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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Chiara Fiorillo

Princess Diana's brother shares poignant photo on 24th anniversary of her death

Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer has shared a poignant photo on the 24th anniversary of her death.

Earl Spencer, 57, published a photo of the Spencer flag at half-mast at Althorp House, their family estate, on Instagram.

He did not caption the image, but numerous people commented on his post to pay their own tributes to Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.

A person wrote: "Sad that Diana is not here to enjoy her gorgeous grandchildren."

Another added: "Thinking of you all today. Our beautiful Princess, never forgotten, eternally loved and cherished."

One more commented: "I never met her but I miss her. Thoughts are with you and her family today."

Princess Diana died at the age of 36 on August 31, 1997 (Tim Graham/Getty Images)

Diana, who died at the age of 36, is buried in the grounds of Althorp Park.

Her brother Earl Spencer has been the custodian of the family estate since the death of his father in 1992.

After their mother's death, Prince Harry and Prince William revealed they could not understand why people were "breaking down" until they released the impact she had on the world.

The two brothers spoke of their heartbreak in the days after their mother's death in a documentary called BBC documentary called Diana, 7 Days, which was released in 2017 to mark the 20th anniversary of her death.

Speaking on the programme, William said: "People wanted to grab us, to touch us.

“They were shouting, wailing, literally wailing at us, throwing flowers, and yelling, sobbing, breaking down, people fainted, collapsed. It was a very alien environment.

"I couldn’t understand why everyone wanted to cry as loud as they did and show such emotion as they did when they didn’t really know our mother.

A statue for Princess Diana was unveiled last month (Getty Images)

“I did feel a bit protective at times about that.

"You didn’t even know her – why and how are you so upset?

"Now looking back, I have learnt to understand what it was she gave the world and what she gave a lot of people."

William and Harry were at Balmoral with their father, grandmother the Queen and grandfather Prince Philip when they were told the tragic news that Diana had died aged 36 following a car crash in Paris.

Princess Diana with William and Harry in 1995 (WireImage)

The family rallied around the princes before they returned to London and also inspected the floral tributes left to their mother outside Balmoral.

Harry told the programme: "Looking back now probably the last thing I wanted to do was read what other people were saying about my mother.

“Yes it was amazing, it was incredibly moving to know, but at that point, I wasn’t there.

“I was still in shock."

On July 1, the day Diana would have celebrated her 60th birthday, her sons unveiled a statue of their mother in the Sunken Garden at London’s Kensington Palace.

The statue is a sculpture of Diana with three children, intended to symbolise her humanity and dedication to helping young people.

It has a plinth underneath it with Diana's name and when the statue's unveiling took place.

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