Diana, Princess of Wales
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"Diana Spencer" redirects here. For other persons of this name, see Diana Spencer (disambiguation).
| Diana | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Wales; Duchess of Rothesay | |
 | |
| Spouse | Charles, Prince of Wales (Married 29 July 1981 – Divorced 28 August 1996)[1] |
| Issue | |
| Prince William of Wales Prince Harry of Wales | |
| Full name | |
| Diana Frances Spencer[N 1] | |
| Father | John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer |
| Mother | Frances Shand Kydd |
| Born | 1 July 1961 Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk |
| Died | 31 August 1997 (aged 36) Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital , Paris, France |
| Burial | Althorp, Northamptonshire |
Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances;[2] née Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family and international personality of the late 20th century as the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981. The wedding, which was held at St. Paul's Cathedral, was televised and watched by a global audience of over 750 million people. The marriage produced two sons, Princes William and Harry,[3] currently second and third in line to the thrones of the 16 Commonwealth realms.
A public figure from the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana was born into an old, aristocratic English family with royal connections, and remained the focus of worldwide media scrutiny before, during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996. This continued in the years following her death in a car crash in Paris along with her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul on 31 August 1997, and in the subsequent display of public mourning a week later. Contemporary responses to Diana's life and legacy are mixed but popular interest in the Princess endures.
Diana 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 the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
[edit] Royal descent
On her father's side, she was a descendant of King Charles II of England through four illegitimate sons:
- Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton, son by Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland
- Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and Lennox, son by Louise de Kérouaille
- Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, son by Nell Gwyn
- James Crofts-Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, leader of the famous Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, son by Lucy Walter
She was also a descendant of King James II of England through an illegitimate daughter, Henrietta FitzJames, by his mistress Arabella Churchill. On her mother's side, Diana was Irish and Scottish, as well as a descendant of American heiress Frances Work, her mother's grandmother and namesake, from whom the considerable Roche fortune was derived.[citation needed]
The Spencers had been close to the British Royal Family for centuries, rising in royal favour during the 17th century. Diana's maternal grandmother, Ruth, Lady Fermoy, was a long-time friend and a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Her father had served as an equerry to King George VI and to Queen Elizabeth II.
In August 2009, the New England Historic Genealogical Society published Richard K. Evans's The Ancestry of Diana, Princess of Wales, for Twelve Generations.
