FILE: Diana 10 years

Born into an aristocratic family on July 1, 1961, Lady Diana met Prince Charles in 1977 at the Althorp family home in 1977. Four years later on February 24, 1981 the couple announced their engagement. Holding onto Charles' arm during a television interview about their relationship a demure and painfully shy Diana answered the question about whether they were in love saying, "Of course." In what would be referred to later as an omen of their eventual breakup, Charles said "Whatever love means." From the moment their relationship was public Diana was hounded by the media, cameras capturing her every move. "Shy Di", as the papers called her, faced an army of photographers and television cameras wherever she went. The public loved her and the fairytale wedding on July 29, 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral in London. A year later their first child, Prince William, was born and Diana suffered post-natal depression. In 1984 Prince Harry was born and in 1985 the first reports appeared that there were difficulties in the Royal marriage. In 1986 Charles renewed his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, a woman he later refers to as "the love of his life". The misery of being trapped in a loveless marriage and the pressures of being Royal caused Diana to develop the eating disorder bulimia. She admits that she even attempted suicide to attract Charles' attention. The Royal couple continued public duties but lead very separate lives in private. At official events Diana often looked miserable standing side by side with Charles. At a formal dinner in November of 1992 in Seoul with the South Korean President, Diana appeared completely bored as her husband made a speech. That same year she was photographed sitting alone outside the Taj Mahal leading the media to speculate she looked lonely and depressed. On December 9, 1992 then Prime Minister John Major announced formal separation of the couple in parliament. In 1993 the constant media attention forced Diana to reduce her public life. But despite saying that being hounded by the paparazzi was "hard to bear", Diana certainly knew how to use the press to highlight her charity work or to promote an image of herself. The morning after Prince Charles gave a television interview admitting his adultery with Camilla, it was not him but Diana on the newspaper front pages. She knew that images of her arriving at a gallery in London in a stunning black dress revealing lots of leg would trump Charles. In 1995 Diana admitted on national television that she had committed adultery with cavalry officer James Hewit and that she adored him. Queen Elizabeth urged her son and Diana to divorce, but Diana resisted. However, in 1996 she finally agreed terms and on August 28 their 15-year marriage was officially over. Diana once said the day she consented to the divorce was the saddest day of her life. However in the eyes of the public, the years after the break up of her marriage saw her soar from a shy royal wife to a modern independent spirit. She was patron of several charities. The Red Cross anti-personnel landmines campaign was the most high profile organisation Diana represented. The first media reports that Diana had found a new love in Dodi Al-Fayed came out in August 1997, the year of her death. Her last holiday with Dodi was spent in his St Tropez villa, in the South of France. The romance ended on August 31, 1997 when the couple's car crashed in the Pont de l'Alma underpass, in Paris. Diana was 36 years-old when she died. Her brother Earl Spencer lashed out at the media whom he accused of hounding her to death. Thousands came to mourn her passing prompting many critics to say the English had finally shed their traditional 'stiff-upper-lip', weeping openly for their 'People's Princess'.

ITN Source | August 27, 2007

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