IT’S been 26 years since Diana, Princess of Wales passed away.
The People’s Princess tragically died in a car crash on August 31, 1997, and poignant photographs show her peaceful final resting place at her childhood home.
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Her grave is nestled on an island in the beautiful Oval Lake at Althorp House, Northampton.
Understandably, the grave holds great significance for her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
Thousands of fans flock to the location each year to pay their respects to the late royal, and Meghan Markle has also visited.
Harry revealed in his memoir Spare that he took his wife to his mother’s final resting place in 2022, where they each had a private moment.
He wrote: “I was finally bringing the girl of my dreams home so she would meet my mother.”
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The Prince left a bouquet with his mother before leaving Meghan by herself to have her moment.
He wrote: “When I returned, she was on her knees with her eyes closed and her palms flat against the stone.”
Meghan told him she had asked Princess Diana for “clarity” and “guidance”.
Harry also revealed he shared a similar bonding moment with his brother once at the grave, but they clashed when Harry mentioned Meghan.
The grave is not entirely accessible, with the Duke of Sussex explaining how he and Meghan had to row over to the island to visit it.
It comes after the grave site had been modified to remove the bridge that had connected it to the land.
He wrote: "The bridge had been removed, to give my mother privacy, to keep intruders away."
CAN YOU VISIT PRINCESS DIANA'S GRAVE?
In 2023, the doors to Althorp House and Park were open from July 3 to August 31.
Opening dates for 2024 have not yet been announced, but the house's website says that they "look forward to welcoming you in the summer of 2024," suggesting they plan to open again later this year.
Historically, the estate is open from noon to 5 p.m. daily, though visitors should take note that the last entry to the house is at 3:30 p.m.
Tickets are available starting from £17.50 for access to the grounds (access to the grounds and the state rooms within the house starts from £25) with special pricing for children, seniors, and families.
There is also a cafe and gift shop on site.
The estate is located just off the M1 and is about an hour-and-a-half from London.
The grave is inaccessible to the public as it is located on an island in the middle of the lake, but there is a separate memorial site nearby for guests to pay their respects.
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Princess Diana’s brother Earl Charles Spencer revealed in 2017 that several people had previously attempted to gain entry to the grave.
He told BBC Radio 4: “We’ve had four attempted break-ins towards her body in the last 20 years and I’m very glad we’ve seen all of them off.”
He added “there are some odd people out there” but insisted that “keeping her right here is the safest place”.
One theory suggests intruders wanted to take snaps of her private burial site which they would then sell to make money, with Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty Magazine, adding: “They would want to take photographs and sell them to European news organisations — the British press wouldn’t run them.”
Now, the lake protects Princess Diana’s grave from prying trespassers.
This isn’t where Diana was originally supposed to be buried, in fact, her final resting place was going to be in the family’s vault at the local church in Great Brington.
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But in 1998 Earl Spencer said the water would "act as a buffer against the interventions of the insane and ghoulish with the thick mud presenting a further line of defence”.
"We all agreed that, with its beauty and tranquillity, this was the place for Diana to be,” he added.
Diana had spent her childhood on the 13,000-acre Althorp estate, with her family, the Spencers, having owned it for over 500 years.
She called the estate her home before her marriage to Charles.
She grew up there with her siblings Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes, and her brother Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, and could often be found as a child tap dancing on the hall’s black and white marble floor.
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Currently, the property is held by her brother, Charles Spencer, and the estate now features 36 oak trees that were specially planted to represent each year of Diana’s life.
Charles Spencer made headlines after his moving eulogy at Princess Diana's 1997 funeral.
In his speech, the earl said: “Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty.
“All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity.
"All over the world, a standard bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a very British girl who transcended nationality.
"Someone with a natural nobility who was classless and who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.”
Diana’s funeral took place on Thursday September 6, 1997, and was aired on TV where it was viewed by as many as 30 million people worldwide.
Around 2,000 people attended the ceremony in Westminster Abbey, where her coffin was brought on a gun carriage from Kensington Palace.
Video of Althorp Park in Althorp Estate where Princess Diana was buried after her death in 1997
PRINCESS DIANA'S STRONG BOND WITH HER SONS
The Sun’s royal photographerArthur Edwards said: “She had the magic touch with her boys.
"WhenHarrytold her he wanted to be a soldier, she took him to an Army base where he dressed up in uniform and rode with the troops in an Army personnel carrier.
“I remember once at the polo in Windsor,Williamgot too close to the rails. The nanny scolded him and he burst into tears.
“Diana saw this and ran over. She put him on her lap, rubbed his hair gently, said soft words and he stopped crying immediately.
“In August 1993 Diana took the boys to Disney World in Florida. Every kid wants to go. You could see the delight on the boys’ faces.”
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As the coffin made the 1hr 47min journey from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey, distraught young Princes, William and Harry, walked behind their late mother alongside King Charles, Prince Philip and her brother Earl Charles Spencer.
A private burial took place later that day at Althorp Park on the Spencer family's estate.
In other royal news, King Charles makes first statement since leaving hospital as he recovers at home from prostate surgery.
Harry and Meghan suffer another blow to their Archewell brand as a key member of staff quits after string of employees leave.
Princess Kate, on the other hand, is reunited with children George, Charlotte and Louis after two weeks in hospital.
People gather outside the gate of Althorp Estate to mourn the death of Princess Diana
