‘Princess of Wales’: Lady Diana remembered on her 25th death anniversary

London: Twenty-five years have passed since Diana, Princess of Wales died in a Paris car crash.

Wednesday marks 25 years since Princess Diana’s death thrust not only the British royal family but the entire world into shock and mourning. 

The princess – the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex’s late mother – was just 36 was she was killed on August 31 1997.

Diana was a glamorous celebrity known for her advocacy for AIDS patients and land mine removal in developing countries, and left an indelible impression on the hearts and minds of thousands of people.

She was also one of the English-speaking world’s most well-known women, who millions had watched evolve from a shy 20-year-old wife of the older Prince Charles into a global figure whose legacy spurred major changes to the traditional royal family. 

The “People’s Princess” was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997. 

Diana's shock death aged just 36 saw a sea of floral tributes laid at the gates of her former London home, Kensington Palace.

Many initially blamed the paparazzi for causing the crash but a French judge cleared them of wrongdoing in 1999. 

Prosecutors later revealed that the driver, Paul, had a blood alcohol level three times above the country’s legal limit. An extensive 2006 Scotland Yard investigation determined the crash was a “tragic accident.” But in April 2008, a British jury ruled that the driver and paparazzi were both to blame for grossly negligent driving.

Diana’s boyfriend at the time, Egyptian-born Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul also died in the crash, which occurred as they tried to evade a group of paparazzi on motorcycles, having left the Ritz Paris to go to Dodi’s apartment. 

Their vehicle had been reaching speeds of more than 60 mph, although the speed limit was 30 mph; the car eventually rammed into a pillar in the middle of a highway.

Princes William and Harry will mark the 25th anniversary of the death of their mother Princess Diana, in private but apart as a feud between the brothers shows no sign of ending. 

William recently announced a move from London to the Windsor estate west of London with his wife, Catherine, and their three young children.

Harry now lives in California with his wife, Meghan, and their two children, after the couple quit the royal family in early 2020. 

Well-wishers are again expected to lay flowers at the palace, and near the entrance to the Paris road tunnel where the high-speed crash happened.