Fans and friends of Diana, princess of Wales marked the 20th anniversary of her death on Thursday as well-wishers lit candles and paid their respects at the sombre scene of her fatal car crash.
Just after midnight in Paris on Thursday, a few braved the rain to be at the Pont de l’Alma tunnel where, precisely two decades earlier, her car smashed into a pillar, taking the life of the most famous woman in the world.
Diana was “revolutionary”, said Sian Croston, a 17-year-old student from London. “She changed the royal family forever.”
Diana was killed along with Dodi Fayed, her wealthy Egyptian film producer boyfriend of two months, and his drink-impaired, speeding driver Henri Paul, who was trying to evade paparazzi photographers.
Here’s a look at the life of ‘people’s princess’ in pictures:
July 29 1981: Prince Charles speaks with his bride Princess Diana during their wedding ceremony in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. (AP Photo)
July 29, 1981: Prince Charles kisses his bride, the former Diana Spencer, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London after their wedding. (AP Photo)
July 29, 1981: The carriage carrying the Prince and Princess of Wales on its way from St. Paul’s Cathedral to Buckingham Palace after the royal wedding in London. (AP Photo)
August 4, 1987: Princess Diana and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II smile to well-wishers outside Clarence House in London. (AP Photo)
September 16, 1984: Prince Charles and Princess Diana leave St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, with their new baby son. (AP Photo)
November 9, 1985: Britain’s Princess Diana is shown wearing a Victor Edelstein gown as she dances at a White House dinner with actor John Travolta, in Washington. (Reuters Photo)
Britain’s Princess Diana holds Prince Harry during a morning picture session at Marivent Palace, where the Prince and Princess of Wales were holidaying as guests of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, in Mallorca, Spain . (August 9, 1988)
November 5, 1989: Prince and Princess of Wales watching Indonesian tribal dancers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. (AFP Photo)
October 5, 1990: US First Lady Barbara Bush (left) and Britain’s Diana pose for photographers after the Princess arrived at the White House in Washington. (AFP Photo)
February 11, 1992: Princess Diana of Wales poses for pictures at Taj Mahal,on the second day of the royal couple’s six-day visit. (AFP Photo)
July 30, 1992: Princess Diana meets actor Tom Cruise and his former wife and actress Nicole Kidman at the Charity Premiere of the film Far and Away in London’s West End. (AP Photo)
January 4, 1993: Princess Diana relaxes on the sand during a visit to the beach on the Caribbean Island of Nevis. (Reuters Photo)
August 19, 1995: Princess Diana, her sons Prince Harry and Prince William and Prince Charles, watch a veteran’s parade during the 50th anniversary of VJ Day commemorations in London. (AP Photo)
March 6, 1996: Britain’s Diana arrives at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Central London. (AFP Photo)
July 17, 1997: Princess Diana rides a personal watercraft with her son Prince Harry, steering, in Saint Tropez, on the French Riviera, where she is spending a few days holidaying. (AP Photo)
June 17, 1997: Britain’s Diana at a ceremony at Red Cross headquarters in Washington, to call for a global ban on anti-personnel landmines. (AFP Photo)
March 17, 1997: Then South African president Nelson Mandela shows the way to Princess Diana during a meeting in Cape Town.. (AP Photo)
June 12, 1997: Princess Diana arrives at the Royal Geographical Society in London for a speech on the dangers of landmines throughout the world. (Reuters Photo)
July 20, 1997: Britain’s Diana, Princess of Wales on the quay of the residence of Mohamed Al Fayed in Saint Tropez, French Riviera, where she spends a few days holidaying. (AP Photo)
April 25, 1991: Britain’s Diana, Princess of Wales, talking with a man infected with the AIDS virus, during a visit to a hospital in Rio de Janeiro. (AFP Photo)
August 31, 1997: Police services prepare to take away the car in which Britain’s Diana, Princess of Wales, died in Paris, in a car crash that also killed her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and the chauffeur. The crash happened shortly after midnight in a tunnel along the Seine River at the Pont de l Alma bridge, while paparazzi on motorcycles were following her car. (AP Photo)
September 6, 1997: Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Earl Charles Spencer, Prince William and Prince Philip stand as the coffin bearing the body of Princess Diana is taken into Westminster Abbey in London. (AP Photo)
September 2, 1997: Floral tributes on the paved area outside of Kensington Palace. (AFP File Photo)
[“source=hindustantimes”]
