Remembering Diana, Princess of Wales who died 11 years ago today.

Even before her tragic death on 31 August 1997, aged 36, the princess had good claim to be regarded as the most famous person in the world.

Her beauty, royal status, charity work and troubled love life combined to make her, for many, the most iconic figure of the 20th century.

Marrying into the House of Windsor at the age of 19, she far outstripped in public popularity a Royal house that had become steadily diminished in public esteem.

Her death created an outpouring of public grief never before seen in Britain which ushered in a new era of emotional openness.

Diana Frances Spencer was born on 1 July 1961, the youngest daughter of Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and his first wife, Frances.

Her difficult childhood set the template for the emotional turmoil she would experience in later life, with her parents’ acrimonious divorce over Lady Althorp's adultery with wallpaper heir Peter Shand Kydd.

The Spencers had been close to the British Royal Family for centuries. Lady Diana's maternal grandmother Ruth, Lady Fermoy, was a long-time friend and a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

Her sister, Sarah, had already been a girlfriend of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana was drawn naturally into his social orbit.

A shy English rose with no “history,” she appeared on the surface the perfect bride for the Prince and they were married at St Paul 's Cathedral to great public acclaim in 1981.

But the marriage was difficult from the start and, despite the birth of two sons William and Harry, would end in 1993 in bitterness.

Two years later, the Princess gave a memorable TV interview in which she blamed Prince Charles’s second wife Camilla Parker-Bowles for the breakdown, saying: "There were three of us in this marriage.”

But at the same time, she also admitted adultery with the Guards officer, James Hewitt, who had befriended her in the mid-1980s.

Despite all her personal difficulties, the Princess worked tirelessly over the years for charities and good causes. Countless individuals and organisations across the globe have good reason to be grateful for her intervention on their behalf. Many people have touching stories to tell about how the Princess took time to talk to them, write letters to them, befriend them and support them in their struggles. Her caring and compassion shone through in so many of her public duties leading to her unofficial title of The People's Princess.After her divorce, the Princess became more involved in what could be seen as “political” issues such as her passionate campaigning for a ban on landmines.In her last days, she appeared to have found happiness in her personal life with Dodi Al Fayed, son of the Harrods proprietor Mohammed Al Fayed.

The Princess and Dodi, together with their driver Henri Paul, were killed when their car crashed in a Paris underpass in the early hours of 31 August, 1997 while trying to evade chasing photographers. An inquest jury on 7 April, 2008, found that Princess Diana had been unlawfully killed due to the actions of Henri Paul and the paparazzi.

Princes William and Harry held a concert in memory of their beloved mother on 1 July 2007, which would have been her 46th birthday.