The Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium was held on 1 July 2007. The event, organised by the Princes William and Harry, celebrated the 46th anniversary of their mother's birth and occurred a few weeks before the 10th anniversary of her death on 31 August. The proceeds from this event were donated to Diana's charities. On 31 August 2007, a memorial service for Diana took place in the Guards Chapel. Guests included members of the royal family and their relatives, members of the Spencer family, members of Diana's wedding party, Diana's close friends and aides, representatives from many of her charities, British politicians Gordon Brown , Tony Blair , and John Major , and friends from the entertainment world such as David Frost , Elton John , and Cliff Richard .
In January 2013, a previously unseen photograph of Diana taken during her engagement to Charles was put up for auction. The picture belonged to the Daily Mirror newspaper and has "Not to be published" written on it. In it, a young Diana lies across the lap of an unidentified man.
On 19 March 2013, ten of Diana's dresses, including a midnight blue velvet gown she wore to a 1985 state dinner at the White House when she danced with John Travolta (which became known as the Travolta dress), raised over £800,000 at auction in London.
In January 2017, a series of letters that Diana and other members of the royal family had written to a Buckingham Palace steward were sold as a part of a collection titled "the private letters between a trusted butler and the royal family". The six letters that were written by Diana included information about her young sons' daily life and raised £15,100.
"Diana: Her Fashion Story", an exhibition of gowns and suits worn by the Princess, was announced to be opened at Kensington Palace in February 2017 as a tribute to mark her 20th death anniversary, with her favorite dresses created by numerous fashion designers, including Catherine Walker and Victor Edelstein , being displayed. The exhibition opened on 24 February displaying a collection of 25 dresses, and was set to remain open until 2018.
Other tributes planned for the anniversary included exhibitions at Althorp hosted by the Princess's brother, Earl Spencer , a series of commemorating events organised by the Diana Memorial Award, as well as restyling Kensington Gardens and creating a new section called "The White Garden" in order to symbolise Diana's life and style.
On 31 August 2019, the Princess Diana 3D Virtual Museum was launched to mark the 22nd anniversary of Diana's death. Operated by the Princess & the Platypus Foundation, the online museum consists of over 1,000 of Diana's items which were photographed using the techniques of virtual reality.
Public image Wax statue of Diana at Madame Tussauds in London Diana remains one of the most popular members of the royal family throughout history, and she continues to influence the principles of the royal family and its younger generations. She was a major presence on the world stage from her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in 1997, and was often described as the "world's most photographed woman". She was noted for her compassion, style, charisma, and high-profile charity work, as well as her ill-fated marriage to the Prince of Wales. Her former private secretary described her as an organised and hardworking person, and pointed out that the Princess's husband was not able to "reconcile with his wife's extraordinary popularity", a viewpoint supported by biographer Tina Brown . He also said she was a tough boss who was "equally quick to appreciate hard work", but could also be defiant "if she felt she had been the victim of injustice". Paul Burrell , who worked as a butler for the Princess, remembered her as a "deep thinker" capable of "introspective analysis". She was often described as a devoted mother to her children, who are influenced by her personality and way of life. In the early years, Diana was often noted for her shy nature, as well as her shrewdness, funny character, and smartness. Those who communicated with her closely describe her as a person who was led by her heart. The Princess was also said to have a strong character, because she entered the royal family as an inexperienced girl with little education, but could handle their expectations, and overcome the difficulties and sufferings of her marital life.
Diana was widely known for her encounters with sick and dying patients, and the poor and unwanted whom she used to comfort, an action that earned her more popularity. She was mindful of people's thoughts and feelings, and later revealed her wish to become a beloved figure among the people, saying in her 1995 interview, that "[She would] like to be a queen of people's hearts, in people's hearts." According to Tina Brown, she could charm people with a single glance. Brown also points out that Diana's fame had spread around the world, even affecting Tony Blair who reportedly said Diana had shown the nation "a new way to be British". Diana is often credited with widening the range of charity works carried out by the royal family in a more modern style, as well as affecting some of the household's traditional manners. Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post wrote in an article that "Diana imbued her role as royal princess with vitality, activism and, above all, glamour." Alicia Carroll of The New York Times described Diana as "a breath of fresh air" who was the main reason the royal family was known in the United States. Despite all the marital issues and scandals, Diana continued to enjoy a high level of popularity in the polls while her husband was suffering from low levels of public approval. Her peak popularity rate in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 2012 was 47%.
Diana had become what Prime Minister Tony Blair called the "People's Princess", an iconic national figure. Her accidental death brought an unprecedented spasm of grief and mourning, and subsequently a crisis arose in the Royal Household. Andrew Marr said that by her death she "revived the culture of public sentiment". Her brother, the Earl Spencer, captured her role:
Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity. All over the world, a standard bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a very British girl who transcended nationality. Someone with a natural nobility who was classless and who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.
In 1997, the Princess was one of the runners-up for Time magazine's person of the Year. In 1999, Time magazine named Diana one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. In 2002, Diana ranked third on the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, above the Queen and other British monarchs. In 2006, the Japanese public ranked Diana twelfth in The Top 100 Historical Persons in Japan. In 2018, Diana ranked fifteenth on the BBC History' s poll of 100 Women Who Changed the World.
Despite being regarded as an iconic figure and a popular member of the royal family, Diana was subject to criticism during her life. Patrick Jephson, her private secretary of eight years, wrote in an article in The Daily Telegraph that "[Diana] had an extra quality that frustrated her critics during her lifetime and has done little to soften their disdain since her death ... the human face of a remote institution". Some have said it was Diana who let the journalists and paparazzi into her life as she knew that they were the source of her power, thus she had "overburdened herself with public duties" and destroyed the border between private and public life. Diana was criticised by philosophy professor Anthony O'Hear who in his notes argued that she was unable to fulfill her duties, her reckless behaviour was damaging the monarchy, and she was "self-indulgent" in her philanthropic efforts. Following his remarks, charity organisations that were supported by her defended the Princess, and Peter Luff called O'Hear's comments "distasteful and inappropriate". Further criticism surfaced as she was accused of using her public profile to benefit herself, which in turn "demeaned her royal office". Diana's unique type of charity work, which sometimes included physical contact with people affected by serious diseases sometimes had a negative reaction in the media.
Sally Bedell Smith characterised Diana as unpredictable, egocentric, and possessive. Smith also argued that in her desire to do charity works she was "motivated by personal considerations, rather than by an ambitious urge to take on a societal problem". Eugene Robinson, however, said that "[Diana] was serious about the causes she espoused". According to Sarah Bradford , Diana looked down on the House of Windsor whom she reportedly viewed "as jumped-up foreign princelings" and called them "the Germans". She believed Diana was a "victim of her own poor judgment" as she lost social privilege by doing the Panorama interview. Some observers characterised her as a manipulative person. It was also alleged by some people that the Princess and her former father-in-law, Prince Philip, had a relationship filled with tension; however, other observers said their letters provided no sign of friction between them. Author Anne Applebaum believed that Diana has not had any impact on public opinions posthumously; an idea supported by Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian who also noted in his article that Diana's memory and influence started to fade away in the years after her death, while Peter Conrad, another Guardian contributor, argued that even in "a decade after her death, she is still not silent," and Allan Massie of The Telegraph described the Princess as "the celebrity of celebrities" whose sentiments "continue to shape our society". Writing for The Guardian , Monica Ali described Diana as "a one-off, fascinating and flawed. Her legacy might be mixed, but it's not insubstantial. Her life was brief, but she left her mark".
Style icon The Princess of Wales at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. The strapless Catherine Walker dress, which was inspired by a dress worn by Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief, is considered to be among the most iconic dresses worn at the festival throughout its history. It was later sold to Julien's Auctions for over £80,000. Diana was a fashion icon whose style was emulated by women around the world. Iain Hollingshead of The Telegraph wrote: "[Diana] had an ability to sell clothes just by looking at them." An early example of the effect occurred during her courtship with Charles in 1980 when sales of Hunter Wellington boots skyrocketed after she was pictured wearing a pair on the Balmoral estate. According to designers and people who worked with Diana, she used fashion and style to endorse her charitable causes, express herself and communicate. The Princess continued to remain a prominent figure for her fashion style, and is still considered an inspiration for stylists, celebrities, and young women, including the singer Rihanna who is influenced by her and during an interview by Glamour in 2013 said: "[Diana] killed it. Every look was right. She was gangsta with her clothes. She had these crazy hats. She got oversize jackets. I loved everything she wore!" One of her favourite milliners, John Boyd , said "Diana was our best ambassador for hats, and the entire millinery industry owes her a debt." Boyd's pink tricorn hat Diana wore for her honeymoon was later copied by milliners across the world and credited with rebooting an industry in decline for decades.
The Princess chose her dressing style based on both the royal family's demands and popular modern styles in Britain, and developed her personal fashion trend. While on diplomatic trips, her clothes and attire were chosen to match the destination countries' costumes, and while off-duty she used to wear loose jackets and jumpers. "She was always very thoughtful about how her clothes would be interpreted, it was something that really mattered to her," according to Anna Harvey , a former Vogue editor and the Princess's fashion mentor. David Sassoon , one of the designers who worked with Diana, believed she had "broken the rules" trying new styles. Diana chose not to practice some of the royal clothing traditions such as putting aside the tradition of wearing gloves as she believed it would prevent a direct connection with the people she met, such as those affected by serious diseases like AIDS patients. She used to wear certain types of clothes at charity events which were appropriate for the people she would meet, such as wearing colourful dresses and "jangling jewels" so she could easily play with children at hospitals. According to Donatella Versace who worked closely with the Princess alongside her brother, Diana's interest and sense of curiosity about fashion grew significantly after her separation from Charles. Versace also points out that "[she doesn't] think that anyone, before or after her, has done for fashion what Diana did".
Catherine Walker was among Diana's favorite designers with whom she worked to create her "royal uniform". For her foreign tours and state visits, Walker and her husband used to do research and were determined to design clothes that would not outshine the Princess, a viewpoint supported by Taki Theodoracopulos , who believes Diana did not want "to let her clothes wear her". Eleri Lynn, curator of the exhibition Diana: Her Fashion Story, also believes that "[Diana] didn't want to be known as a clothes horse," and mentions that "the style [Catherine and Diana] created together was a very slender, fluid silhouette which did away with the frills and ruffles of the early '80s and created a sleek silhouette that really flattered the princess's frame and became a timeless look for her. A royal uniform if you like."
Diana made her debut as a Sloane Ranger in 1979 with a gown by Regamus. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Princess wore outfits and ensembles by numerous notable fashion designers. She also wore ensembles by fashion companies such as Versace, Armani, Chanel, Dior and Clarks. Among her iconic outfits are a décolleté by David and Elizabeth Emanuel worn by a newly engaged Diana at a charity event, a cocktail dress by Christina Stambolian, commonly known as the "Revenge Dress", which she wore after Charles's admission of adultery, an evening gown by Victor Edelstein that she wore to a reception at the White House and later became known as the "Travolta dress", and a Catherine Walker pearl-encrusted gown and jacket dubbed the "Elvis Dress", which she wore for the first time on an official visit to Hong Kong.
In early 1980s, Diana preferred to wear dresses with floral collars, pie-crust blouses, and pearls. These items rapidly became fashion trends. Copies of her Vogue -featured pink chiffon blouse by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, which appeared on the magazine's cover on her engagement announcement day, sold in the millions. Her habit of wearing wide-shouldered gowns and lavish fabrics earned her the nickname "Dynasty Di". In the years after her marriage and then her divorce, Diana grew more confident in her choices, and her style underwent a change, with her new choices consisting of blazers, one-shoulder and off-shoulder dresses, two-tone themed suits, military-styled suits, and nude-colored outfits. White shirt and jeans, plaid dresses, jumpsuits and sheath dresses were among the other fashion trends she tried. Her way of dressing began to be influenced by other celebrities including Cindy Crawford , Madonna , Elizabeth Taylor , as well as many others.
The Princess's influential short hairstyle was created by Sam McKnight after a Vogue shoot in 1990, which, in McKnight and Donatella Versace's opinion, brought her more liberty as "it always looked great". The Princess reportedly did her own make up and would always have a hairstylist by her side before an event. She told McKnight: "It's not for me, Sam. It is for the people I visit or who come to see me. They don't want me in off-duty mode, they want a princess. Let's give them what they want."
The Princess was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2003, VH1 ranked her at number nine on its 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons list, which recognizes "the folks that have significantly inspired and impacted American society". In 2004, People cited her as one of the all-time most beautiful women. In 2012, Time included Diana on its All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons list.
In 2016, fashion designer Sharmadean Reid designed a collection of clothes for ASOS.com inspired by Diana's style. "Di's incredible relationship with accessible sportswear through to luxury fashion forms the cornerstone of the collection and feels more modern than ever," Reid said about the Princess in a press release.
Following the opening of an exhibition of Diana's clothes and dresses at Kensington Palace in 2017, Catherine Bennett of The Guardian said such exhibitions are among the suitable ways to commemorate public figures whose fashion styles were noted due to their achievements. The exhibition suggests to detractors who, like many other princesses, "looking lovely in different clothes was pretty much her life's work" which also brings interest in her clothing.
Diana was an inspiration for Off-White's Spring 2018 show at Paris Fashion Week in 2017. The designer Virgil Abloh used the Princess' signature looks as fragments to design new suits and attire. Supermodel Naomi Campbell , dressed in a combination of white blazer and cropped spandex leggings in reference to Diana's formal and off-duty styles, closed off the show. In 2019, Tory Burch used Diana's early '80s style as an inspiration for her Spring 2020 show at New York Fashion Week.
Memorials Immediately after her death, many sites around the world became briefly ad hoc memorials to Diana where the public left flowers and other tributes. The largest was outside the gates of Kensington Palace, where people continue to leave flowers and tributes. Permanent memorials include:
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Gardens in Regent Centre Gardens Kirkintilloch The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park, London, opened by Queen Elizabeth II The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens, London The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, a circular path between Kensington Gardens, Green Park, Hyde Park, and St. James's Park, London The Diana Memorial Award, established in 1999 and later relaunched in 2007 by Gordon Brown The Princess Diana Memorial Austria is the first memorial dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales, in a German-speaking country. It is placed in the garden of Schloss Cobenzl in Vienna. It was raised by reporter Ewald Wurzinger . The Flame of Liberty was erected in 1989 on the Place de l'Alma in Paris above the entrance to the tunnel in which the fatal crash later occurred. It has become an unofficial memorial to Diana. In addition, there are two memorials inside Harrods department store, commissioned by Dodi Fayed's father, who owned the store from 1985 to 2010. The first memorial is a pyramid-shaped display containing photos of the princess and al-Fayed's son, a wine glass said to be from their last dinner, and a ring purchased by Dodi the day prior to the crash. The second, Innocent Victims , unveiled in 2005, is a bronze statue of Fayed dancing with Diana on a beach beneath the wings of an albatross. In January 2018, it was announced that the statue would be returned to the Al-Fayed family.
Rosa 'Princess of Wales', a white blend rose cultivar, is named in honour of Diana. She received it as a tribute for her 10-year cooperation with the British Lung Foundation. It was bred by Harkness in the United Kingdom and introduced in 1997. The nostalgic floribunda is also known as 'Hardinkum'. It has a double bloom form, and a mild to strong fragrance. The rose is said to be one of Diana's favourites. After her death, the proceeds from selling the roses in 1998–99 were donated to the British Lung Foundation. In 2002, it was granted the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society. Rosa 'Diana, Princess of Wales', a pink blend garden rose, was first introduced in 1998 at the British Embassy in the United States. The classical hybrid tea rose was
Gemini