Diana, Princess of Wales, was born on July 1st, 1961.1)
Before she married Prince Charles, her given name was Diana Frances Spencer.2)
John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (1924-1992), and Frances Spencer, Viscountess Althorp had five children.3)
For numerous generations, the Spencer family had been connected to the British royal family.4)
Her parents hoped for a male to continue on the family line, and no name was decided for a week before settling on Diana Frances, named after her mother and Lady Diana Spencer, a many-times-great-aunt who was also a future Princess of Wales.5)
Within the family, she was sometimes referred to unofficially as “Duch,” a tribute to her duchess-like demeanor as a youngster.6)
Sarah, Jane, and Charles were her three siblings. One year before Diana was born, her little brother, John, died shortly after delivery.7)
The royal family usually vacationed at nearby Sandringham House, where Diana spent time with the Queen's sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.8)
Diana's parents split when she was seven years old.9)
Her mother then started dating Peter Shand Kydd and married him in 1969.10)
During her parents' divorce in 1967, she resided with her mother in London, but during the Christmas vacations that year, Lord Althorp refused to allow his daughter to return to London with Lady Althorp. Shortly after, he obtained custody of Diana with the help of his ex-wife, Lady Fermoy.11)
Lord Althorp married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, in 1976. Diana had an especially strained connection with her stepmother. She despised Raine, whom she referred to as a “bully.” Diana “pushed her down the stairs” on one occasion. She subsequently characterized her childhood as “extremely miserable” and “quite unstable”.12)
Lady Diana was given the title after her father obtained the title of Earl Spencer in 1975, when he relocated the entire family from Park House to Althorp, the Spencer seat in Northamptonshire.13)
Diana was homeschooled at first under the supervision of her governess, Gertrude Allen.14)
She began her official education at Silfield Private School in King's Lynn, Norfolk, and when she was nine, she transferred to Riddlesworth Hall School, an all-girls boarding school in Thetford.15)
In 1973, she enrolled in West Heath Girls' School in Sevenoaks, Kent, with her sisters.16)
She struggled academically, failing her O-levels twice.17)
West Heath recognized her remarkable community spirit with an award. She moved out of West Heath when she was sixteen.18)
As a skilled pianist, she demonstrated musical talent. She was also an excellent swimmer and diver, and she learned ballet and tap dancing.19)
Diana worked as a nanny for Philippa and Jeremy Whitaker in Hampshire for three months in 1978.20)
Diana moved back to London and shared her mother's flat with two school classmates.21)
She completed an advanced cooking course in London, although she rarely cooked for her housemates.22)
She accepted a number of low-paying jobs, including one as a youth dance instructor until a skiing mishap forced her to miss three months of work. She subsequently worked as a playgroup pre-school helper, cleaned for her sister Sarah and many of her friends, and served as a hostess at events.23)
She worked as a nanny for the Robertsons, an American family in London, and as a nursery teacher's helper at the Young England School in Pimlico.24)
Her mother purchased her a home in Coleherne Court in Earl's Court for her 18th birthday in July 1979.25)
She shared an apartment in Earl's Court with three other people till February 25, 1981.26)
While dating Diana's sister in November 1977, Prince Charles met her.27)
While her older sister may not have been smitten, 16-year-old Diana clearly was, telling her friends that one day she would marry Prince Charles and giggling that he was “the one guy on the earth who is not permitted to divorce me,” according to The Diana Chronicles.28)
There was a 12-year age gap between Charles and Diana.29)
In later years, she told author Andrew Morton for his book Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words that her first impression upon seeing the Prince of Wales was, “God, what a sad man”.30)