Not every real-life princess story gets to be a fairytale.
Diana's tumultuous marriage to Prince Charles was just one of the many problems the Princess
of Wales had to cope with over the course of her life.
This is the tragic real-life story of Princess Diana.
Many children are hugely affected by their parents' divorce, and Diana Spencer was no
exception.
In 1967, her mother, Frances, decided to leave Diana's father, John Spencer, a British nobleman
and earl.
Diana talked about the painful experience in 1991 with author Andrew Morton for his
book, "Diana: Her True Story - In her Own Words."
Diana told Morton,
"The biggest disruption was when Mummy decided to leg it (in 1967).
That’s the vivid memory the four of us children have.
[...] For my brother and I, it was a very wishy-washy and painful experience."
Diana's childhood was far from idyllic, as she told Morton,
"It was a very unhappy childhood.
Always seeing our mum crying.
Daddy never spoke to us about it — we could never ask questions.
Very unstable, the whole thing."
A variety of nannies took care of Diana and her siblings during this period, and Diana
reportedly believed they largely came to work for the family because they were attracted
to her father.
Diana recalled,
"It was terribly disruptive to come back from school one day to find a new nanny."
The young Diana Spencer struggled with her place in life.
When she was 14, she felt that she didn't have any skills and wasn't particularly good
at anything.
The future princess also felt like she was bothersome, and at the time didn't really
understand why.
She felt as though she was a nuisance and it wasn't until many years later that she
made sense of her feelings.
She believed that it involved the baby brother who died before she was born.
Her parents had a son, John, in 1960.
He survived for just 10 hours.
She told author Andrew Morton,
"Both my parents were crazy to have a son and heir."
The couple already had two daughters, so when Diana was born after John's death, they were
likely very disappointed, at least in Diana's eyes.
In 1975, Diana's father became Earl Spencer and inherited the Althorp estate.
He uprooted the family from Norfolk to make a new life there.
This is also when her father started dating Diana's stepmother, Raine.
Diana said she and her siblings hated Raine because they feared she was going to take
their father away from them.
Diana told Andrew Morton,
"She was very clever and she wanted to marry Daddy; that was her target and that was it."
Then in 1978, John Spencer had a brain hemorrhage, and Diana was told that he was going to die.
What made the situation worse was that she and her siblings were banned from the hospital.
Diana recalled,
"We saw another side of Raine which we hadn't anticipated, as she basically blocked us out
of the hospital; she wouldn't let us see Daddy."
Her oldest sister managed to see him, but his other three children were not allowed.
Eventually Diana's father recovered and was released from the hospital, but his character
had changed.
Diana noted to Morton,
"[He was] one person before and he was certainly a different person afterwards."
Diana was educated by a governess when she was young.
At age 9 she went to the all-girls boarding prep school Riddlesworth Hall School.
She and her sisters also attended West Heath Girls' School in Kent.
Despite having the opportunities that wealth can provide, Diana was not a good student.
She twice failed her O-levels -- the general certificate of education for British students
in this period.
Diana stayed at West Heath until the age of 16, and that's when her formal education ended.
She then attended an elite finishing school in Switzerland.
However, it's worth nothing that women in aristocratic circles at that time were more
likely to focus on learning proper etiquette than practical skills.
Diana left for London in 1978 and supported herself with several jobs, including one as
a preschool aide.
Interestingly, her future husband, Prince Charles, had more of a focus on academics.
He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, becoming the first heir-apparent to get a college degree.
It could be said that Diana perhaps shouldn't have gotten into a relationship with the man
who had previously dated her sister.
Six years older than Diana, Sarah Spencer hung out in the same social circles as Prince
Charles.
In 1977, when she was 22 years old, Sarah dated Charles, who was 28 at the time.
It's unclear what Charles thought about their relationship, but Sarah's thoughts were published
in an interview in which she reportedly revealed,
"[I would] not marry Charles if he were the dustman or the King of England."
No doubt, that must have stung the prince's ego.
Sarah did admit that Charles made her laugh and that she enjoyed spending time with him.
However, she also reportedly admitted,
"There is no chance of my marrying him.
I'm not in love with him.
And I wouldn't marry anyone I didn't love."
In 1981, Sarah introduced Diana to her ex, and the rest is history.
"At the age of 19, you always think you're prepared for everything."
There is a recording of Diana talking about a confrontation with Camilla Parker Bowles,
who was Prince Charles' mistress.
Diana realized that Charles and Camilla were not upstairs at a home they were visiting,
which she reportedly found disturbing, so she went downstairs and found the pair chatting
with another friend.
Diana joined the conversation and told Camilla she'd like to have a word with her in private,
which made Camilla visibly uncomfortable.
Diana admitted that she was "terrified" of Camilla, but she had the courage to say,
"I'd just like you to know that I know exactly what is going on."
Camilla denied knowing what Diana was talking about, and Diana reportedly responded that
she knew what was going on between her and Charles.
Camilla apparently responded by saying,
"You've got everything you've ever wanted.
All the men in the world fall in love with you."
Camilla pointed out that Diana had beautiful children, so what more could she want?
Diana replied,
"I want my husband."
Diana then sarcastically apologized for being in the way of their relationship.
On their way home, Diana recalled crying uncontrollably in front of Charles and later reflected on
how much anger and jealousy she felt about the situation.
"Well there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
In 1985, Scotland Yard officer Barry Mannakee was assigned to be one of Diana's bodyguards.
He was formerly a Metropolitan police officer who made his way up to the Royalty and Diplomatic
Protection Group.
It's unclear whether Prince Charles was in a physical relationship with Camilla Parker
Bowles at the time, but at the very least they were involved in an emotional affair.
Diana's marriage was over in all but name, and the princess was in desperate need of
love and affection.
As a result, she and Mannakee reportedly started bonding during a trip to Scotland.
Biographer Sally Bedell Smith said of their relationship, via News,
"When she was in floods of tears, he hugged and reassured her.
She flirted with him, and he, perhaps unwisely, boosted her self-esteem with compliments."
Even though they were each married, they were said to have great affection for one another,
and he accompanied her on several trips around the world.
In 1992, Diana spoke to her voice coach about Mannakee, saying,
"I was always wandering around trying to see him.
I was only happy when he was around."
There is a debate about whether they had a physical relationship, but there is no clear
answer.
Either way, their relationship was intense.
Mannakee was transferred from bodyguard duty in 1986, and sadly died the following year
in a motorcycle crash.
Diana later recalled,
"That was the biggest blow of my life."
Conspiracy theorists, and Diana herself, suggested that he was killed intentionally.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles separated in 1992 and officially divorced in 1996.
"I've come to the conclusion that really it would've been far easier to have had two wives."
When she was married to the Prince of Wales, Diana had two sons and lived a life of luxury.
But neither one of them was happy in their relationship, which led to extramarital affairs.
Diana lived a life in the spotlight, and her private life was scrutinized.
She coped with the stress by seeking affection from others and struggling with bulimia.
When she and Charles divorced, Diana was reportedly given an annual stipend of $625,000 and a
lump sum of $26 million.
But this financial compensation came with a lot of loss.
One of the first things she lost was her royal title, purportedly because Charles insisted
on it.
She was no longer "Her Royal Highness," which meant she had to curtsey to other members
of the royal family with the title, including Charles and her two sons.
Diana also lost most of her staff, as well as her office at St. James's Palace.
Her police protection was drastically reduced, and she was unable to support the more than
100 charities she had committed to while married to Charles.
In addition, just months before her death, Diana felt like she was under surveillance
and even worried that someone was out to get her, to the point where she reportedly feared
for her life.
Even though Diana's relationship with Prince Charles ended in failure, she did not give
up on love.
She also reportedly sought emotional support from other men over the course of her marriage,
including with one of her childhood friends, James Gilbey.
In 1992, intimate phone conversations between Diana and James that had occurred in 1989
were released to the public.
The tapes, which were considered scandalous, indicated that Diana and James had an intimate
relationship, even though up until that point they claimed they were just friends.
The media called the scandal "Squidgygate" because James affectionately called Diana
"Squidgy" and "darling" during the conversations.
By the time the tapes were released, the pair had allegedly moved on from the relationship,
which took place while Diana and Charles were having problems.
At the time, Charles had a mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles, and Diana felt a lot of pressure
in her role in the royal family.
James never talked publicly about his relationship with Diana, even after her death.
When she was four months pregnant with her son William, Princess Diana allegedly "threw
herself down the stairs," according to tapes recorded by Andrew Morton, author of the book
"Diana: Her True Story - In Her Own Words."
Diana reportedly took this drastic measure because she was trying to get her husband,
Prince Charles, to listen to her.
She was crying uncontrollably at the time and told Charles she was feeling desperate.
His alleged response was that she was "crying wolf" and he refused to listen to her.
He then reportedly said,
"You're always doing this to me.
I'm going riding now."
Diana's response was to throw herself down the stairs.
She later recalled,
"The Queen comes out, absolutely horrified, shaking — she was so frightened."
Fortunately, Diana only had some bruises around her stomach and she was confident that she
wasn't going to lose her child.
Diana made the revealing tapes for Morton under the condition that no one knew she was
complicit.
The transcripts of the tapes were released after she died in 1997, five years after he
published his book.
Morton told The Independent he wouldn't have released them if she hadn't died.
On August 30, 1997, Diana and Dodi Fayed, an Egyptian billionaire, traveled to Paris,
France, together.
The pair were reportedly dating and had dinner at the Ritz Hotel before leaving after midnight
to go to Fayed's private Parisian estate.
Their driver, Henri Paul, reportedly took them through a tunnel at 70 miles per hour,
even though the speed limit was 30 miles per hour.
He lost control of the car and crashed.
Paul and Fayed died immediately, while Diana was transported to a hospital.
Unfortunately, she died from internal bleeding.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Richard Shepherd believes Diana may have survived the crash
had she been wearing a seatbelt.
Her bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was the only one in the vehicle who wore one, and
he survived.
As for what caused the crash, Paul had reportedly been drinking.
In addition, the car was being chased by paparazzi in cars and on motorcycles.
Nine photographers were charged with manslaughter, but they were found not guilty.
Diana was just 36 years old.
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