Diana, Princess of Wales died on 31 August 1997 at the age of 36. As the wife of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, she was the most photographed woman in the world. To celebrate her many contributions to society, IBTimes UK looks back at her life through 100 photos.

Diana Frances Spencer, born on 1 July 1961, became known as Lady Diana Spencer after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975. When she first met Prince Charles in 1977, he was dating her older sister Lady Sarah, but Diana and Charles struck up a relationship in 1980. As their relationship developed, press speculation about a potential marriage grew, and photographers hounded Lady Di, following her from her Earl's Court flat to the Pimlico nursery school where she worked as a teacher's assistant.

100.

Princess Diana
Hulton Archive/Getty Images

12 November 1980: Nineteen year-old Lady Diana Spencer, Prince Charles' girlfriend, leaves her flat at Coleherne Court in Earl's Court, London.

99.

Princess Diana
PA/Getty Images

17 November 1980: Lady Diana Spencer is surrounded by photographers and journalists as she leaves her Earl's Court flat en route to her job as a teacher at a kindergarten in Pimlico.

Charles proposed on 6 February 1981, but their engagement was kept secret until 24 February. Their wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral on 29 July 1981 was watched by a global television audience of over 750 million people.

98.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

24 February 1981: Lady Diana Spencer reveals her sapphire and diamond engagement ring as she and Prince Charles pose for photos in the grounds of Buckingham Palace following the announcement of their engagement

97.

Princess Diana
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

11 June 1981: Lady Diana Spencer wears a ruffled Emanuel gown at a banquet for King Khalid of Saudi Arabia at Claridge's hotel in London.

96.

Princess Diana
AFP

29 July 1981: Lady Diana wears a taffeta and lace wedding gown by David and Elizabeth Emanuel with a 25-foot-long train for her wedding to Prince Charles.

95.

Princess Diana
Getty Images

29 July 1981: Lady Diana stands with Prince Charles during their wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

94.

Princess Diana
Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images

29 July 1981: The new Princess of Wales and her husband travel back to Buckingham Palace in an open carriage. She wears a wedding dress by David and Elizabeth Emmanuel and the Spencer family tiara.

93.

Princess Diana
Reuters

29 July 1981: Prince Charles kisses his new bride Diana on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

For the next 16 years, Diana lived every moment in the spotlight, soundtracked by the click and whirr of a million cameras. She was the glittering princess at the centre of a royal soap opera played out in the glare of the media, making her the most recognised woman around the world.

On 21 June 1982, Diana gave Charles an heir, William Arthur Philip Louis. A second son, Henry Charles Albert David, was born on 15 September 1984.

Diana travelled the world with her husband, the glamorous couple representing both a fairytale romance and the face of modern Britain. Diana hobnobbed with actors and New Romantic pop stars, blurring the line between celebrity and royalty.

92.

Princess Diana
Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

2 February 1982: Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrive for a British Film Institute dinner at 11 Downing Street, the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. She wears a lace and velvet maternity gown by Bellville Sassoon.

91.

Princess Diana
Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

28 February 1982: The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive at Westminster Abbey for a centenary service for the Royal College Of Music.

90.

Princess Diana
Hulton Archive/Getty Images

4 March 1982: Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing a red Bellville Sassoon maternity dress, attends the royal gala performance that opened the Barbican Arts Centre in London.

89.

Princess Diana
Hulton Archive/Getty Images

3 April 1982: A pregnant Diana, Princess of Wales attends Aintree Racecourse for the Grand National.

88.

Princess Diana
Reuters

4 August 1982: Princess Diana holds her baby son Prince William, while Prince Charles, Prince Philip, the Queen and the Queen Mother look on at Buckingham Palace after William's christening ceremony.

87.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

1 February 1983: A portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales at her home in Kensington Palace, London.

86.

Princess Diana
Reuters

20 March 1983: Prince Charles, Princess Diana and baby William arrive in Alice Springs, Australia.

85.

Princess Diana
Reuters

21 March 1983: Prince Charles and Princess Diana pose at Uluru in Australia at sunset.

84.

Princess Diana
Kensington Palace/Reuters

Circa June 1984: Princess Diana holds Prince William while pregnant with Prince Harry.

83.

queen 90th birthday
Anwar Hussein/Getty Image

21 December 1984: The Queen, Princess Diana and other members of the royal family laugh at the antics of young Prince William as his brother Harry is christened at Windsor Castle.

82.

Princess Diana
Roy Letkey/Reuters

15 June 1985: Prince William salutes as he watches the Trooping the Colour ceremony from the balcony of Buckingham Palace with his baby brother Harry and mother Princess Diana.

81.

Princess Diana
Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

13 July 1985: Princess Diana watches the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium, while Bob Geldof has a word with Prince Charles, and David Bowie chats with Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen.

80.

Princess Diana
Reuters

8 September 1985: Prince Charles and Princess Diana attend the annual Braemar Highland Games in Ballater, Scotland.

79.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

4 October 1985: Diana, Princess of Wales with her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, at the piano in Kensington Palace.

78.

Princess Diana
Ulli Michel/Reuters

19 October 1985: Colour Sergeant Jones explains to Princess Diana the controls of an armoured vehicle on her visit to Wavell Barracks, the base of the Royal Hampshire Regiment in Berlin.

77.

Princess Diana
Don Rypka/AFP

9 November 1985: U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy welcome Princess Diana and her husband Prince Charles to the White House in Washington, DC.

76.

Princess Diana
Reuters

9 November 1985: Princess Diana, wearing a Victor Edelstein gown, dances with John Travolta at a White House dinner.

75.

Princess Diana
Chas Cancellare/Reuters

10 November 1985: Princess Diana tours Washington, DC's National Gallery.

74.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

14 April 1986: Princess Diana wears a sequin blue Catherine Walker gown for a gala at the Vienna Burgh Theatre during a visit to Austria.

73.

Princess Diana
Gary Hershorn/Reuters

3 May 1986: Princess Diana accepts a bouquet during a walkabout at a civic centre in Kelowna, Canada.

72.

Princess Diana
Mike Blake/Reuters

6 May 1986: Princess Diana and Prince Charles visit Expo 86 in Vancouver. Shortly after this photo was taken, she fainted inside the California Pavilion, leading to speculation that she was pregnant again.

71.

Princess Diana
Jiji Press/AFP

9 May 1986: Diana, Princess of Wales dons a kimono during her visit to the ancient city of Kyoto in Japan.

70.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

14 July 1986: Prince Charles and Princess Diana hold their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, in the wildflower meadow at Highgrove.

69.

Princess Diana
Uli Michel/Reuters

23 July 1986: Prince Charles and Princess Diana ride in an open carriage from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey for the royal wedding of the Duke of York and Sarah Ferguson.

68.

Princess Diana
Rob Taggart/Reuters

23 July 1986: Princess Diana stands in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace as guests gather to say farewell to the newly-married Duke and Duchess of York in the carriage enclosure behind the window.

67.

Princess Diana
Andre de Wet/Reuters

9 November 1986: Princess Diana, Princess Anne and the Duchess of York attend a Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph.

66.

Princess Diana
Bill Creighton/Reuters

7 November 1987: Princess Diana and German First Lady Marianne von Weizsaecker pose together in the West German capital, Bonn.

65.

Princess Diana
Patrick Riviere/AFP

27 January 1988: Princess Diana visits the Footscray Park suburb of Melbourne during a visit to Australia.

64.

Princess Diana
RR Auctions/Getty Images

31 May 1988: Princess Diana observes a marriage conflict resolution seminar at a counselling centre in Battersea, London.

63.

Princess Diana
Reuters

11 June 1988: Prince Harry sticks his tongue out as he, Princess Diana and Prince William watch the Trooping the Colour ceremony from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

62.

Princess Diana
Hugh Peralta/Reuters

9 August 1988: Young Prince Harry tries to hide behind his mother during a photo session at Marivent Palace in Palma de Mallorca, where the Prince and Princess of Wales were holidaying as guests of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain.

61.

Princess Diana
Reuters

11 November 1988: Princess Diana wears a Viv Knowlands veiled hat at The Armistice Commemoration Day at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.

60.

Princess Diana
Georges De Keerle/Getty Images

17 March 1989: Princess Diana wears a Catherine Walker suit and a Philip Somerville turban hat in Dubai during her official tour of the United Arab Emirates.

59.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

11 September 1989: Princess Diana stands with Prince William and Prince Harry on the steps of Wetherby School on her youngest son's first day.

58.

Princess Diana
Dominic Wong/Reuters

4 November 1989: Princess Diana shakes hands with a child during a visit to Sitanala leprosy hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia.

57.

Princess Diana
Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP

5 November 1989: The Prince and Princess of Wales watch tribal dancers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

56.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

10 November 1989: Diana, Princess Of Wales wears the pearl and diamond Cambridge Lovers' Knot tiara (also called the Queen Mary's Lover's Knot tiara), while at a function in Hong Kong.

55.

Princess Diana
Rob Taggart/Reuters

11 April 1990: Princess Diana is covered in sand by her son Prince William during a private beach holiday on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.

54.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

4 August 1990: The Queen, Princess Diana and Princess Margaret dress in vibrant floral designs for the celebrations of the Queen Mother's 90th birthday.

53.

Princess Diana
AFP

10 April 1991: Princess Diana with sons William and Harry during a pre-Easter skiing break in Lech, Austria.

52.

Princess Diana
Getty Images

23 April 1991: Princess Diana wears a pink sequin ivory crepe Catherine Walker gown to a banquet given by President Collor at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia while on a State visit to Brazil.

51.

Princess Diana
Vanderlei Almeida/Reuters

25 April 1991: Princess Diana shakes hands with an AIDS patient at the hospital of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro during a five-day official visit to Brazil with Prince Charles.

50.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

25 October 1991: Princess Diana and Prince Charles are pictured looking unhappy during a visit to Toronto, Canada.

Rumours of infidelity began swirling in the early '90s as Prince Charles and Diana's marriage began to crack in public. Charles had been having a longstanding extramarital affair with now-wife Camilla Parker-Bowles, and Diana later began a relationship with Major James Hewitt that lasted five years.

By the early '90s, it had become obvious to everybody: the marriage was over. The 1992 photo of the lonely princess at the Taj Mahal – the world's most famous monument of love – became not just the defining image of the royal tour of India, but also of the fairytale's unhappy ending. They separated in December 1992.

49.

Princess Diana
Tim Graham/Getty Images

11 February 1992: Diana, Princess of Wales sits alone in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra, in what became the defining image of the royal tour of India and, indeed, their failing marriage. She and Prince Charles had been expected to visit the monument together.

48.

Princess Diana
Raveendran/AFP

12 February 1992: Princess Diana greets children during her visit to Tamana Arts and Crafts School in New Delhi, India.

47.

Princess Diana
AFP

15 February 1992: Diana, Princess of Wales talks to a patient at Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta during a six-day visit to India.

46.

Princess Diana
Martyn Hayhow/AFP

1 April 1992: The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive at the church of St. Mary the Virgin in Great Brington, Northamptonshire, for the funeral of her father, Earl Spencer.

45.

Princess Diana
AFP

12 May 1992: Princess Diana visits the great pyramid of Giza near Cairo while wearing a safari suit-inspired outfit.

44.

Princess Diana
Manoocher Deghati/AFP

13 May 1992: Princess Diana, walking barefoot and wearing a veil, visits the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo.

43.

Princess Diana
Reuters

3 November 1992: Princess Diana and Prince Charles look in different directions during a Korean War commemorative service in Seoul.

42.

Princess Diana
Thomas Cheng/AFP

5 November 1992: A tearful Princess Diana peers out the window of a plane on the tarmac in Hong Kong upon arrival from South Korea, where the royal couple spent an official four-day visit.

41.

Princess Diana
Pierre Verdy/AFP

15 November 1992: Diana, Princess of Wales poses at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris during a three-day visit in France.

40.

Princess Diana
Thierry Saliou/AFP

9 December 1992: The Princess of Wales returns to Kensington Palace after Prime Minister John Major announced that she and Prince Charles would separate but not seek a divorce.

39.

Princess Diana
Reuters

4 January 1993: Princess Diana frolics in the surf during a holiday on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts.

38.

Princess Diana
AFP

10 March 1993: Princess Diana receives a kiss on the hand from trainee electrician Danny Walters, 29, during a walkabout in Southwark, south London.

37.

Princess Diana
Reuters

30 May 1993: The Princess of Wales almost loses her hat as she and Prince Charles attend a service in Liverpool to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic. This was one of the first times the couple had been seen together in public since their separation.

36.

Princess Diana
Reuters

27 July 1993: The Princess of Wales is grabbed by children reaching through a barrier during a walkabout after she attended a conference on housing shortages in East Anglia.

35.

Princess Diana
Reuters

29 July 1993: Diana, Princess of Wales and her eight-year-old son Prince Harry inspect troops of the Light Regiment at their base of Bergen-Hohne in Germany.

34.

Princess Diana
Reuters

1 December 1993: Princess Diana, patron of the National AIDS Trust, chats with singer George Michael before the start of the Concert of Hope at Wembley Arena in London to mark World AIDS Day. To the immediate left of George Michael is k.d. lang and to the right is Mick Hucknall of Simply Red.

33.

Princess Diana
Johnny Eggitt/AFP

3 December 1993: The Princess of Wales announces she will be making a dramatic cut in her public duties and reducing her public profile.

32.

Princess Diana
Reuters

10 December 1993: The Princess of Wales meets with locals during a walkabout after visiting St. Matthews Community Centre at the Elephant and Castle, south London.

31.

Princess Diana
Reuters

15 March 1994: Princess Diana leaves St. Mary's hospital in London after visiting her brother's new-born baby boy, Louis Frederick John Spencer.

30.

Princess Diana
Reuters

29 June 1994: The Princess of Wales meets guests at the Serpentine gallery in Hyde Park.

29.

Princess Diana
Reuters

25 December 1994: Prince Charles, Princess Diana and their two children William and Harry leave the church of St. Mary Magdalen near Sandringham after the Christmas Day service.

28.

Princess Diana
Reuters

17 March 1995: Diana, Princess of Wales meets South African President Nelson Mandela in Cape Town. He praised Diana for having influenced his government to ban the making of anti-personnel mines.

27.

Princess Diana
Dylan Martinez/Reuters

7 May 1995: The Prince of Wales, Prince William, Princess Diana and Prince Harry attend a ceremony in Hyde Park to commemorate the 50th anniversary of VE Day.

26.

Princess Diana and sons
Johnny Eggitt/AFP

19 August 1995: Princess Diana and Prince Charles and their sons Harry and William watch the parade march past as part of the commemorations of VJ Day in London.

25.

Princess Diana
Allan Lewis/AFP

19 August 1995: Princess Diana and her son Harry watch veterans marching on the Mall as part of the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of VJ Day.

24.

Princess Diana
Reuters

6 September 1995: The Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince Harry and housemaster Dr. Andrew Gayley escort Prince William, second in line to the throne, for his first day of term at Eton College.

In a televised interview with Martin Bashir in November 1995, Diana referred to her husband's affair with Camilla Parker Bowles: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded." Charles and Diana's divorce was finalised on 28 August 1996. Many Britons were angered at how Diana was ostracised by the royal family after her divorce from Charles. Camilla became a particular focus of the public's anger.

After their divorce, Diana threw herself into charity work. While the royals have always been dutifully charitable, Diana was known for going beyond her in-laws (or ex-in-laws), or even any celebrity at the time, in her philanthropy.

Through simple but important acts such as hugging people with AIDS or leprosy, she helped to change public perception of these diseases. She broke royal protocol by speaking openly about her own mental health issues and bulimia. In her final years, she campaigned for a worldwide ban on landmines despite opposition from the British government.

23.

Princess Diana
BBC/Getty Images

20 November 1995:The Princess of Wales is interviewed by the BBC's Martin Bashir for the current affairs programme "Panorama."

22.

Princess Diana
Reuters

22 February 1996: Diana, Princess of Wales sits in front of a British flag during a visit to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan.

21.

Princess Diana
Saeed Khan/AFP

22 February 1996: Diana, Princess of Wales and Jemima Khan, wife of Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, attend a variety show in Lahore during a private visit to Pakistan to participate in the fund-raising campaign for Khan's cancer hospital.

20.

Princess Diana
John Pryke/Reuters

16 April 1996: Diana, Princess of Wales cradles a young cancer patient at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan.

19.

Princess Diana
Sue Ogrocki/AFP

6 June 1996: Princess Diana meets with John Collins, a 51-year-old lung cancer patient, while touring Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Hospice Palliative Care Unit in Chicago.

18.

Princess Diana
Reuters

4 July 1996: Princess Diana smiles at the waiting crowds as she arrives for a charity event at London's Dorchester Hotel hosted by former Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan.

17.

Princess Diana
Reuters

28 August 1996: Princess Diana, patron of the English National Ballet, visits their London headquarters, after the decree absolute was issued ending the 15-year marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

16.

Princess Diana
Jamal A Wilson/AFP

24 September 1996: Princess Diana sits with U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton during a fund-raising breakfast held at the White House to benefit breast cancer research.

15.

Princess Diana
Reuters

31 October 1996: Princess Diana reacts as she studies her gift of a cut glass bowl, which she received at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute dinner dance in Sydney, Australia.

14.

Princess Diana
Reuters

9 December 1996: Princess Diana arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to attend the Costume Institute gala, a tribute to the achievements of designer Christian Dior.

13.

Princess Diana
Reuters

13 January 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales talks to amputees during her visit to Angola as part of a Red Cross campaign against land mines.

12.

Princess Diana
John Stillwell

15 January 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales tours a minefield during her visit to Angola.

11.

Princess Diana
Reuters

3 June 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales arrives at the Royal Albert Hall in London for a gala performance of Swan Lake by the English National Ballet.

10.

Princess Diana
Reuters

17 June 1997: The Princess of Wales arrives at the Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC to attend a gala dinner for landmine victims.

9.

Princess Diana
Reuters

18 June 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales holds hands with Mother Teresa, the founder of the Missionaries of Charity, as the two emerge after a brief meeting in the Bronx, New York.

8.

Princess Diana
Getty Images

23 June 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing a dress by Catherine Walker, arrives at Christie's auction house in New York ahead of a charity auction of her dresses.

7.

Princess Diana
Reuters

22 July 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales and Elton John attend a memorial mass for the murdered Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace in Milan Cathedral.

6.

Princess Diana
Reuters

8 August 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales poses in the town of Olovo during a private visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina to highlight the plight of victims of landmines.

5.

Princess Diana
Reuters

10 August 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales comforts a woman during a visit to Sarajevo's Lion cemetery while on a three-day private visit to Bosnia to highlight the plight of landmine victims.

4.

Princess Diana
Reuters

15 August 1997: Passers-by stare as Princess Diana leaves a gym in London's Earls Court.

In August 1997, Diana began seeing Dodi al-Fayed, playboy son of Mohamed al-Fayed, the Egyptian-born owner of Harrods and the Ritz Hotel in Paris. After holidaying with Dodi in the south of France, the couple dined at the Ritz on the evening of 31 August.

The hotel's security manager Henri Paul drove the couple away from the Ritz at high speed, pursued by paparazzi on motorbikes. As they entered the Pont de l'Alma tunnel, Paul lost control of the limousine, colliding with a pillar. Diana was rushed to a hospital but went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead at 4 am. An inquest in 2008 determined that Diana and Dodi were unlawfully killed, and that the driver and paparazzi pursuing her shared the blame for the deaths.

3.

Princess Diana
Reuters

22 August 1997: Diana Princess of Wales and Egyptian businessman Dodi al-Fayed cruise off the coast of Saint Tropez, the south of France.

2.

Princess Diana
Reuters

30 August 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales is caught on security video footage entering the Ritz Hotel in Paris before a dinner with Dodi al-Fayed.

1.

Princess Diana
Reuters

Her passing prompted the biggest public outpouring of grief seen in Britain in recent times. Her funeral on 6 September drew an estimated three million mourners at Westminster Abbey and along the route of the cortege. The worldwide audience watching it on television – in 200 countries and in 44 languages – was estimated to be 2.5 billion.

Over the last two decades, the anniversaries of her death have gone by with little fanfare, suggesting that the "People's Princess," as she was dubbed by then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, had perhaps lost some of her allure and relevance. But now – spurred by her sons Prince William and Harry speaking openly in public about their feelings about the sudden loss of their mother – the 20th anniversary has seen her on the front pages of newspapers again, just as she did in her prime as the world's most photographed woman.