23 Vintage Photos of Princess Diana
See rare photos of Princess Diana—before she became Princess Diana.When she became Princess of Wales, Princess Diana became the most photographed woman in the world. But what did Diana look like before she was thrust into the public eye? Here, see photos of a young Diana—from her birthdays growing up at Park House in Sandringham, through her brief stint as a kindergarten teacher.
HULTON ARCHIVE//GETTY IMAGESHere, a baby Diana celebrates her first birthday at Park House, Sandringham. The Spencer family leased their house from Queen Elizabeth, whom Diana referred to as “Aunt Lilibet.”
CENTRAL PRESS//GETTY IMAGESA photograph of young Diana in her stroller at Park House. Per the New York Times, “As a child, Lady Diana kept hamsters, gerbils, a pony and a tan-and-white guinea pig named Peanuts, who won first prize at a Sandringham pet fair.”
KEYSTONE//GETTY IMAGESDiana was the third daughter of Edward, who was Viscount Althorp at the time of her birth (he later became Earl Spencer), and Frances Roche, a daughter of the fourth Baron Fermoy. She’s pictured here at age 2.
PA IMAGES//GETTY IMAGESDiana’s blonde hair was kept short throughout much of her childhood; here, she poses for a photo at Park House.
HULTON ARCHIVE//GETTY IMAGESA young Diana pushes her brother, Charles, on a swing on the grounds of Park House. She’s around age 6 in this photograph.
PA IMAGES//GETTY IMAGESIn 1967, Diana’s parents divorced, and her mother ran away with Peter Shand-Kydd. Her father got custody of the children, and in 1975, when he inherited the Earl Spencer title, the whole family moved to Althorp, the Spencer family estate.
PA IMAGES//GETTY IMAGESDiana would later describer her childhood as “very unhappy” and “very unstable, the whole thing.” She’s pictured here in London’s Cadogan Place Gardens during the summer of 1968.
PA IMAGES//GETTY IMAGESShe spent holidays with her mother; in this photograph, when Diana was around age 7, she’s pictured wearing her winter coat in London.
HULTON ARCHIVE//GETTY IMAGESDiana always loved a good hat. She’s photographed on a summer holiday in Itchenor, West Sussex.
CENTRAL PRESS//GETTY IMAGESDiana rocked a vest on the Isle of Uist in Scotland during a family holiday.
PA IMAGES//GETTY IMAGESIn this family album picture, taken while Diana was in Scotland at her mother’s house, she’s pictured with a Shetland pony named Souffle
