The blue sapphire is a favourite the world over thanks to Princess Diana. This was the unusual choice for the princess, when she and the Prince of Wales decided to get engaged in the 1980’s. The Garrard family jewellers of London were the jewellers to the royal family since 1843, so it came as no surprise when a call came in anonymously on behalf of the Prince of Wales, asking if this £30,000 ring would be fit for a princess and future queen of England, the answer was a resounding (yes).


The blue sapphire became a favourite all over the world; those lucky enough to afford one were delighted with their princess Diana ring. Diana’s choice of engagement ring sent jewellery houses into a spin trying to keep up with the demand for the blue sapphire. Those who were unable to afford this price tag settled for the synthetic version of the ring. Princess Diana was the modern day princess; she wore beautiful gowns and lived in a palace with the prince surrounded by servants, however unlike the fairytale princess she knew how important the common touch was.


Diana was a fashion icon. The fashion houses of the world were falling over themselves to dress the princess. Diana’s jewellery collection was the envy of women the world over. Diana would regularly be photographed wearing thousands of pounds worth of matching necklaces, bracelets, and ear rings. Diana had her own since of style. She grew in confidence and her sense of style was unique.


Diana was a dream come true for any designer, her statuesque 5”10 size 10 figure was the envy of women the world over. Week after week the fashion mages and papers were full of pictures of Diana in her latest designer outfit. Diana’s wardrobe consisted of fashion pieces worth thousands of pounds. Ironically after her divorce Diana was free to be more individual in her style and less stuffy. She selflessly auctioned hundreds of her dresses she had owned during her marriage. The money raised went to some of Diana’s favourite charities. She earned the title of the people’s princess in the following years.


Diana the youngest daughter of the earl Spencer and Frances Spencer. Diana Frances Spencer born on the 1 July 1961, she was a direct descendant of the James the 11 of England. The Spencer family had close links the the royal family, Diana’s grandmother was a loyal friend, and lady in waiting to the late queen mother. Diana was never an A student, but she was a shy, self conscious person unsure of herself and insecure, this it was said to have been attributed to the divorce of her parents.


Diana did excel at some things, she loved swimming and diving, her love of ballet was to last a life time. She studied ballet but frustratingly she was never to be successful ballerina, at 5” 10 she was arquardly tall. At the tender age of seventeen Diana moved to London to live with her mother. She got work as a kindergarten student, a job she loved. Diana loved working with children; this was evident in later life when she became the president of Temple Street, hospital for sick children in (1989). Prince Charles at this time was a man about town with a string of girlfriends. Diana was aquatinted with Charles, as he had briefly dated her older sister. Diana jokingly told girlfriends growing up that she would marry Charles.


Charles’s
mother the queen of England was determined to get Charles to settle down and marry and supply an heir to the thrown. Princess Diana dated in secret for many weeks. Diana as the perfect match for Charles she had royal blood, she was beautiful virgin bride. The prince proposed to Diana with a beautiful blue sapphire ring worth £30,000 the equivalent of $65,000. Almost as famous as the ring was the picture of Diana in a see through dress she wore unaware of the fuss, while angelically holding the hands of 2 of her kindergarten toddlers. Photos of her were shown all over the world. From that day in 1980 the scrutiny of the press and the world wide fascination for Diana would continue.


Diana and Charles married in St Paul’s cathedral this was the highest viewed television events ever, second only to the first man to walk on the moon. Diana and Charles had two sons the first, William born on the 21 June 1982 and the other, Harry born two years later on the 15 September 1984. Diana broke with royal protocol by choosing her own nannies, and hand picked those who were around the boys. Diana loved being a mother and took the boys on royal visits when ever possible. This didn’t sit well with the royal security as they didn’t want all of the successors to the thrown to travel together in case of assassination attempts. But more often Diana won through. In the 1990’s the cracks began to show through in the marriage. Diana was seen on royal visits looking alone, and unhappy. She was no longer able to put a brave face on. The eating disorder that had plagued her, took an ever increasing hold on Diana. The damage to the royal marriage was taking its toll on the public image of the royals, so much so the queen sent letters to both of the parties to split.


The panorama interview with Diana was the first public admission of a royal family member. In this interview Diana famously said their were" three of us in the marriage”. Also the unofficial publishing of a tell all book by Andrew Morton was the final straw for the royals. The marriage ended in divorce in 1996. This left Diana unprotected and at the mercy of the press in a way she never was before. She lost her title” her royal highness “, but became the people’s princess instead. Diana continued with her charity work, but concentrated on a smaller number of charities. A cause close to her heart was the abolition of land mines, a cause which received the noel peace prize when she died; (she was given recognition for her work to raise awareness).


Diana had two major relationships, after her marriage ended, the last of which was with Dodi Al Fayed. On the 31 august while in Paris with her boyfriend, Diana and Dodi were tragically killed in a car crash, while fleeing the paparattzi. Diana like any royal family member was buried with full royal protocol. The funeral was attended by each member of the royal family. The streets of London were lined with thousands of people from all over the world, who came to pay tribute to the peoples princes.


Like with any loss of high profile beautiful people, their have been many conspiracy theories as to how, and why they died so tragically, but none of these have ever been proved The pouring of public emotion was previously unheard of, for a person who was no longer a member of the royal family, and is to this day unprecedented. Diana is buried at her family home in Althrope Park. She still remains a much loved figure today………………………………………..