While many of us are worrying over the fact that it’s the 1st of July and we are officially into the second half of the year, Prince William and Prince Harry are remembering today a little bit differently.
Today is their mum’s birthday.
Had Princess Diana not tragically passed away in Paris on the 31st of August 1997, she would be blowing out 54 candles today. Most likely with her two grandchildren by her side, Prince George and Princess Charlotte (who shares one of her middle names with her grandmother).
In honour of a woman who went through so much publicly and used her profile to draw attention to humanitarian causes (long before others got on band wagon), we are looking at the People’s Princess’s most memorable moments.
1. Her engagement to Prince Charles.
In 1981, Diana and Prince Charles announced their engagement. Showing off the engagement ring that one day her son, Prince William, would give to Duchess Catherine.
Read more: Happy 4th wedding anniversary Kate and William.
2. The royal wedding.
It was called the wedding of the century. And while Princess Diana's dress was very very 80s inspired, for its day and for a royal wedding, it was perfection. We do give her points for being able to walk down the aisle with all that tulle. Plus, we loved that she made a mistake in saying Prince Charles' many names during their vows.
3. Her parenting style.
Princess Diana was the first royal to start breaking strict traditions. She was always very vocal about raising Prince William (born on 21 June 1982) and Prince Harry (born on 15 September 1984) to know that their life was privileged. Because of her parenting style, both William and Harry have made sure to make charities and humanitarian causes their priorities.
She also had no issue with showing her children how much she loved them in front of the paparazzi. Something that many royals hadn't done in the past.
4. Her work in ridding the world of landmines.
The British Monarchy website says,
In the year before her death the Princess was an active campaigner for a ban on the manufacture and use of land mines.
In January 1997, she visited Angola. In June, the Princess spoke at the landmines conference at the Royal Geographical Society in London, and this was followed by a visit to Washington DC in the United States to promote the American Red Cross landmines campaign.
The Princess's last public engagements included her visit to Bosnia in August, when she visited landmine projects in Travnic, Sarajevo and Zenezica.
5. She made sure everyone knew about the work to combat HIV/AIDS.
Princess Diana was well-known to visit hospitals, especially the children's ward. She did a great deal of work in publicising the fight against HIV/AIDS and most memorably kissed those affected by the disease to reduce the stigma.
6. Lastly, her fashion.
Sure, Kate Middleton is known as the fashion queen (and as a Kate fan, I don't deny this title).
But, the first style queen was Princess Diana. She managed to make 80s and early 90s fashion look incredible. That's an incredible skill.
Read more: The pregnancy fashions that will have you looking like Kate Middleton on the cheap.
She also had a similar effect to the Kate-effect. Many many women would emulate Diana's style from her clothes to her haircut.
Look, we could go on forever...
Instead, take a look through the gallery of all of the photos we could find on Princess Diana.
What was your favourite memory of Diana?
