Story behind why Princess Diana always kept her head down in public
It has nearly been three decades since the UK lost Princess Diana, but her lasting impact on the world lives on.
Known as the ‘People’s Princess’, Diana was just 36 at the time of her death. She died from injuries sustained in the early hours on 31 August, 1997.
The Princess of Wales was travelling through Paris in a car with boyfriend, filmmaker Dodi Fayed, along with her driver, Henri Paul, and Fayed's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, when they were chased by nine journalists through the Pont de l'Alma underpass, and something went wrong.
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It was reported at the time that Paul lost control of the car, and crashed into a column in the underpass, killing himself and Fayed instantly, while Diana and Rees-Jones were critically injured.
Firefighters arrived at the scene, where Diana's last words, 'Oh my God, what’s happened?' were heard.
Sadly, there was nothing that could be done, and she died at 4am in hospital.
Because of her untimely death, there is a whole generation of people who have no idea who she was and why she was so loved.
For instance, she publicly shook the hand of an AIDS patient, which de-stigmatised the illness.
She was also incredibly into her charitable works, particularly when it came to children.
As the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, you can often see where her boys get their streak of charity work.
When she was alive, the Princess was so adored by the public and press that when she walked into a room, she tended to tilt her head downwards.
This was because as soon as she lifted her head and revealed her face from under her hat, there would be a barrage of photographers with blinding lights.
So, to keep the frenzy away, she’d make sure that she didn’t outshine events by wearing massive hats that obscured her face, and kept her chin tucked for good measure.
Her death rocked the nation, and Brits saw a young Harry and William grieving too.
During an interview with ITV in January 2023, Harry opened up about the grieving process and the crowds that gathered outside of Kensington Palace.
"Everyone knows where they were and what they were doing the night my mother died," he said.
"I cried once, at the burial, and you know I go into detail about how strange it was and how actually there was some guilt that I felt and I think William felt as well, by walking around the outside of Kensington Palace.
"There were 50,000 bouquets of flowers to our mother, and there we were shaking people's hands, smiling. I've seen the videos, right, I looked back over it all.
"And the wet hands that we were shaking, we couldn't understand why their hands were wet, but it was all the tears that they were wiping away.
"Everyone thought and felt like they knew our mum, and the two closest people to her, the two most loved people by her, were unable to show any emotion in that moment."
Topics: Royal Family, Prince Harry, Prince William, UK News
Britt Jones