Lady Diana

Diana debuts: the youngest daughter of Edward John Spencer (later the eighth Earl Spencer) and his first wife Frances. She was a direct descendant of Charles II (via a quartet of illegitimate sons) and a distant relative of Winston Churchill (again via an illegitimate daughter). Here she is at Park House, Sandringham, on her first birthday: July 1 1962. Photograph: PA/PA

Diana at school, aged nine. Her parents' divorce - sparked by her mother's affair with a wallpaper tycoon - resulted in a bitter custody battle eventually won by Earl Spencer. An indifferent student, Diana would go on to sit her O-levels twice - failing them on both occasions. Photograph: AP/AP

A taste of things to come. Diana is dogged by press photographers as speculation builds over her relationship with the Prince of Wales. As far as the royal family was concerned, the part-time nursery school aide ticked all the right boxes: Protestant, an aristocrat and reputed virgin, the perfect unsullied blank canvas. Photograph: Ian Tyas/Getty

Camilla Parker-Bowles relaxes with Diana at Ludlow racecourse, October 1980. Camilla had been the Prince of Wales's girlfriend in the early 70s and insiders suggest that she played the role of supportive big sister during the early days of Charles and Diana's courtship. The fates of both women would be inextricably linked in the years to come. Photograph: PA/PA

A charity event at London's Goldsmith's Hall played host to Charles and Diana's first official appearance in the wake of their engagement, on March 9 1981. Diana's hunched, bashful posture reveals her lack of experience in such situations. It is a far cry from the poise and confidence she would go on to exhibit in later years. Photograph: PA/PA

A classic early photo op from the early summer of 1981: on walkabout in the Cotswold town of Tetbury, garlanded with flowers and thronged by adoring middle Englanders. Viewed today, the shot's lurid colours (and array of fluttering Union Jacks) makes it seem like a scene from another world. Photograph: Tim Graham/Corbis