Remembering Princess Diana: Her life – and tragic death – in pictures

In November 1992, intimate exchanges between the Prince of Wales and Camilla were leaked to the Today and the Mirror newspapers.

As revealed through a series of biographies in the early 1990s, the Princess of Wales' bulimia began around the same time she got engaged to Prince Charles in 1981. "Bulimia started the week after we got engaged," Diana later said in tapes obtained by NBC. "My husband put his hand on my waistline and said: 'Oh, a bit chubby here, aren't we?' That triggered off something in me. "I remember the first time I made myself sick, I was so thrilled because I thought right, this was the release of tension."

"Being a princess isn't all it's cracked up to be.” Diana became the Princess of Wales when she married Prince Charles. She automatically acquired rank as the third-highest female in the United Kingdom Order of Precedence (after the Queen and the Queen Mother).

As the Mercedes sped away from the Ritz it was quickly pursued by paparazzi photographers on motorbikes. The car travelled through busy Paris traffic, before changing route and entering the underpass of the Pont De Alma tunnel. It was here that it clipped a white Fiat Uno, skidding and crashing into the tunnel's thirteenth pillar. The car was sent careering across the underpass and coming to rest facing the wrong direction. Diana - who had, somewhat unusually for her, not been wearing a seatbelt - initially survived the crash, but later died at a Parisian hospital as a result of her injuries. Dodi and Henry Paul were also killed in the crash.

Lady Diana first met her future husband (who was 13 years her senior) in November 1977, when he began dating her older sister, Sarah. However, in the summer of 1980, Lady Diana watched Prince Charles play polo - and he invited her for a sailing weekend to Cowes aboard the royal yacht Britannia.

Prince Charles proposed on 6 February 1981, and Lady Diana accepted, but their engagement was kept secret for the next few weeks. It wasn't until after she had picked out her engagement ring - the same sapphire ring now worn by Duchess Catherine - that the couple made their engagement public. Asked how she would cope with a dramatic change to her life she said: "With Prince Charles beside me I cannot go wrong." He added: "I'm delighted and frankly amazed that Diana is prepared to take me on."

In July 1982, it was reported that Diana was suffering from postnatal depression - and that she was receiving treatment to help her through it.

It has been widely reported that Charles resumed his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Camilla (then married) in 1985. Diana would later go on to reveal that there were three people in her marriage, and that she found things rather crowded.

On 5th November 1981, the Princess' first pregnancy was officially announced - but, 12 weeks later, she fell down a staircase. The royal gynaecologist Sir George Pinker was summoned from London. He found that although she had suffered severe bruising, her baby was - thankfully - unharmed. In the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, on 21 June 1982, the Princess gave birth to her and the Prince's first son and heir, William Arthur Philip Louis. She was one of the first royals to break with protocol and give birth at a hospital, rather than at home in the palace. Describing the event, Earl Spencer, Diana's father, said: "It has been the most harrowing. It was a particularly slow birth. A very worrying day."

Princess Diana was criticised in the media when she decided to take William - who was still a baby - on her first public tours of Australia and New Zealand. Many have praised her for this decision, saying it showed just how strong her maternal bond with her little boy was.

In 1983, press reported that a happy and blooming Diana had visited the Queen's gynaecologist, Dr. Pinker, twice within a few weeks. In September that same year, Buckingham Palace announced that the Princess was pregnant for a second time. However, tragically, Diana suffered a miscarriage when on holiday at Balmoral, Scotland just one week later.

Diana was just 20-years-old when she married the Prince of Wales on 29th July 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral. Her sumptuous ivory taffeta and antique lace wedding dress was created by young British designers David and Elizabeth Emmanuel and had a 25-metre train. The couple's vows were watched by 3,500 invited guests - not to mention an estimated 750 million people around the world on live television. And many were quick to comment that Diana did not (as was tradition) vow that she would "obey" her husband.

"Hugs can do great amounts of good - especially for children." Diana was known for her shyness growing up - but had a great fondness for children. After attending finishing school at the Institut Alpin Videmanette in Switzerland, she moved to London and began working with children. She eventually became a nursery assistant teacher at the Young England School.

In 1993, Princess Diana made a public speech on the importance of understanding the root causes of eating disorders - just a few years before she confessed to having suffered with bulimia.She said: “I have it on very good authority that the quest for perfection that our society demands can leave the individual gasping for breath at every turn.“This pressure inevitably extends into the way we look.“Eating disorders, whether it be anorexia or bulimia, show how an individual can turn the nourishment of the body into a painful attack on themselves… and they have, at their core, a far deeper problem than mere vanity.”

In 1992, Andrew Orton released a scandalous book about the Princess of Wales, which claimed that she had attempted suicide on several occasions and was severely depressed. "It is not hearsay. It is what the Princess of Wales has told her friends about what happened to her in 1982, in the early 80s, and the last suicide attempt I think was in 1986," the author claimed. Buckingham Palace would not comment on any specific claims, and said Princess Diana did not co-operate with the biography in any way whatsoever. Shortly after the book's release, Diana was seen breaking down in tears at a public engagement in Liverpool.

On 9th December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced the "amicable separation" of Diana and Charles to the House of Commons. It was strongly suggested that the couple would not divorce, and that her status as a Princess would not be changed.

"I want my boys to have an understanding of people's emotions, their insecurities, people's distress, and their hopes and dreams." Diana was keen to make sure her children had a real childhood, taking them to Walt Disney and McDonalds on holidays, and even taking them to school herself. She also made sure to plan her public duties around their timetables, so that she could see as much of them as possible.

Diana began dating heart-surgeon Hasnat Khan, whom has been called "the love of her life" by many of her closest friends. As Khan was intensely private, their affair was conducted in secret - and Diana lied about him to the press when they questioned her about him.

In April 1987, Diana opened the first speciality HIV Aids Ward in the United Kingdom, and was photographed shaking hands with someone who had the disease. "HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it," she said famously. Just a few years later, she visited with leprosy sufferers and was seen touching their hands - something which helped to change perceptions of the disease forever.

The Princess of Wales was interviewed for the BBC current affairs show Panorama by journalist Martin Bashir - and the interview was broadcast on 20th November 1995. Diana was open about her and Charles's indiscretions in the interview, and spoke honestly about her relationship with Hewitt, insisting: "Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him. But I was very let down [by him]." Referring to her husband's affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, she said, "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." She also suggested that Prince Charles shouldn't inherit the throne - and that succession should, instead, pass to Prince William.

In late 1986, Diana began a five year affair with Captain James Hewitt, leading many to speculate that he - with his red hair - was the real father of Prince Harry. However, in 2002, he told the press that Harry had already been born by the time they began their relationship, a statement also made by Diana's police bodyguard.

In November 1985, Princess Diana made headlines when she dances with movie star John Travolta during a trip to the United State.

In January 1997, Diana visited Angola with the British Red Cross to show her support to their new campaign against landmines, and to help raise awareness of the damage landmines cause and their effect on people's lives. Her visit sparked political uproar amongst UK politicians, who described her as being a 'loose cannon' who is ill informed on the issue of anti-personnel landmines.

On Valentine's Day 1983, the palace announced that Princess Diana was pregnant for a third time. Despite suffering from morning sickness, she had a far easier pregnancy, and welcomed Prince Henry Charles Albert David (better known as Harry) on 15th September that same year. Diana said famously: "Royal firstborns may get all the glory, but second borns enjoy more freedom." Only when Harry is a lot older will he realise how lucky he is not to have been the eldest. My second child will never have quite the same sort of pressure that poor William must face all his life."

On 1st September, Prince Charles and Diana's sisters flew to Paris to escort Diana's body back to the UK, where it was taken to the chapel of rest at St James Palace. Thousands of people turned up at Kensington Palace to pay their respects, leaving flowers, written messages, and candles on the ground as a show of love for the People's Princess.

On 30th August 1997, Diana and Dodi landed in Paris, where they enjoyed dinner at the Ritz hotel. However, due to the presence of press and photographers, they decided to return to Dodi's apartment on the Champs-Élysées. They were caught on CCTV as they left the rear exit of the hotel at 00.20am and got into a black Mercedes, driven by Fayed employee Henri Paul.

"The biggest disease this day and age is that of people being unloved." Almost two years after their romance began, Diana and Khan called time on their relationship. Khan claims that it was Diana who ended their affair, meeting him at Hyde Park late one night in June 1997 to tell him.

Diana was born on the 1st July 1961. Her parents were Edward John Spencer and Frances Ruth Burke Roche. Her parents divorced when Diana was just eight-years-old, and her father won custody of her and her siblings. She grew up in Park House, which was situated near to the Sandringham estate, and was educated in England and Switzerland.

On 29th June 1994, Prince Charles publicly confessed to adultery during Jonathan Dibble's TV Documentary Charles: The Private Man, The Public Role', although he insisted that he and Camilla only began their relationship after his marriage had broken down. On the same evening Diana attends a charity event at London's Serpentine Gallery wearing a sexy black chiffon evening dress by designer Christina Stambolian. The dress later became known as the 'revenge dress'.

"I don't want expensive gifts; I don't want to be bought. I have everything I want. I just want someone to be there for me, to make me feel safe and secure."

In July 1997, Diana and her sons holidayed as the guests of Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed at his holiday villa in St Tropez, where they were joined by Mohamed's son Dodi. A romance between him and Diana began quickly.

Shortly after the Panorama interview, the Queen asked that the Prince and Princess of Wales divorce. The couple, after some negotiations, agreed, and their divorce was finalised on 28th August 1996. Diana received a lump sum settlement of around £17 million, and was contractually gagged over discussing the details of the divorce with the press. She dubbed the final divorce announcement as "the saddest day of my life"

In February 1998, Mohamed Al-Fayed claimed that the car crash had been planned by MI6 and the Royal Family, and insisted that a murder inquiry be launched. He also claimed that Diana had been pregnant with his son Dodi's child at the time of the crash, something which a coroner later said was untrue. An inquest in London - starting in 2004 and continuing into 2007–08 - investigated the claims that Diana had been murdered. However they found that her death was caused by grossly negligent driving by Henri Paul - whom they claim was drunk at the time of the crash - and to the pursuing paparazzi.

Diana's funeral took place on 6th September; over 32.78 million people across the world watched as her two young sons followed her coffin to Westminster Abbey. Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer. Lord Spencer said of his sister, "She proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic."