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Princess Diana’s most unsettling moments caught on camera — and the story behind them
The dark side of Princess Diana’s life as narrated through camera lenses
When Princess Diana passed away, one of the most memorable notes from her brother, Earl Spencer’s eulogy for his late elder sister stated, “It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this — a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age.”
Charles Spencer was in fact referring to his sister’s treatment at the hands of the press — journalists, paparazzi, and the likes — who so feverishly “hunted” the Princess to the point that the cause of her tragic death eventually came to be defined, in part, by the photographers’ vehicle who chased the one carrying Diana into the literal and figurative tunnel of her death.
While the overwhelming reception to her personage in the public sphere began almost as soon as she was linked to the royal family, through King Charles (then a prince), what started as a curiosity eventually mutated into a demented monstrosity which Diana spent the better part of her life attempting to outrun.
From the early run-ins to head on skirmishes, iconic moments and those captured without her knowledge, take a look at this brief count of the unnerving side of Princess Diana’s relationship with the press:
‘The girlfriend who had no petticoat’
The infamous back lit shots of Princess Diana were captured by the then newly appointed royal photographer for The Sun, Arthur Edwards.
Edwards would later reveal that after taking charge of his new job, he went looking for Prince Charles’ girlfriend, with the only knowledge he had about her at the time being that she worked at a preschool in London’s West End area.
Tracking her down, the photographer took the former Princess of Wales out to a nearby park as he prepared to capture a few shots of the young woman, who was also accompanied by two of her young students at the time.
“Everybody doesn’t believe this, but it is the gospel truth — halfway through, the sun came out and revealed those beautiful legs,” said Edwards of the moment he had the Princess unknowingly pose for the provocative snaps.
Following the publication of the photographs across front pages, the 19-year-old Diana Spencer was mortified at the early image of her in papers, reportedly telling her royal beau, “I don’t want to be known as the girlfriend who had no petticoat.”
For what it’s worth, Diana would go on to collaborate with Arthur Edwards numerous times thereafter, while he once told TODAY, “I think she knew that running the gauntlet every day of the media was part of the test, part of getting ready for the job.”
‘A great challenge’
If Diana’s first “test” with the press was to deal with the cunning methods of one photographer while she was still known as Charles’ girlfriend, things really went into overdrive once the question of engagement came along.
The Princess of Wales was hounded by the press and photographers on the streets, as she made her way to work or anywhere else, when rumours of her engagement with Prince Charles started floating.
As she was continuously asked about “any possibility” and “any announcement” about her marriage to the future king, Diana found herself thrown into the deep end and had to learn how to swim quickly lest she sank.
The royal known as “the people’s princess” addressed the situation in an interview she sat down for with Charles, just days before their wedding.
As she was to be inducted as the Princess of Wales following her marriage to the then Prince of Wales, she said, “I very much look forward to going to Wales to meet everybody. But my life will be a great challenge.”
‘The most awful thing’
Caught discreetly once again, the crying footage and subsequent shots of a young Diana as she saw her fiance, Prince Charles, off at the airport, conveyed a heartfelt story at first glance.
Most assumed, as was understandable, that the future wife of Britain’s future king was clearly sorrowful at the idea of being separated from the man she loved.
The reality, however, was far less romantic.
By 1991, when Diana began recording tapes for what would become her official biography by Andrew Morton, she revealed, “You may recall seeing a picture of me sobbing in a red coat when he went off on his aeroplane. That had nothing to do with him going. The most awful thing had happened before he went.”
According to Diana, soon before Charles left, she had been “talking to him” about the upcoming trip in his study when Camilla, now Queen Consort, called him, and thinking she’d “be nice”, the Princess left her betrothed alone to speak with the woman she suspected to be his mistress at the time, and “it just broke my heart, that”, as she would later recall.
Presumably, it was as the former Prince of Wales went away on a five day trip, that seeing him veer farther away from herself made the late royal break down into tears and the unfortunate moment, yet again, non-consensually became headline fodder for all the wrong reasons.
‘I want to protect my children’
In Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2022 docuseries for Netflix, Harry & Meghan, archival footage of Princess Diana confronting the paparazzi during one of her family holiday trips featured in the first episode.
As her youngest son, Harry, understands the situation better now, he went on to reveal in his documentary, “My mum did such a good job in trying to protect us. She took it upon herself to confront these people.”
Indeed, a moment from the past showed Diana confronting the photographers who had been gathered to capture glimpses of the mother and the kids, Harry and his elder brother, Prince William, while they were on a ski trip.
“Excuse me, please stop,” Diana can be heard approaching the paparazzi.
She further pleaded, “As a parent, could I ask you to respect my children’s space? Because I brought the children out here for a holiday. And we would really appreciate the space.”
While the photographer initially agreed, he quickly backtracked and asked to “just get a picture” in return for “totally” leaving the family alone.
“If you move over there, you are skiing and I’ll leave you alone,” he said.
After sternly denying his request, the Princess added, “We have had 15 cameras following us today. As a parent I want to protect my children.”
Speaking on making such a “deal” with the press, Prince Harry would later state, “It was never fair and it never worked.”
‘Harrowing symbolism’
One of Princess Diana’s most memorable and iconic shots, captured atop a luxury yacht’s diving board, would come to unintentionally outline the solitude which she felt even as she was surrounded by many, just a week before her untimely death.
Described by British Vogue as “The Harrowing Symbolism” in the title of an article about the shot, the haunting feeling one feels when viewing it is unmistakable, as even mere days before her death and long after her exit from the royal family, Diana’s likeness was being captured and sold, while not even a moment she took for herself was allowed to remain sacred.
The solo shots of Diana as well as the ones which captured her and her new flame at the time, Dodi Fayed, lounging together and kissing each other while on his family yacht, Jonikal, would not only go on to be sold at staggering rates but also alert other news agencies and photographers to descend upon the Mediterranean to try their luck and click more photographs.
