75. People Were Heartbroken
When Diana died, it felt like the whole world was grieving. As Prince Charles and her sisters rushed to France to retrieve Diana’s body, mourners left more than a million bouquets outside the gates of Kensington Palace. Over the days, the pile grew to be five feet tall in places. The public mourning at the funeral was equally prolific—and as the details of what happened emerged, the tragedy deepened.
76. Her Family Mourned Privately
After he initially received the news from France, Princes Charles had to wake William and Harry up before dawn to break the news to them about their mother. While the royal family expressed their grief, they were criticized for remaining tight-lipped about the tragedy—a reaction they later explained was part of an effort to protect William and Harry’s privacy.
77. Her Sons Stayed With Her
Amidst the royal family’s polarizing response to Diana’s death in 1997, it was William’s grandfather, Prince Philip, who convinced William and Harry to walk behind her coffin with a few heartbreaking sentences. When the young princes were apprehensive, Philip reportedly told his eldest grandson, “If you don’t walk, I think you’ll regret it later. If I walk, will you walk with me?”
At the funeral, Philip, William, Harry, Charles, and Diana’s brother followed the bier all the way from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, as millions watched. Still, people wanted answers for what had happened…
78. He Had Been Hiding Something
Following Diana’s death, a number of investigations began looking into the causes of the crash. What they found was fairly predictable—speed the presence of paparazzi were factors—but there was one surprise. The driver of the car, Henri Paul, had both alcohol and prescription medication in his system.
While most investigations have blamed this for the crash, others haven’t been so quick to believe…
79. People Think It Was A Set-Up
For nearly a decade, Mohamed Al-Fayed (the father of Diana’s romantic partner Dodi Fayed, who also perished in the crash) maintained that his son's death was the result of a murder plot by MI6. He even pressed for further investigation, including a demand for the release of the NSA’s file on Diana. While Al-Fayed eventually gave up on his quest, it’s not because he didn’t stop believing—he just decided to let it go for William and Harry’s sake.
Of course, his isn’t the only conspiracy about Diana’s dark end—and Diana even had a few of her own during her life.
80. She Was Suspicious
Princess Diana always had suspicions that “the Firm” was out to get her—and for good reason. So, occasionally, she had her own staff investigate incidents…and one of their more surprising findings was about the leak of the tape that came to be known as “Squidgygate.” After her death, one of Diana’s staff stated that he’d come to the conclusion that the “Establishment,” as he called them, had leaked the tape to embarrass her…but that was far from the most disturbing allegation about them.
81. She Thought They Wanted To Kill Her
There had long been one constant in the marriage between Diana and Charles—and her name was Camilla. However, in 1993, Diana began to suspect he was hiding an even darker secret. As mentioned earlier, she believed that he was also having an affair with his personal assistant (and their children’s former nanny) Tiggy Legge-Bourke, and that he wanted to marry her—but that’s not all.
Diana also believed that Charles wanted the firm to have her killed, so that he could “make the path clear for him” to be with Tiggy.
82. She Had A Secret Crush
Diana lived in fear of the Firm, expressing her suspicions that they were going to take her out multiple times—and it all stemmed back to one incident, years before. In the early 90s, Diana confessed that between 1984 and 1986 (before her affair with James Hewitt), she was deeply in love with someone. Immediately, people began to speculate you—and as they put the puzzle pieces together, it all became clear.
83. She Had An Inappropriate Relationship
In 1986, Diana’s security team made the decision to transfer her bodyguard Barry Mannakee to another detail—and the reason why was scandalous. His managers had determined that his relationship with the princess was “inappropriate,” leading to speculation years down the line that he had been the man Diana loved between 84 and 86.
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84. She Lost Her Love
While Diana never named the man she’d said she’d been in love with, she’d gone as far as to say that she’d been ready to “give all this up [and] just to go off and live with him." While her friends denied that she’d had an affair with Mannakee, the things she’d said about him over the years led people to suspect otherwise—but their story had an unbelievably tragic ending.
85. She Suspected They’d Killed Him
About a year after he stopped being part of Diana’s security team, Barry Mannakee died in a car crash. Immediately, Diana had her suspicions—and they fell directly on her in-laws, or more specifically, the Firm. While an investigation found that it had been an accident, Diana continued to believe for years afterward that the Firm had been involved in her alleged former lover’s death.
He wasn’t the only former lover that people later speculated about, either…
86. She Also Broke Hearts
Princess Diana’s earliest confirmed affair was with James Hewitt—but few know just how tragic their story was. They were actually together for five years before Diana ended their relationship in 1991. Hewitt’s reaction was devastating, and he later confessed that he contemplated taking his own life when it ended—but his story didn’t end there.
87. He Betrayed Her
In 2003, Hewitt began to try and sell a bunch of letters that Diana had written him during their romance for £10 million—but by doing do, he had crossed the wrong person. Diana’s old friend (and occasional frenemy) Sarah Ferguson came forward to chastise Hewitt, calling it a horrible betrayal. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it reignited rumors that Hewitt was Prince Harry’s real father—despite the fact that his affair with Diana began years after Harry’s birth.
Prince Harry, of course, has faced his own problems since his mother’s death.
88. He Learned From Her Path
In January 2020, Diana's youngest son Prince Harry abruptly announced that he and his wife, Canadian actress Meghan Markle, were taking a step back from the royal family. The decision made headlines all over the world, but after the initial shock wore off, Harry's reasons became clear. The press began to wonder if Harry was retreating from public life to make sure that his child wouldn't experience the kind of tragic loss he went through.
Finally, after months of speculation, they set the record straight.
89. She Experienced The Same Problems
Like Diana, Harry's wife Meghan has suffered under the royal family and the press. She even revealed that when she approached the Firm with the problems she was having and told them that she “didn’t want to be alive anymore,” they refused to help her. My, how history repeats itself. During the same interview, Harry didn’t hold back about the problems he had with his own father, complaining about how cold Charles had been after Diana’s passing, and how they were now barely on speaking terms.
Charles? Cold? Surprising. Well, it all started so much earlier…
90. Her Worst Moment Was Caught On Camera
A month before his wedding to Diana, Charles left for a trip. At the airport that day, photographers caught Diana crying at the airport as he bade her farewell—but there’s an even more heartbreaking side to the iconic photograph. That was the day that Diana gave up trying to come between Charles and Camilla. When she heard them on the phone together that day, she knew she could pick up the extension, but instead, just left them to their call.
As Diana later said, “It just broke my heart”—and it was, sadly, a wound that never healed.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
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