The date was 31st of August, 1997, when a 36-year old Princess Diana Frances Spencer would breathe her last, having been fatally injured in a car crash on in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris.
Six days after, the outpouring of grief from around the world when she was finally laid to rest, can easily be called one of the largest points of global unity in recent memory. But why was her impact on society so deep and far reaching?
To this day, 20 years on from her death, Princess Diana is still revered for her charitable work on a profile level that no one in her place would’ve dared to undertake. Her work with the plight of AIDS sufferers and even a disease as old as leprosy were as enlightening as they were inspiring.
To the watch community, perhaps more than the fact that she was the Princess of Wales, she is better known have been a woman of impeccable taste, sporting the Cartier Tank in many iconic photographs. Which on that note by the way, Princess Diana is said to have been the most photographed personality of her time.
There is, however, a much more endearing story of Princess Diana and watches that you must add to your memory of her. The story goes that while attending a polo event, in 1981, at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor to watch her husband-to-be Princes Charles on the field, the future Princess Diana was photographed wearing two watches on the same wrist.
Now the watch with the gold bracelet is known to be her own. The other larger watch on her wrist, though, is believed to have belonged to Prince Charles. An extremely heartening, albeit old-world, manner of portraying her support for her husband-to-be out on the field.
Of course, it is also her relationship with Prince Charles that later would lead to some of the darker days in the life of Princess Diana. But today, exactly 20 years on from the day that fate took her life all too soon, we remember her for the positive impact and the legacy she’s left in a world that continues to love her dearly.
