Princess Diana 20 years later documentary. The mystery of the death of Princess Diana: Unexpected details two decades later

Twenty years ago, on August 31, 1997, Princess Diana, an amazing woman who changed the face of the British monarchy, died as a result of a car accident in a Paris tunnel. A woman who is remembered to this day.

The death of Diana became a real grief for hundreds of thousands of people: after her death, the square in front of Buckingham Palace was littered with flowers. People mourned the people's favorite and continued to carry bouquets, following the call of their hearts.

In the photo: a sea of flowers in front of Kensington Palace in memory of Princess Diana, 2013. Photo telegraph.co.uk

And today, twenty years later, people still bring flowers to Kensington Palace, where a beautiful garden was laid out in memory of Diana.

New films about Princess Diana

Despite the fact that no official events dedicated to the anniversary of Diana’s death were planned in the UK, and Prince Charles did not even interrupt his annual leave, like the queen, the sad date did not go unnoticed. The People's Princess is remembered in the news around the world on this day, and several documentaries dedicated to her memory have been released in the UK.

Perhaps the most touching of them is “Diana, Our Mother - Her Life and Legacy Documentary” (“Diana, Our Mother, Her Life and Legacy”). This is an amazing film filled with personal memories and sincere emotions, in which her adult sons tell about the life and death of Diana.

In the photo: Princess Diana with her sons. Photo dailymail.co.uk

For all my skepticism about the idealization of Lady Di’s figure, I could not hold back my tears listening to the warmth and love with which Harry and William spoke about their mother. After all, for them, Diana was not at all a princess who suffered in an unsuccessful marriage, but a wonderful mother who gave them surprisingly bright, joyful moments.

A few years ago I read the book “Princess Diana. A life told by herself." Turning the pages, I sympathized with Diana, at the same time marveling at her childish naivety, but at the same time I did not understand what made the whole world admire this woman. After all, Diana married not a person, but her dream, a ghostly “prince” from a fairy tale, about whom she knew almost nothing, whose hobbies she did not share and did not understand. And years later, having experienced great disappointment from her husband’s dislike, Diana plunged into the abyss of depression, which turned into attacks of bulimia for her. Surely you have read about this or at least heard about it.

The story of the tragic love triangle Diana, Charles and Camilla are probably known to everyone who has been at least somewhat interested in the fate of Lady Di or new history British monarchy.

In the photo: the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana. Photo dailymail.co.uk

We can endlessly discuss Diana's mistakes as a wife, but it is impossible not to respect her for how much she did for her children. She gave them a childhood full have fun adventures. According to William, there are still rare days in his life when he does not think about his mother and does not regret that she is not around. In that same film, both princes remember how they spent time with their mother, and how much love the world was filled with in her presence. Personally, I burst into tears at the moment when my sons remember their last conversation with Diana, that phone call when they were rushing about their children's affairs, greatly regretting now that they did not talk to her longer and did not say something important.

Perhaps we can say that Diana destroyed the traditions of restrained upbringing accepted in the royal family, based on distance and respect, but not on love for children. Diana loved and adored her children, and with great joy, which is noticeable in every photograph and every frame of rare surviving videos, she spent time with the boys. It breaks William's heart that he couldn't introduce his mother to his wife and children, imagining what a wonderful grandmother she would have made. Of course, the eldest prince, who has already become a father himself, is trying with all his might to preserve the memory of his mother, telling the children about grandmother Diana. Their house is full of photographs of Lady Di, but they will never replace a living person and his warmth, which the prince immensely regrets.

It is impossible to hear about this without tears. And if you are also remembering Princess Diana these days, find the strength to watch this touching film about the memory kept by her sons.

In the photo: Prince William, Prince Harry and Kate Middleton in the memorial garden on the anniversary of Diana's death. Photo abcnews.go.com

Good deeds of Princess Diana

Of course, on the anniversary of Diana's death, there is a lot of talk about her enormous contribution to charity. Diana was one of the first to draw attention to the problem of AIDS, a disease about which the press preferred to remain silent. Diana visited hospitals, touched AIDS patients, shook their hands, hugged them when not all doctors agreed to do so.

The princess's contribution to helping the homeless, cancer research and the fight against landmines is no less significant. Now, after Diana’s death, her good work is continued by her sons, whom the princess taught to love, respect and support people who have suffered troubles and misfortunes.

In the photo: Princess Diana in a minefield. Photo abcnews.go.com

Another film, the release of which was also timed to coincide with August 31, is dedicated to the circumstances of Diana’s death and the first days after it - “Diana, 7 Days”. Again, a lot of attention in the film is paid to the feelings and emotions of those close to the princess and, first of all, her sons. Princes Harry and William have repeatedly spoken negatively about the paparazzi, accusing them not only of the death of their mother, but also of the indifference and even cynicism with which they filmed the scene of the tragedy instead of trying to help Diana, who was seriously injured, but that’s all is alive.

The latest, although far from new, but probably the first film shown in its entirety in Britain, is Diana: In Her Own Words, based on several videos made by Diana’s teacher oratory, to whom the princess told about problems in her personal life. He kept these recordings and, of course, sold them profitably after the death of the princess. In the frame we see a living, open, vulnerable Diana. This is a rare opportunity to see the true face of a public person. The film is interesting because of the incredible degree of frankness with which Diana talks about her relationship with Charles, how rarely he is in her bedroom, and how cold and even rude he is to her.

Documentary about Diana: "Diana: In Her Own Words"

These days, in various documentaries, programs and newsreels, Princess Diana is talked about so much that it is simply impossible to stay away. And one cannot help but be amazed at how much they loved her for her humanity, kindness, responsiveness and openness, which is not typical for royalty. Princess Diana was loved by many, and the very fact that her memory is still alive 20 years later speaks volumes about how amazing person she was. After all, they didn’t love her for the fairy tale that the life of a “simple” count’s daughter suddenly became (by the way, I still don’t understand why they talk about Diana as Cinderella, because she wasn’t one at all). She was loved for the goodness that this Queen of human hearts radiated and created.

Mysteries of the death of Princess Diana: Unexpected details 20 years later

20 years ago, on the night of August 31, 1997, she died in a car accident in the center of Paris princess diana. She was so popular and beloved among the people that she earned the nickname “Queen of Hearts,” and her tragic death still haunts the British to this day. The circumstances of this car accident were so strange that they raise doubts about the official version of what happened. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, several scandalous investigations were made public, causing a lot of noise not only in Great Britain, but also abroad.

The results of the official investigations carried out in France in the UK were identical: the accident occurred for several reasons. Princess Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed were chased by paparazzi, which is why the driver of the car, Henri Paul, had to speed. In addition, alcohol was found in his blood, and the seat belts were faulty. This version was later refuted: the driver was not drunk, and the results of the examination were deliberately or accidentally mixed up with others. It also seemed strange that 3 years after the accident, the same paparazzi who was accused of stalking Diana was found dead in a burnt car.

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, on August 6, the film “Diana: The Story in Her Words” was released in the UK, which became the cause loud scandal- it was immediately called an attempt to make “money from blood.” On video recordings made in 1992-1993. Her teacher of speech techniques during classes, the Princess of Wales spoke extremely frankly about what Buckingham Palace preferred to remain silent about. The tapes were kept by teacher Peter Settelen; he promised not to publish them, but in the end he sold them to television people. He filmed Diana in order to later sort out the mistakes in her speech, and did not expect that the conversation would turn out to be so frank.

In the film, Diana said that she was in love with Charles, and on the day of their engagement, when asked by a journalist whether there were feelings between them, she answered without hesitation: “Yes" And the prince said: “You can say that" She was very offended by this then. And later she became convinced that her husband had loved another woman all his life - Camilla Parker Bowles. Even the birth of sons did not save this marriage. When Diana turned to the Queen for advice, she only said: “I don't know what to do. Charles is hopeless" Divorce was inevitable.

She felt like an outcast at the royal court. "I was rejected, and therefore I considered myself unworthy of this family. I could start drinking, but it would be noticeable, and anorexia would be even more noticeable. I decided to choose something that would be less noticeable: harming myself rather than others."- admits Diana. She suffered from bulimia for some time, and then began having affairs. Diana told her teacher that the biggest shock in her life was the death of Barry Manaka, her bodyguard, who, in her opinion, was fired and killed after their affair became known.

Journalist Mikhail Ozerov, who spoke with Princess Diana 3 days before her death, claimed that she told him her intention to go to Paris, despite the reaction Buckingham Palace, about the desire to build life the way she wants, and added: “Don't pay attention to my outburst of emotions. Next time I'll be calmer. Or they will calm me down. It's unlikely that we'll see each other again».

Special services historian Gennady Sokolov conducted his own investigation and came to the conclusion that it was a staged accident, behind which the British secret services stood. Witnesses claimed that on the night of the incident they saw a bright flash in the tunnel, which could have blinded the driver, after which he crashed into a concrete bridge support. If Diana had been wearing a seat belt, she would have had a chance to survive, but the seat belts, according to Sokolov, were blocked. For some reason, the video cameras were not working in this tunnel that night. Immediately after her death, her body was embalmed - according to Sokolov, in order to hide Diana's pregnancy from the Muslim Dodi al-Fayed, whom she was supposedly going to marry. Therefore royal family there were reasons to want her death.

Egyptian billionaire Mohammed al-Fayed also conducted his own investigation, during which it turned out that Princess Diana called this period of her life the most dangerous and was afraid that the royal family would want to get rid of her. Mohammed Al-Fayed is confident that the death of his son Dodi and Princess Diana was a planned murder.

Princess Diana was the fourth child in the family. She has two older sisters and younger brother: Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes and younger brother Charles Spencer. She also had an older brother, John Spencer, who died shortly after birth.

Her parents divorced when Diana was 7 years old.

Diana grew up on the Sandringham estate, which belongs to the royal family.

She became known as Lady Diana after her father was given the title of Earl. The nickname “Lady Di” stuck to her even after her marriage.

Before marrying Prince Charles and becoming a princess, Diana worked as a nanny and teacher in kindergarten. Her wages was $5 per hour.

Diana's grandmother Ruth Roche was a maid of honor and close friend Queen Mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

Surprisingly, she could become a princess older sister Diana Sarah McCorquodale. Sarah and Prince Charles had an affair in the late 70s. It was thanks to her that Lady Di met her future husband. “I introduced them. “I guess you can call me Cupid,” Sarah later said.

Before their engagement in 1981, the future spouses saw each other only 12 times. Diana was 19 years old, and Charles was 32. “Charles’ father Philip put pressure on his son and insisted on the wedding so as not to discredit the girl’s name,” said Susan Zirinsky, executive producer documentary film"Princess Diana: Her Life, Her Death, Her Truth."

Diana's wedding dress broke all records. The outfit was embroidered with 10,000 pearls, and the length of the train was almost 8 meters. Designed by married couple David and Elizabeth Emmanuel

The engagement ring with a 12-carat sapphire and diamonds was chosen from the Garrard jewelry catalog. And such an atypical step in the then conservative royal palace caused a lot of gossip behind their backs. After all, most members of the royal family choose custom jewelry. Now the ring is on Kate Middleton's hand.

She broke with the royal family's wedding tradition by changing the bride's vows. So, instead of “loving, comforting and obeying her husband,” Diana promised to “love, comforting, respecting and supporting her husband.” Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle followed suit.

Diana became the first member of the royal family to give birth in a hospital. Before Prince William was born in 1982, heirs to the crown were born at home.

Lady Di was a big fan of the Swedish ABBA. To honor her memory, Kate Middleton and Prince William played the quartet's songs at their wedding party in 2011.

A few months before her death, Princess Diana sold 79 dresses at a charity auction Christie. She sent all the proceeds to the fund to fight cancer and AIDS.

She called her eldest son "Wombat". According to the recollections of William himself, he got the nickname after a trip to Australia, where they met this local cute animal. She called Prince Harry "Ginger".

As a child, Diana dreamed of becoming a ballerina. She attended ballet class. But it prevented her from building a career tall, which was 178 centimeters.

Among Diana's friends there were many world stars: Elton John, George Michael, Tilda Swinton and Liza Minnelli. She was also friends with the famous Hollywood couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn and visited them with their sons at their ranch in Colorado.

The newborn daughter of John Spencer and Frances Shand-Kydd could not get a name for a week - all because her parents were expecting a boy. Finally they settled on Diana Frances, in honor of the girl's mother and Diana Bedford (1710–1735). The Duchess of Bedford was also supposed to become Princess of Wales, but the marriage did not take place, and the girl herself died from complications after a miscarriage.

Diana Spencer was homeschooled until she was 9 years old, and at the age of 12 she was sent to a prestigious private school. By the way, one of her childhood friends was Tilda Swinton, who also studied there.

The future Princess of Wales was not known as an excellent student and left school at the age of 16, failing two exams.

Perhaps it was difficult for Diana to pore over textbooks because she had another passion - ballet. The girl’s height – 178 cm – prevented her from pursuing it professionally.

But the princess herself joked that she was simply “dumb as two corks.” The notes she made in school textbooks indicate that the princess was really not good at mathematics - she had to add up £2.80 and £8 - but in literature lessons she was attentive and devoted a lot of time to Shakespeare.

In general, the favorite of the British was very self-critical - maybe that’s why she won so many hearts? “I love to sing, but my voice is terrible, and I dance like an elephant,” 17-year-old Diana wrote to her nanny. But that didn't stop her from rocking it with John Travolta at a gala dinner in Washington!

And although dancing didn’t work out for her, Diana still carried her love of music through her life - she was a good pianist.

After studying, Diana worked as a maid and babysitter. She was the first English princess to work before becoming betrothed to the heir to the throne (and the first Englishwoman in 300 years to become the wife of the heir to the throne - the previous was Anne Hyde, who married the future King James II, despite her low birth).

Diana met her future husband through her sister Sarah, who dated Prince Charles for some time. Sarah Spencer held no grudge younger sister and said that she played the role of Cupid.

Sarah and Charles

“I thought: this is some kind of joke,” Diana said, recalling the day Charles proposed to her. According to her, she was forced to agree not only by the belief that the prince really fell in love (although Diana already knew about his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles), but also by the desire to help people.

Diana's engagement ring from Garrard (white gold, 14 diamonds and a 12-carat blue Ceylon sapphire) is worth about £94,000 today. Now, of course, it belongs to Kate Middleton, and jewelers around the world continue to create numerous copies of it.

The wedding of the century was watched by a record number of viewers: 750 million on television, and 600 thousand live. It is noteworthy that the couple decided not to include Diana's promise to submit to her husband in their wedding vows. It is known that at one time the Archbishop of Canterbury invited Queen Victoria to do the same, but she refused and solemnly swore to obey her less influential husband.

The first joint appearance for Charles and Diana was a charity ball in March 1981, where Lady Di met another “people's princess” - Grace Kelly.

Having become the third most influential woman in the kingdom (after the Queen and Queen Mother), Diana, to their displeasure, took up “unpleasant” charity work. She supported people with HIV and always emphasized: “HIV does not make communicating with such people dangerous. You can shake such a person’s hand and hug him. God only knows how much they need it.”

The Princess cared for mine victims and worked with the Halo Trust, which clears mines in hazardous areas. Many people she visited in hospitals still remember these visits: a 13-year-old girl whose leg was amputated told reporters years later that she had saved a newspaper article about Diana's arrival at the hospital.

Shortly before Diana's death, 79 of her dresses were sold at Christie's - the proceeds were also donated to charity.

Diana also supported the Centrepoint Foundation, one of the goals of which is to give young disadvantaged Britons a chance at education. She raised her own children more democratically than the principles of the royal family required: she even took them to school herself when the princess’s busy schedule allowed it.

Little William was, according to the recollections of friends, Diana’s main consolation: and we know that she often needed consolation. 8-year-old "Wills" was pushing tissues under the bathroom door after hearing his mother crying in the bathroom.

Other people Diana could open her soul to were George Michael, Gianni Versace, Bryan Adams and Elton John. The latter dedicated the song “Candle in the Wind 1997” to her, or “Goodbye England’s Rose” - a remake of the original version written in memory of Marilyn Monroe.

Diana and Charles filed for divorce in August 1996. The couple signed an agreement that prohibited them from disclosing details of their family life.

There were rumors that Elizabeth did not want to organize a royal funeral for Diana, who died in a car accident on August 31, 1997. As a compromise, a royal ceremony was held, which nevertheless deviated from the canon, “like the princess herself during her lifetime,” the British press wrote.

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20 years ago, on the night of August 31, 1997, she died in a car accident in the center of Paris princess diana.

She was so popular and loved by the people that she earned the nickname “Queen of Hearts”

and her tragic death haunts the British to this day.

The circumstances of this car accident were so strange that they raise doubts about the official version of what happened.

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, several scandalous investigations were made public, causing a lot of noise not only in Great Britain, but also abroad.

Princess Diana

*Queen of Hearts*

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, on August 6, the film “Diana: The Story in Her Words” was released in the UK, which caused a loud scandal - it was immediately called an attempt to make “money from blood.” On video recordings made in 1992-1993. Her teacher of speech techniques during classes, the Princess of Wales spoke extremely frankly about what Buckingham Palace preferred to remain silent about. The tapes were kept by teacher Peter Settelen; he promised not to publish them, but in the end he sold them to television people. He filmed Diana in order to later sort out the mistakes in her speech, and did not expect that the conversation would turn out to be so frank.

*Queen of Hearts*

Prince Charles and Princess Diana

In the film, Diana said that she was in love with Charles, and on the day of their engagement, when asked by a journalist whether there were feelings between them, she answered without hesitation: “ Yes" And the prince said: “ You can say that" She was very offended by this then. And later she became convinced that her husband had loved another woman all his life - Camilla Parker Bowles. Even the birth of sons did not save this marriage. When Diana turned to the Queen for advice, she only said: “ I don't know what to do. Charles is hopeless" Divorce was inevitable.

Princess Diana with sons William and Harry

She felt like an outcast at the royal court. " I was rejected, and therefore I considered myself unworthy of this family. I could start drinking, but it would be noticeable, and anorexia would be even more noticeable. I decided to choose something that would be less noticeable: harming myself rather than others."- admits Diana. She suffered from bulimia for some time, and then began having affairs. Diana told her teacher that the biggest shock in her life was the death of Barry Manaka, her bodyguard, who, in her opinion, was fired and killed after their affair became known.

Barry Manaki and Princess Diana

*Queen of Hearts*

Journalist Mikhail Ozerov, who spoke with Princess Diana 3 days before her death, claimed that she told him of her intention to go to Paris, despite the reaction of Buckingham Palace, of her desire to build life the way she wanted, and added: “ Don't pay attention to my outburst of emotions. Next time I'll be calmer. Or they will calm me down. It's unlikely that we'll see each other again».

Princess Diana

*People's Princess*

*Queen of Hearts*

Princess Diana

*People's Princess*

Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed

No one has ever proven the version that the royal family and British intelligence services were involved in Diana’s death. Over time in this mysterious story More and more questions are emerging, and still no one can say with certainty whether the death of Princess Diana was a tragic accident or the result of a planned crime.