace

144

1991 Fashion icon

Then

1997 Hands-on help

1983 At Ayers Rock, on tour in Australia

& now 2006 Hands-on help

2013 George’s birth

2013 Anti-landmine campaign

2014 At Ayers Rock, on tour in Australia

2010 Fashion icon

Today’s young royals are keeping Diana’s spirit truly alive

2017 Flowers at Kensington Palace

145

Rose

OF ENGLAND

ime is too slow TforTime those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but… for those who love, time is eternity American poet Henry Van Dyke Read by Diana’s sister, Lady Jane Fellowes, at her funeral

146

ÂŁ5 HELLO! Lifestyle Series hellomagazine.com