The Princess Diaries: Remembering Diana and her little-known secrets

Updated: Monday, July 4, 2016, 9:51 [IST]

Princess Diana would always be remembered as a soft-spoken activist of human rights and the face of the English Royalty.

She has always been celebrated for her charity work and support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She was also involved with London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, of which she was president from 1989.

But today, on her 55th birth centenary, here are a few secrets about Lady Diana that the world does not know:

Diana was homeschooled till the age of 9, which was common in those days till she turned 12 when she was sent to an exclusive boarding school at West Heath School.
She failed in two exams before she left school when she was 16. Her father enrolled her in a Swedish finishing school but she insisted on returning home.
After schooling, she worked as a part-time cleaning woman and a babysitter before being appointed a kindergarten teacher at the Young England school.
She loved ballet as a child and studied it until she became too tall to continue to excel. As an adult, she was a big supporter of the English National Ballet
Her sister Sarah Spencer dated Charles first before he met Diana at a family gathering when she was 16.
Her wedding dress with a 25-feet long train was embroidered with sequins and 10,000 pearls. Diana had several practice sessions walking with it.
She abandoned the royal wedding vow tradition of saying "I obey" Prince Charles.
She was a devoted Godmother to a child with Downs Syndrome. Domenica Lawson, now 20, is now an activist advocating the cause of children with Down's Syndrome.
Prince William convinced Diana to auction off her dresses to raise money for AIDS and breast cancer charities. Chritie's New York held the auction just 2 months before her death where she raised $5.76 million for the causes.
She is buried in an island that sits in the middle of Oval lake on the grounds of Althorp Park, which is her family home. She was originally planned to be buried in the Spencers family fault of a church. The family then settled for a more private location.