Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth and the next heir to the throne.
Diana was born into an aristocratic English family with royal ancestry as The Honourable Diana Spencer. Diana became Lady Diana Spencer when her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975. She became a public figure with the announcement of her engagement.
Her wedding to the Prince of Wales on 29 July 1981 was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral and seen by a global television audience of over 750 million. While married she bore the titles Princess of Wales. Diana and Charles two sons, the princes William and Harry, who were respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne, throughout her lifetime.
After her marriage, she undertook a variety of public engagements. She was well known for her fund-raising work for international charities and as an eminent celebrity of the late 20th century. She also received recognition for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign To Ban Landmines. From 1989, she was the president of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children for children, in addition to dozens of other charities.
Diana remained the object of worldwide media scrutiny during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996. If the Prince of Wales had ascended the throne during their marriage, Diana would have become queen consort. Media attention and public mourning were considerable following her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.
There are many theories regarding the deatof the princess, including:
- Diana was killed on the orders of the royal family because she was pregnant with a Muslim's child.
Mohammed Al Fayed told investigators that the crash was a plot by MI6 to kill Diana. Later, in a letter to British authorities, his lawyers claimed that Diana had been pregnant at the time of her death - and was imminently planning to announce her engagement to Dodi. The "Establishment," (royal family), Fayed charged, "could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim could eventually be the stepfather of the future king of England."
The letter named Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband, as the plot's mastermind. (Later, Fayed implicated then-prime-minister Tony Blair, the American CIA and Diana's older sister, among others.) Fayed retained the services of American Senate majority leader George Mitchell (decorated for his role in Northern Ireland peace talks), to make inquiries on his behalf in Washington.
- Diana was killed by rogue soldiers because she was a "threat" to the British "establishment''.
Diana even apparently contributed to it herself, with a handwritten letter claiming there was a plot to kill her in a car crash only 10 months before she died…coincidence.?
The note caused controversy internationally when it came to light in 2003 but its authenticity has been questioned.
She reportedly gave it to her butler Paul Burrell with orders that he should keep it as "insurance" for the future. The letter predicted: "This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous." It said an individual (whose name was deleted) "is planning 'an accident' in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry".
- Dodi Al Fayed was the target.
What better way to get back at him than by killing his son?
- Beyond the full conspiracy theories, there are a number of other intriguing facts and unanswered questions about the tragedy. They include:
- The white Fiat Uno.
- CCTV cameras.
- Diana's seatbelt.
- Henri Paul.