15 Photos of Princess Diana That Clearly Show What 15 Years of Marriage Cost Her

The paparazzi followed each of Princess Diana’s footsteps — she’s the most photographed woman in the world to this day. It’s no secret that her relationship with Prince Charles was not successful, ultimately ending in divorce. Lady Di confessed in an interview that she was very unhappy in her marriage. But in public, she always hid her pain behind a radiant smile. And yet, she wasn’t always able to hide her emotions from the lenses of photographers, and they captured what was really going on with her.

Bright Side decided to look at archival photos of the Queen of People’s Hearts, where we saw the story of a truly strong woman who spent 15 years in an unhappy marriage.

1. After Diana agreed to marry Prince Charles, she received an incredible amount of media attention. Not everyone could’ve coped with it.

Although Diana Spencer always communicated with the media and photographers with a special elegance, she didn’t get used to it right away. One time, she even burst into tears while sitting at the wheel of her car. “I know it’s just a job they have to do, but sometimes I do wish they wouldn’t,” Lady Di said. This photo was taken at the kindergarten where she worked when she got engaged to Charles. The future princess looks a bit down.

2. Diana felt coldness from her future husband even before the wedding.

On the day their engagement was announced, a journalist asked Charles, “Are you in love?,” to which the Prince replied: “Whatever love means.” Diana, on the other hand, believed it was imperative to love the person you were going to marry, and such ambiguous words from her future spouse hurt the young girl. The photo above shows how the heir to the throne nonchalantly placed his hand on the shoulder of his bride.

3. Lady Di doubted her decision to marry Prince Charles after she found a bracelet meant for Camilla Parker-Bowles.

But her sisters convinced her that the wedding should go on. Diana confessed that she searched for her rival in the crowd during the wedding ceremony, knowing she’d be there.

4. During the honeymoon, the Princess saw her rival in her dreams.

Diana doesn’t look very happy in this photo taken at Balmoral, where their honeymoon came to an end. During this time, the princess felt down because her husband preferred reading books and drawing to her conversations and didn’t pay enough attention to her. Lady Di did not share in her husband’s interests at all; she found it boring to discuss the works of the writer Laurens van der Post with Charles. On top of that, Diana was jealous because she had found photos of Camilla in Charles’ diaries and noticed that he was wearing cufflinks with their common initials.

5. The day before the announcement of her first pregnancy, the princess looked sad and tired.

The day before, Diana appeared in a pale blue chiffon dress at a gala concert at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where photographers captured her tired look.

6. In 1982, the couple welcomed their first baby, Prince William. But the joy of motherhood was marred by postpartum depression.

Diana would wake up in the morning and feel no desire to get out of bed, her apathy was so strong. But instead of supporting her, her husband called her “unstable,” a label that would follow her for years.

7. The international tour of 1983 marked the beginning of the end of their marriage.

It was during this trip that Prince Charles first realized that the public preferred his young and beautiful wife to him. Diana, however, was unable to do anything to calm her husband’s jealousy or to fade into the background of people’s hearts.

8. This photo taken at a banquet in New Zealand shows an unhappy-looking couple.

Lady Di appears to have red eyes and a tired look, as if she had been crying the night before. Her husband’s jealousy seem to have been the cause, as well as the growing anxiety and a recurring eating disorder.

9. Another photo showing how uncomfortable this trip was for Diana.

It looks like not even her luxurious dress made of cream silk organza pleased the princess at that moment.

10. In 1986, the couple began to seek comfort outside their marriage.

Prince Charles confessed to his biographer that he renewed his relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles in 1986. At the same time, Princess Diana’s affair with Captain James Hewitt began.

11. The photos show that the tension between the spouses was growing. This photo was taken during their tour of Canada.

Charles keeps his eyes down dejectedly, as if pondering something. And Diana looks forward with a stone-cold gaze, not noticing her husband.

12. Shortly before the start of the divorce proceedings, in November 1992, Charles and Diana set off on a joint trip to South Korea.

They both looked so unhappy that the British press nicknamed them “the Glums.” In December of the same year, Prime Minister John Major announced the divorce of the Prince and Princess of Wales in the House of Commons.

13. This photo was taken shortly before Queen Elizabeth’s speech, in which she said that 1992 had been a terrible year, after her three children were divorced.

Both Diana and Charles look completely devastated. The picture shows how the spouses try not to look each other in the eyes and tilt their heads in different directions.

14. The divorce was finalized in August 1996.

Journalists captured the moment when Lady Di first appeared in public after the divorce. It’s known that the princess hoped to save the marriage until the last minute. The photo above shows she managed to remain optimistic and adapt to her new role.

15. After the divorce, she could no longer become Queen of England, but still remained in the spotlight.

Diana was not going to stop engaging in social activities: she saw this as her calling. She supported victims of leprosy, HIV, and antipersonnel mines. By 1997, Lady Di appeared to be at the center of the public eye. Working with people became a new mission for her. She took lessons in public speaking and dreamed of becoming an ambassador of her country in order to use her fame for the benefit of humanity.

What do you think of Princess Diana and her fate?