Goodbye, England’s Rose: Diana’s Death

Tell us: Did Diana marry for love or for the fairy tale?

This is the final installment in a series of photos and videos remembering Princess Diana as we approach the 20th anniversary of her shocking death on Aug. 31, 1997. Please share your thoughts and memories of Diana in our Icons community forum.

| Like so many of us, Princess Diana was a boomer. And like so many boomers she married young, had her children young, then divorced and began a life of her own.  

She worried about her weight and embraced fitness, battling her anorexia, getting buff. 

She was concerned about the social issues of her day, hugging AIDS victims and advocating for the removal of land mines in faraway lands. 

She raised her sons in a far less formal way than she had been raised, encouraging them to have fun, encouraging them to live simpler lives. They have taken her lessons to heart. If she were alive today she would be a grandmother.

So many of us remember waking up at 3 a.m. to watch her fairy tale wedding in  1981,  and then waking up 20 years ago to watch her tragic funeral.

By remembering Diana — the princess, the mother, the working woman and the media superstar — we are also remembering another time in the world, and in all our own lives.