Yes. The whole story is just so sad I cannot bear to watch any of it on TV. I believe she was happy before she married, and I believe her children were her greatest joy, but otherwise it's a very sad story. This lovely young woman had so much to offer the world, gone in a puff.

The job I had at the time had Royal Air Force officers in the office. Even though she was no longer an official princess, they still considered her to be their princess.

Diana, herself, said she would like to be known as "The Queen of Hearts". Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of England, was the first one to reference her as "The People's Princess" at the time she was tragically killed and now she is readily identified as such.

It did. When she died my son woke me up calling late at night to tell me because he knew I admired her. Like you, Marcy, I set my alarm to wake me up for the funeral. I watched the whole thing. So sad. I wasn't used to watching much TV in bed, and I remember my vision was blurry for an hour or more after. Years before, I got up early to watch her wedding.

Just watched a show about her last night on PBS. We all knew things were not great in the marriage long before the separation and finally the divorce, but I was completely unaware that it was a total farce on Prince Charles' side from the very beginning!! And that she was treated so badly and ostracized from the royal family as things progressed. Poor girl - she was dumped into a situation she did not expect and did not have the experience to cope with well. That she remained so outspoken and involved in her charity work and her kids despite all the slings and arrows is to her credit.

Her death had an impact on me, but I don't generally watch funerals. I much prefer to remember special people as they lived, and not cloud those memories with mental images of bodies and/or caskets. I don't even care to listen to other people's speeches--preferring to stay with my own thoughts and impressions. Her death was a loss for the world, because her kindness enabled her to quietly change how people viewed things in a way that is not often seen.

Yes, it was so sad. Hated the way Charles treated her and his affair.

Alisande, I'd forgotten until you mentioned it, that I also watched the wedding. That huge dress and train of hers!! I forgot how much they said it all weighed!

It's sad that Diana married Charles for love, but he married her, due to being pressured to find a young woman who was from aristocratic lineage and a virgin. If he had been allowed to marry the woman he actually loved, Diana would have probably married someone who truly loved her, and had a chance at a loving marriage. But apparently Prince Phillip urged Charles to wed Diana, with the encouragement that he could always have a mistress on the side.

It was the unfortunate 'perfect storm' of complicity between a parent suggesting adultery as a solution to their son marrying someone deemed appropiate, the son being happy to do so, and the mistress being an eager participant. This meant Charles never gave any real effort to see if love might develop for Diana, because he spent his time with his mistress instead. I admit it really bothered me seeing pics of William as a witness for Charles' marriage to Camilla, knowing how much pain that woman and Charles had caused to his mother.

She loved her children so joyously and they must feel that everyday.

She removed so many stigmas particularly from AIDS/HIV and she did it without a second thought, concentrating on the person rather than the disease.

I have always admired her and continue to admire her legacy.

Prince William and Prince Harry are opening up about mental illness and Harry is very open about his suffering as a result of his mothers death and the manner in which she died.

I too have always admired her. She could have been just another pretty face but instead of hiding behind the socialite scene she raised awareness and launched her own social justice crusade—from landmines to AIDS, she truly made a difference.

It took considerable courage to walk away from being HRH...the enormity of what she gave up demonstrates the level of unhappiness she must have felt being beholden to the "Firm".

gyr, I feel ya. I think Elton John's cover of the Marilyn Monroe song for Diana was tacky and that she deserved better, even though I'm sure his heart was in the right place.

Oh, the memories. I was in a London shortly after her death. The flowers at the gates of her apartment were incredible. Everywhere I went in a London I heard Elton John singing. The tribute at Harrod's Department Store was touching. Very sad and still very vivid in my mind.

I watched a show just recently on her life. I watched the wedding back then too but was not aware until this last show that Camille was at the wedding! Diana always said there were three people in the marriage.

I also set my alarm to watch the funeral. I told my husband that I watched her wedding and I would get up early to watch her funeral.

I remember well the night she died. Earlier in the day I had found my horse dead in his stall so I was already just numb over this horse and finding out the news about Diana's death after crying all day over my horse was almost too much to take in.

I read somewhere that everyone but Diana realized that this was an arranged marriage. How on earth could they do that to this native young girl is beyond me.

While I admire the queen in some ways, she contributed I think to some dysfunction in the lives of her children and certainly screwed over Princess Margaret. I read a biography of Margaret's life a while back. Her later years were pathetic.

Liliy, your post even brought tears to my eyes....Diana as a grandmother. It's a heartbreaking story. Charles used her.

While I admire the queen in some ways, she contributed I think to some dysfunction.

After watching the movie "The Crown" I decided Queen E was beyond redemption. Her decisions, her attitude...she is one sorry case. What she allowed to happen to Diana is a tragedy.

I was in high school when she died and at my grandmother's house. I remember thinking about how charismatic yet soft spoken soft he was. I cried my eyes out watching her funeral and then went back to my bedroom and cried more. Even now I find myself thinking about her from time to time and feeling upset because of what her the world not to mention her boys and grandchildren lost.

I like reading everyone's thoughts so I'll offer my own.

Queen Elizabeth is a monarch with a job to do. She does it hella well....

Nobody forced Diana to marry Charles. She could have had a good look at the way the royals lived and said "no"...I refuse to believe that she was dumb enough to think it was a fairy tale kind of life and that their marriage would be different...

That said, she did a tremendous amount of good in her short life. More people in the spotlight should use her as an example.

To piggyback on penny's comment. Diana knew the royal family quite well and it is known she disliked going to their Sandringham estate over Christmas to play with the your royals. I think the allure of being Princess of Wales was stronger than her own instincts.

She was able to do a tremendous amount of good in the role she chose for herself though. She set an example to the world during the AIDS crisis and I believe she changed the narrative around that disease.

What a gem she was. It did affect me, more than I care to remember. We both got married in 1981. Both were only 20 years old. Both had our first child a year later in 1982. It was heartbreaking to watch her funeral, her boys walking behind her casket. The thought of those boys never seeing their mother again. I held both my babies tight that night.

Diana was young when she married Charles. She had just turned 20. Maybe she could have said no, but she was young and naive and she was in love.

I think the Royal Family learned a bit from their mistakes with her. They've made some changes. Some of the changes may just be PR. The Royal family may be rich and famous, but they are still a family. I think some things have been done with love and concern also.

I remember when she married I thought "I will be dead long before her, she's so young and she will be queen one day"........not so.

She was a very complicated your woman. My late husband's cousin's daughter played tennis with her in a week group of 8 young women. This young woman had a 2 yr old and was pregnant with a 2nd child when her husband was killed in a private plane crash while flying to Italy (he was an art dealer). Princess Diana wrote her the most beautiful condolence note which later haunted her as Diana spoke of her children not remembering their father due to their young age (one not yet born). She also broke Royal protocol and attended the funeral.

But she was also a total mess. And she was a mess from the time of the engagement. Read Sally Bedell Smith's autobiography of her. A psychiatrist (whom I knew when he was married to his first wife - I was at the wedding!), wrote that he believes she had Borderline Personality Disorder and it makes sense. She had a side that could be gracious, generous, just wonderful, but there was that dark side of paranoia, lying, manipulativeness. And she had plenty of that. Charles had no idea what he was getting into when they married. He brought her back to London to see a psychiatrist during their honeymoon, he was so concerned and shocked by her behavior. He didn't cheat on her until she cheated on him first. She had many affairs during their marriage. This was a woman who was destined to have a tragic life and end to her life. She was beautiful in a way the Duchess of Cambridge will never achieve. And when she was well, she had a wonderful zest for life. But that dark side was...well, very dark. Read the book - you'll learn a lot.

Sally Bedell Smith is a highly respected author of biographies - she is not part of the sensationalist press. She's a lovely woman - I know many people who have met her - and her scholarship is excellent. She wrote that wonderful biography on Queen Elizabeth and just published her latest on Prince Charles.

"But apparently Prince Phillip urged Charles to wed Diana, with the
encouragement that he could always have a mistress on the side." Actually, no. What Phillip said was, "Marry her or cut her loose." Phillip was telling Charles that it wasn't OK to keep stringing Diana along while he dithered about whether he would marry her or not. Charles interpreted this as "Marry her."

"After watching the movie "The Crown" I decided Queen E was beyond
redemption. Her decisions, her attitude...she is one sorry case. What
she allowed to happen to Diana is a tragedy." Because a telemovie is such a reliable source of information. The Queen was always willing to guide Diana (and I suspect she probably had things to say to Charles on the topic of having a mistress and why it isn't a good thing). But Diana wasn't always willing to listen if the message wasn't the one she wanted to hear.

I've never understood how the cult of Diana has whitewashed her- she wasn't always the one being hard done by. She herself had affairs, not that it makes Charles' affair OK. And she was very, very good at manipulating the media into portraying her as the victim when that wasn't always the case.

I remember the wedding, but didn't watch the funeral.

Infidelity (if true, I have no dog in this fight) aside, I admired her tireless dedication to helping others, "shining the spotlight on major world issues"

She died on my 26th birthday I will always remember. Even though in Europe she died on the 31st here it was late night on the 30th of August. I was with friends when I saw the news and I was heartbroken.

I remember being 10 years old and waking up very early so I could watch them get married. I also made sure to be up to watch her funereal.

I think her family had a lot to do with pressuring her to marry the royal family above and beyond her being young. That not only gave her status but gave her family status which is very important over there. Her marriage to Charles elevated her family to a new level.

I believe she had her demons. We all know she did, but I believe a lot of what she did was coping because of what happened behind closed doors at the Palace. She knew that he was having affairs to a young woman who feels she is now trapped she had to cope. While some people will never understand eating disorders this is one thing I have a good understanding of. At a young age she probably felt she had no control over her life and the eating disorder was one thing she could control. I believe she would have never had affairs had he treated her well from the beginning. Because her mental state was not strong and she was very immature even in her older years I believe her affairs were a tit for tat type of thing. I also believe she was looking for something missing in her marriage from the those affairs and figured if he could do it why can't she?

She proved to everyone that even though she was a Royal she was human. She gave a human aspect to a family that shows so little emotion. She broke a lot of stereotypes and her charity work is an accomplishment no one can take away from her.

I will always admire her. I will always have a sad pit in my stomach on the day she died. We lost a very very special person that day. She died way to young and the work she would have accomplished along side her sons I can only imagine. When I see her grandchildren I always think about how happy she would have been to be a grandmother. The joy her own children brought her shows you how much joy those babies would have been for her. I will always feel sadness for her sons to lose their mother so young and for them to have that knowledge of not only how she lived but also how she died.

I am not a conspiracy theorist usually but still to this day I can not help but wonder if the Palace did have something to do with her death. I will always wonder that.

I feel poor Kate is put in a spot where everyone expects her to be like Diana those are some big shoes to fill and the pressure on her must be immense to constantly be compared to her.

Colleen, you are correct that Prince Phillip did advise Charles to marry Diana or cut her loose. But I've also read many accounts that he assured Charles that he wouldn't have to give up Camilla, if he kept it discreet, and Diana is quoted as saying Charles told her he refused to be the only Prince of Wales who never had a mistress.

Anglo, if Diana was truly as mentally ill as you believe, then the way she was treated by Charles was even more abhorent, unless the Royals only do marry for aristocratic bloodlines and "in sickness and in health" never comes into play. Shame.

Charles and the rest of the family tried and tried to get Diana the help she needed. She would go a few times and quit. No one wanted a divorce but when the entire marriage was made public, first by Diana and then by Charles, the Queen believed a divorce was the only answer and she was right. It had nothing to do with "bloodlines". The Queen is a very traditional and religious woman and takes religious vows very seriously. The divorces of her sister and 3 of her 4 children, has been very hard for her.

I have watched my share of documentaries of Diana in the last few weeks. She certainly had some issues, and there appears to be some fault on both sides. Diana was way too young to understand what she was getting into and Charles was too pampered. ( He had a attendant squeeze the toothpaste on his toothbrush!) For those of you who have read biographies of Diana, I am curious about her 2 sisters. They are noticeably absent in their presence and opinion.

I actually am sorry for all involved, including the Royal family. Centuries of tradition and duty to uphold inherited responsibility and to carry it on have crafted these people. Diana was young and expected to follow through on this match as was Charles. She was also from a long line of nobility, far from the image that was heaped on by the press back in the day when they were dating. She was hailed as a "commoner". I've seen the documentaries on that family along with their huge estate. It makes Downton Abbey look like a cabin in the woods. They were locked in at birth, as was the Queen. Even among all the pampered wealth and entitled lifestyles these people live, every time I see Prince Charles stomping around the many immense Royal estates I look at his face and only see a sad resignation at the existence he's been sentenced to. And please don't say "why doesn't he abdicate?". These people are crafted from birth at being responsible to their lineage beyond everything else. Yes the Queen is old fashioned, a thing of the past, but I really have to give her credit for her unwavering sense of duty and fulfilling her promise to be of service to the British people by behaving as they expect a Royal to behave. Why does Britain still have Royalty? The same reason why even us Americans are fascinated by it. We like to see how the other half lives. Mostly we like to see that even celebrity, wealth and entitlement doesn't guarantee the perfect human existence.

I am curious about Diana's sisters as well, if anyone knows about their role/thoughts in all of this, I would love to hear about it.

The one thing that has come out of the William/Catherine marriage that I fond interesting is hearing how William saw his mother's family as marginalized by the Royal family. With William's response to slight being his wholehearted embracing and including the MIddletons without any reserve in his family.

Diana's family didn't really exist. Her mother left when she was quite young, her sisters were older and her grandstanding brother is too busy with multiple marriages and lots of children and promoting himself to get money. Her father was in poor health and his new wife and Diana (and the rest of her siblings) did not get along well. Diana's older sisters were not close to her, and one was quite upset over her lies to her husband who worked for the Queen. I think they tried to help her but their efforts were shunned by her.

And all that big talk at Diana's funeral by her brother about how HE and HIS FAMILY were going to look after the boys! Well, he didn't and they are not close at all.

I don't quite "get" William's fascination with the Middleton's. They're just a very wealthy, self-made family who love the grand life. This marriage is the culmination of a dream for them. I think William is not sure who he is or what he wants. How could he be! His mother needed HIM for support, rather than her supporting him. He saw all her drama and breakdowns. I have no doubt that Charles is deeply devoted to his two sons and loves then dearly. He has been a very good father to them, but he was brought up in a very Victorian household and that is how he still lives. Why would he otherwise? I doubt he has his toothpaste put on his brush for him, but he does have his valet draw his bath to the correct temperature and has had a valet since he was in his early 20's. He IS the future King of England, not a salesman at a local car dealership! Royalty do not live the way you and I do, nor should they be expected to do so. They have lots and lots of duties and they need a support staff to help them with this. Royalty doesn't drop their shirts at the local Chinese laundry. When one has public duties multiple times daily and many times a week, someone else takes care of ones clothes, keep tracks of what one has worn before to the same place, and gets what is dirty cleaned. It is a full-time job being a Royal. It's why the Queen so enjoys her stay at Balmoral each year. It's the closest to a "normal" life as she can possibly have. They go on picnics, the Duke grills, she has her little Tupperware containers of food. This is a huge TREAT for people who alternate their life between Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle!

The British upper class are very different, even from the very wealthy in this country. Girls are typically sent to boarding school at 10; boys often go at 8-9. Parents rarely share a bedroom. There are servants. Young children are often far closer to their nanny than their mother as the nanny sleeps in or next to the night nursery. They dress in an expected manner, are taught very adult manners at an early age. But they also know how to play and entertain themselves and are encouraged to do so. Most are brought up in country houses where they have run of the estate and great freedom. They develop an independence and maturity that we rarely find, even in college age children today in this country. It's what is expected of them. And they do just fine - far better than our "helicoptered" children.

I remember it like it was yesterday as well. I don't usually get attached to celebs or turn to the rich and famous for inspiration, but Diana was the exception. I admired her and had so much respect for the way she navigated the many challenges she had to live with. Now that her son's are adults, I'm so glad to see that she was still able to leave her sons with some great memories and a lasting impression about what's really important in life.

In case anyones interested, here is a piece from the NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/29/world/europe/princess-diana-20th-anniversary-uk.html  on the generation gap in perception about Diana in the UK.

Anglo, I could stomach the Middletons better if they were just a wealthy, self made family. But all I can see in them is naked social ambition. For all of Diana's flaws, she was no social climber. To be clear, I am fine with a commoner marrying into the Royal family. It just seems as though the Middleton affair was extremely calculated.

Tracy Ullman as Camilla babysitting Prince George:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wit9ElWyd4I

(sorry for the slight threadjack)