12 November 2023 , 08:00
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Princess Diana was just 36 when she was killed in a car crash while she was on holiday in Paris.
The UK was united in its grief and none were affected more than her two young sons, Princes William and Harry. Tens of thousands of people came to mourn Diana, dubbed the People's Princess, and to lay flowers outside Buckingham Palace. King Charles was the first person to be told about his ex-wife's death on August 31, 1997.
He was on holiday at Balmoral with his mother, the Queen, and his sons when he received the phone call. He was shocked at the news the car Diana had been travelling in with her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, had crashed in a tunnel in the French capital. Dodi and the driver, Henri Paul, were killed instantly while Diana was pronounced dead in hospital at 4am.
Devastated, the first person Charles told about Diana's death was his mother. But the Queen's first reaction to hearing of her former daughter-in-law's death was a cryptic comment, asking if it had been deliberate. Royal biographer Ingrid Seward said: "The Queen came out of her bedroom, clutching a hot water bottle, and her first reaction as that someone had greased the brakes."
(AFP/Getty Images)Author of The Diana Chronicles, Tina Brown, claimed Charles "absolutely fell apart" on being told the news. She added: "He knew instantly that this was terrible, that he would be blamed for the death of Diana." Desperate to keep the two princes away from their grief for as long as possible the Queen and Prince Charles made the decision not to tell them the dreadful news until the morning.
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However, the Queen and he reportedly argued about how Diana would be returned to Britain. Charles wanted to travel to France on the royal plane to bring his ex-wife's body home but the Queen initially wouldn't allow it. Journalist and friend of Diana, Richard Kay said: "This was a surprising and brave move. He was an ex-husband, he had no right to be there other than as the father of her sons. Charles wanted to take the royal flight to Paris but the Queen wouldn't allow it. Charles fought harder for Diana than he had ever fought for her in her lifetime."
(PA)The King refused to back down and eventually the Queen agreed to allow him to fly on the royal plane to bring his ex-wife's body back to Britain. When he arrived at the hospital he was met by President Jacques Chirac. Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, was already at the hospital with some of her other closest members of staff.
He said: "He was devastated. This as a woman he had loved in his own way." Charles has later described arriving at the hospital as one of the worst experiences of his life. The prince agreed for Diana's coffin to be draped with the royal standard when it was removed from the hospital.
This was a touching tribute to his wife, who had been stripped of her royal titles following her divorce. Just 16 hours after her death, the plane carrying Princess Diana's body touched down at RAF Northolt in Norfolk. She was finally home. Dubbed the People's Princess following the tragedy, Diana's death sparked a period of huge national grief. A sea of flowers was left outside Buckingham Palace and her funeral at Westminster Abbey was watched by 2.5billion people across the world.