The Tragedy of Princess Diana

     Princess Diana is one of the most iconic and influential people in the last century. She has made many contributions to our society that have lasted through present day even after her death. people all over the world looked up to her and idolized her because of her beauty, class, and willingness to be different.
     My first source used in the making of this project was a biography I found on The Biography Channel's website. This website was, I found, to be a very credible source since it came from a highly thought of group that would benefit greatly from restating true facts. From his source I discovered that Diana was born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham, Norfolk into an aristocratic family and had royalty in her blood. She was the youngest of five children (one died hours after birth). Her parents, Edward John Spencer and Frances Spencer divorced when Diana was eight years old and remained along with her siblings under the custody of their father. Edward Spencer later married to Raine Cartland whom the kids nicknamed "Acid Rain" because they didn't like her.
     One thing i found that was rather interesting was found on the same source described in the previous paragraph. I discovered that Diana was not interested in school very much at the boarding schools she attended. Her first was an all girls school called Riddlesworth Hall Prepatratory School in Norfolk and was later moved to West Heath Girl's School in Kent where she failed her O-level exams. At sixteen she left school and went through jobs as a dance teacher, kindergarten teacher, housekeeper, and nanny. 

Diana and Charles after their wedding

     Diana met Charles when she dropped out of school because he was at the time dating her older sister but then met again later in 1980. The couple was engaged the next year in February and married a few months later on July 29, 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. She had two sons William (June 21, 1982) and Harry (September 15, 1984). 
     Their marriage was successful in the beginning but started falling apart when Charles began and affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles which also led to Diana moving into a different apartment. They were officially announced as divorced on July 15, 1996.
     Over the course of the next few years, both Charles and Diana each experienced their share of humilation and exposed scandals caused by the media. Charles' recorded conversations with Camilla were released as well as Diana's affair with James Hewitt (man in the military). Diana also told the press about her struggle to overcome bulimia, depression, and an attempted suicide. 
     Diana went through many "flings" with may men but she said she was only in love with a heart surgeon named Dr. Hasnat Khan. They didn't stay together for very long because he was Muslim and couldn't marry her despite her efforts. Not too long after that, she was seen with another Muslim, Dodi Al-Fayed (son of Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of Harrod's). 
   During a trip in Paris, the two were involved in a car accident that killed two of the four people in the car. Dodi and the driver, Henri Paul, were instantly killed while Diana and her bodyguard were barely alive. because Diana had a heart attack while in the car, the ambulance could not drive fast enough to the hospital and died at four a.m. 

The car crash

     At this point in my research, I had not come to a point where a was searching for a specific thing about Diana since i knew most of her life. I did, however, decided to try and search for a different format of sources which led me to the wonderful website known as YouTube. The first couple videos that popped up with her name were all pieces of a history channel documentary about the many controversies about what really happened the night of her death. Many believed there were conspiracies to kill her. The royal family had reasons for wanting her death, but the alleged culprits were the government surrounding the family. She didn't appear a threat for the position of the crown, but seemed more as annoying that stood in the way of the governments advancement in the political world. She overall just caused them bad publicity and made them look like the bad guys. In one interview with BBC, Diana openly admitted to believing that Charles was not fit to be be king. Also, her boyfriend at the time, Dodi Fayed, was Muslim and if she were to marry him then her son William would have a Muslim stepfather. This would not sit very well with the government. The British are coming, the British are coming! The following video  over to the right is the first of five videos in the documentary used for this project. 

     After seeing these documentaries, I was very curious to know what onlookers of the accident thought about what had happened. I figured the closest I would come to finding those answers were other people during this time that were not quite there but were definately there for the aftermath of it through the media. This led me to my next two sources: my parents. My mom and my dad were both alive during the last part of Diana's life. They both think she was an idolized person because of obvious reasons: she was the princess and everyone wanted to live her "fairy-tale" life. Also, she was very different from other princesses (especially ones married into the royal family) because of all her charity work and her willingness to explore outsider her bubble in the palace. She appealed to men, according to my father, because she seemed a very classy and beautiful woman. He described her to me as "all of the Kardashian's put into one, but with class". To girls and women, she taught them to speak out for what you believe even if it has negative consequences. Just as long as you were being truthful to yourself. One example of her showing this would be during an interview with BBC where she openly admitted to believing her ex-husband Charles was not ready to be King. All this information I also found on a website that explained all of her many accomplishments and her legacy. 

Flowers left for Diana after her death.

Diana, William (right), and Henry (left)