Princess Diana died on Aug. 31, 1997, after a car crash that also killed her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and the couple’s driver, Henri Paul. The princess left behind two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who were 15 and 12 years old, respectively, at the time. Her funeral at Westminster Abbey in London was reportedly watched by 2.5 billion people worldwide.
These days flowers, cards, photographs and even a huge cake have been left outside London’s Kensington Palace, as the world prepares to mark 20 years since Princess Diana died.
Time has blurred the memories, but many still remember Princess Diana as a young bride, so taken with Prince Charles, and later, as a glamorous trendsetter dancing at the White House with John Travolta. She was the fun-loving mom taking her two boys on amusement park rides, and the tireless charity worker, reaching out to AIDS patients when they were still shunned by much of society.
On the day their engagement is announced (Photo: Profimedia)
The sons Diana left behind – Prince William, now 35, and Prince Harry, 32 – are playing increasingly important roles in Britain’s national life as the public focuses on the next generation of royals. “Her essential legacy is her children and the fact is that they have become known more as her children than as his, in the sense that the charity work they are doing resonates with what she was doing – difficult issues like mental health, just like she took on AIDS,” Diana biographer Andrew Morton said. “So she has a living legacy.”
Diana’s two children participated in the documentary, “Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy,” which premiered on HBO in the U.S. last month. Both recalled what their mother was like in the documentary.
Chloe Dyson, a secondary school teacher visiting the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park, said Diana remains an “inspirational figure” two decades after her death. “She still obviously has a strong image in the British psyche,” Dyson said. “People felt they could identify with her,” Dyson said, remembering the impact of Diana’s charitable endeavors, including visits to hospitals and homeless shelters. “She was doing good work.”
