Photo: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA (Archived link), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
National Icons · Community memorial
Diana, Princess of Wales
July 1, 1961 – August 31, 1997 · Princess & Humanitarian · United Kingdom
“The People's Princess.”
A princess who chose compassion over protocol. Her warmth, humanity and courage changed how the world thinks about kindness in public life.
3 lights
every light is a memory
Lights around the world
People from 3 countries have lit a light here.
Their story
Diana Spencer became Princess of Wales in 1981 and, almost immediately, something rarer: the most human face of public life in the twentieth century. She held the hands of AIDS patients when others would not enter the room, and walked through a live minefield to show the world what landmines do.
Adored across the globe, she used attention the way others use power — to point it at people who had none. Her honesty about her own struggles helped millions feel less alone in theirs.
Diana died in Paris on 31 August 1997, aged 36. An ocean of flowers grew outside Kensington Palace. Decades later, people still light candles for the princess who saw them.
A life in moments
1961
Born Diana Spencer at Park House, Sandringham.
1981
Marries and becomes Princess of Wales; 750 million people watch.
1987
Opens the UK's first dedicated AIDS ward and shakes hands without gloves, changing public perception overnight.
1997
Walks through an active minefield in Angola for the anti-landmine campaign.
1997
Dies in Paris at the age of 36. The world stops.
Today
Remembered as the People's Princess — for the hands she held.
Important dates
- Birthday · July 1
- Anniversary · August 31
Latest lights & memories
lit with love around the world
“You showed us that a crown means nothing without kindness. We have not forgotten.”
“She touched people the world told her not to touch. That is royalty.”
“Paris still remembers you with love.”
Others we remember
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