- She's aware that she hadn't seen it--

- [Narrator] The fourth season of Netflix's The Crown

introduces a myriad of new characters.

But perhaps one of the most culturally

notable figures of the 1980s also makes her entrance

into Buckingham palace this season,

Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales.

The season follows Diana's courtship, marriage

and relationship breakdown with Prince Charles

ending on an ominous note before any

formal separation between the pair.

What followed in real life was the devastating end

to Diana's life in 1997.

The tragedy that shocked Britain and the rest of the world.

(news reporters in the background)

(melancholy music)

Diana was born the honorable Diana Francis Spencer

on July 1st, 1961 at Parkhouse near Sandringham, Norfolk.

When her father, then Viscount Althorp,

inherited the heirdom, she became

Lady Diana Francis Spencer.

Her family was acquainted with

The Royal Family for many years.

Her father working for both King George VI

and then Queen Elizabeth.

And the two families neighbored one another

at Sandringham until 1978.

Growing up, Diana attended boarding school in Switzerland,

showing a particular talent and interest

in music, piano, dancing, and home economics.

She was just 16 years old when she first

met Prince Charles, the heir to the Royal throne,

on a weekend in Althorp.

Charles had come as a guest of one of Diana's sisters,

whom he dated on and off.

Two years later, Diana was living in a flat in London

where she worked as a nanny and kindergarten teacher.

Her friendship and eventual relationship

with the Prince began after being invited

to Charles' 30th birthday celebration.

It wasn't long before cracks

in the relationship started to form.

In an interview held after their engagement was announced

in February 1981, a reporter asked the couple

if they were in love.

Charles gave a baffling response, "whatever love means."

- [Reporter] And I suppose in love?

- Of course. - Whatever in love means.

- Diana revealed later that she had been

traumatized by this moment.

The young woman was quickly thrust

into the limelight and fame of The Royal Family.

Moved out of her flat and moved into Buckingham Palace

shortly after her engagement.

Here, she became incredibly lonely

according to a Royal biographer, Ingrid Seward.

Most days she swam, worked on plans for the wedding

and took dance and exercise classes.

Aside from this, she reportedly sat around bored and alone.

Regardless, the wedding took place

at St. Paul's Cathedral on July 29th, 1981,

just three weeks after Diana's 20th birthday.

The ceremony drew an estimated global television

and radio audience of around 1 billion.

While hundreds of thousands of others lined the streets

from Buckingham Palace to the Cathedral that day.

The Archbishop, who presided over the ceremony,

dubbed the wedding, the stuff of which fairytales are made.

What awaited Diana however,

was regrettably nowhere near fairytale fodder.

Later, Diana would recall that she and the Prince

had met all of 13 times before getting married.

It was shortly after moving into the palace

that Diana began struggling with an eating disorder.

In a 1995 interview with the BBC,

Diana disclosed that her bulimia

stemmed from a period of exceedingly low self-esteem

and finding herself with little value or worth.

She also pointed to an instance wherein

Prince Charles placed his hand around her waist

and commented "a bit chubby here, aren't we?"

The Royal Family was generally unsupportive

of the princess's struggle.

In one of Diana's conversations with the queen.

She implied that Charles and Diana's

relationship was struggling because of Charles

being unable to cope with her eating disorder.

Diana also became severely depressed

and later revealed that she attempted to kill herself.

On top of everything, Diana was coping with

the additional emotional turmoil

of Charles his longstanding affair

with Camilla Parker Bowles.

Charles and Camilla had dated for six months

after meeting in 1971.

But Charles was discouraged from marrying her by his family.

Their affair, however, resumed sometime around 1989.

At this point, Diana had given birth

to both her children, Prince William and Prince Harry,

and was well aware of the relationship

between her husband and Camilla.

In her BBC interview, Diana famously

acknowledged the affair by saying,

"well, there were three of us in this marriage

so it was a bit crowded."

Diana and Charles would separate in 1992,

their divorce following in August 1996.

Despite facing enormous challenges in her life

as a royal, Diana flourished in the public eye,

becoming an undeniable star of The Royal Family

and winning over the hearts of millions.

The Princess used her popularity to raise awareness

for many causes, such as leprosy, domestic violence

landmines in Angola and mental health.

She made headlines in 1987 for shaking hands

with a patient undergoing treatment for AIDS

with the desire to help dispel the myth

that HIV AIDS could be spread through touch.

Her popularity was not without it's challenges,

however, and Diana was severely harassed

by the invasive paparazzi, becoming at one point

the most photographed woman in the world.

According to Prime Minister Tony Blair's former adviser

people felt a kinship to The Princess,

which led to a deeply emotional reaction

from the whole country following her unexpected death.

In August 1997, a year after her divorce from Charles,

Diana went on holiday with her partner, Emad Dodi Fayed.

The two vacationed on the French Riviera

for 10 days, then traveled to Paris

where they would meet their disastrous fate.

On Saturday, August 30th, Diana and Dodi dined

at the private salon in the Ritz Hotel

leaving a few minutes after midnight, presumably

to travel to a private estate owned by the Fayed's.

A Mercedes-Benz awaited the pair

and they were accompanied by Diana's bodyguard.

Accounts of that night state the car reached

around 70 miles per hour before approaching

the entrance of the Pont de l'Alma tunnel

where the posted speed limit was only 30 miles per hour.

The driver, Henry Paul, lost control of the vehicle

colliding with a pillar in the center of the highway.

Dodi and Paul were pronounced dead at the scene

while Diana was rushed to the

Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, still alive.

She had suffered a concussion, a broken arm

and cut thigh as well as massive chest injuries.

Doctors operated for two hours,

but failed to get The Princess's heart

to beat properly again.

Diana never regained consciousness

and passed away from internal bleeding

in the early hours of August 31st, 1997.

In 2019 Britain's top forensic pathologist,

Dr. Richard Shepherd revealed that the death was caused

by an extremely small and badly placed tear

in a vein of Diana's lung, an injury so rare

that Dr. Shepherd claimed to never have seen

another case of this throughout his career.

It was also revealed that should she and Dodi

had been wearing seat belts,

The possibility of them surviving the crash

could have been much more likely.

Diana's bodyguard, the only passenger in the car

who was restrained by a seatbelt

was also the only one to survive the crash.

On the Monday following the crash,

French authorities revealed that driver Henry Paul,

who had also been acting head of security at the Ritz Hotel

had a blood alcohol content three times higher

than the legal limit.

Additionally, many eye witnesses

stated that the Mercedes had been followed closely

by paparazzi on motorcycles and in another cars,

pursuing the possibility of photographing

Diana and Dodi together.

According to one motorcycle driver

following Diana that night, many paparazzi at the scene

did not help the victims after the accident.

Instead taking photographs of the crash.

According to the New York Times,

nine of the photographers present at the scene

were charged with manslaughter

but were not found guilty.

It took Queen Elizabeth five days

before publicly acknowledging Diana's death.

Diana's funeral took place on September 2nd, 1997.

2.5 billion viewers tuned in to watch the procession,

greatly exceeding the number of those who watched

her Royal wedding 16 years earlier.

(news reporter speaking in background)

There are numerous conspiracy theories

surrounding the accident.

Most sharing the fundamental belief

that someone wanted to kill Diana intentionally.

Some conspiracy theorists believed that Diana

had been pregnant at the time of her death

and that the British monarchy

deemed the possible pregnancy unsavory.

Other conspiracies include theories

that the paparazzi killed Diana purposefully,

that her medical care was sabotaged intentionally,

or that Henry Paul, Diana's driver, was paid off

to crash the Mercedes deliberately.

But why do some people believe Diana

was killed intentionally?

Many point to the fact that in a note,

written by Diana sometime before the accident

she stated "I'm sitting here at my desk today in October

longing for someone to hug me and encourage me

to keep strong and hold my head high.

This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous.

My husband is planning an accident in my car,

brake failure and serious head injury

in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry."

Many of the conspiracies were so convincing and widespread

that the British metropolitan police

were forced to launch Operation Pageant,

an inquiry to determine whether any theories

could have been true.

The operation lasted years and costed millions of pounds

examining 175 theories in total.

Ultimately finding that each was

without any foundation or basis in reality

and concluding the death was,

after all, merely a tragic accident.

(news reporter talking in background)

Regardless of whether Diana's death was indeed accidental

or something more sinister, it is indisputable

that hers was a loss so unexpected

and heartbreaking that it remains one

of the most infamous events of the 20th century.

Diana Spencer was truly The People's Princess

as she would come to be known

in the years following her death.

She was a humanitarian and activists

striving to live in alignment with the truth.

Diana once famously stated that she wished to be

a queen of people's hearts,

leading from the heart and not the head.

By playing by her own rules

and going against the flow of Royal tradition,

It is undeniable that Princess Diana left an unparalleled

legacy and remains a queen of many hearts across the globe.

(melancholy music)