In pictures: Heartbreaking photos of Princess Diana that depict her silent struggle
Princess Diana famously struggled with the limelight up until her death in 1997
Princess Diana, as the then-Princess of Wales, was no stranger to being followed for photos. The late princess was photographed from the very second she was linked to The Firm.
And this didn’t subside until her tragic death in 1997.
Princess Diana was snapped relentlessly from her engagement to Princess Charles in the early 80s right up until her final holiday to St. Tropez, before she was killed in a car collision in Paris after being chased by the paparazzi.
During her time as a royal, several moments that illustrated Princess Diana’s difficult relationship with the spotlight were caught on camera.
Keep reading to see some of the most moving…
Princess Diana photos that capture her struggle with the spotlight
Princess Diana was quickly thrust into the spotlight. The public were very curious about the woman Charles was set to settle down with. Especially as she seemed pretty ordinary, a nursery worker, who lived with her friends.
Upon her engagement and subsequent marriage to the then-Prince of Wales, Diana was the name on everyone’s lips. Evidently, the attention was unrelenting.
Princess Diana captured the hearts of the public
Following their idyllic wedding where Diana sported an enchanting ivory taffeta wedding dress, the princess had well and truly captured the heart and minds of royal observers, as well as the media.
Diana would go on to shoulder royal engagements, tours and responsibilities and even became president or patron of over 100 charities.
The ‘most photographed’ woman of the 20th century
Some of Diana’s most famous images were born out of her charitable work, including one of her most spoken about moments where she shook hands with an individual with Aids, to create awareness about the misunderstood condition.
Diana captured international attention again when she addressed the issue of landmines in 1997.
It was here she paid a highly publicised visit to Angola, unforgettable work that would become her legacy.
The Princess of Wales endured the paparazzi
All the while, Diana was enduring the wrath of the paparazzi.
They photographed her day and night, regardless of what she was doing.
Diana would be photographed whether she was prepared or not. Fresh faced or visibly emotional.
It was evident in her face that the princess was distressed by the constant scrutiny of the paparazzi.
For instance, this image of Princess Diana and then-Prince Charles photographed in 1987 as they attended British politician Lord Soames’ funeral, highlights how their grief and anguish in such a sensitive setting was pushed aside.
Their glum faces were simply content for the front page.
The then-Prince and Princess of Wales were often photographed together and during royal tours, the strain between them was sometimes evident.
The couple were plagued by infidelity rumours and Charles was said to be embroiled in an ongoing affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.
Diana’s popularity caused problems
All the while, Princess Diana, as she said in her own words, was suffering greatly from an eating disorder as well as postpartum depression and feelings of worthlessness.
The couple were said to be incompatible in a number of ways and Diana, who would ultimately spend little time with her husband, was left to shoulder the new burden of representing the crown whilst raising a future king.
Charles was allegedly disgruntled by the attention Diana garnered, as per The Mirror: “In the early days of their union, Charles would often be overshadowed by his beautiful wife. With crowds cheering for the princess and screaming her name, desperate to get a glimpse or a short conversation with her instead of the future king.”
The couple separated in 1992. Their relationship issues were widely publicised and they eventually divorced in 1996.
During her Panorama interview on the BBC in 1995, Diana shed light on how her popularity impacted her marriage.
‘The pressure on us both as a couple with the media was phenomenal’
“The pressure on us both as a couple with the media was phenomenal, and misunderstood by a great many people. We’d be going ’round Australia, for instance, and all you could hear was, ‘Oh, she’s on the other side.’ Now, if you’re a man like my husband—a proud man—you mind about that if you hear it every day for four weeks. And you feel low about it instead of feeling happy and sharing it.”
Diana confirmed that the media frenzy surrounding her caused “a lot of jealousy”.
She explained: “A great deal of complicated situations arose because of that.”
Diana’s long-time friend James Colthurst has discussed how the princess was sucked into the “machine” that was the royal family.
The pressure of global fame
“Her engagement and marriage to Prince Charles brought her global fame,” Colthurst told The Telegraph. “But I felt, when she joined the royal family, she may not have been fully aware of the machine she was in. The Firm, for its part, was unaccustomed to having a superstar in its midst. And I don’t think it knew how to cope with the enormous amount of publicity she generated.”
“She wasn’t given much of a brief at Clarence House in the buildup to the wedding, and no one realised quite what was about to happen. That she would take off and become immensely popular in her own right,” Colthurst went on to say. “She didn’t have a big support team at the palace herself.”
He added: “She was just trying to do her best. When she did what she thought was right, it was well-received by the public. But not always by the Firm.”
Although it seemed the public were often on Diana’s side, it seemed like some of the paparazzi weren’t.
Princess Diana bargained with photographers
In fact, she did her best to avoid them, whether it be by covering her face, running from them or even bargaining with them.
During Diana’s final holiday to St. Tropez, the princess allegedly spoke up to photographers, in a bid to see them off.
Journalist and biographer Sally Bedell Smith described Diana’s confrontation of photographers for Vanity Fair in 1998.
Princess Diana tried to prevent pictures being taken of her
She said: “She had a natural cunning, and she would lay down false scents to confuse her pursuers. On a holiday in July 1997 with Dodi Fayed and his family in Saint-Tropez, she first eluded paparazzi by crawling along a balcony and hiding behind a towel, then surprised a contingent of British tabloid reporters and photographers by addressing them from her motorboat in a fetching leopard-print bathing suit. ‘You will have a big surprise coming soon, the next thing I do,’ she teased, and implied that she was thinking of living abroad.”
In a devastating turn of events, we now know Diana met her untimely death just a month later on August 31, 1997.
The princess sustained severe injuries in a car accident in Paris on August 30.
Following Diana’s tragic death, her brother, Earl Charles Spencer, accused journalists of having “blood on their hands”.
Read more: Heartbreaking photo was found inside Princess Diana’s handbag after her tragic death
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