The death of Princess Diana on August 31, 1997 sent shockwaves across the globe and left billions of people grief-stricken – but 27 years on, tributes continue to come in

It was a shocking and heartbreaking moment that sparked a national outpouring of grief, still felt by many Royal fans across the globe today.

On August 31, 1997, the tragic news broke that Princess Diana had died in a horrific car crash in a Paris underpass – after touching the lives of billions of people. 27 years on from the tragedy, tributes for the late Princess continue to pour in.

Visitors and royal fans have come to lay flowers and view photos of the ‘People’s Princess’ this morning, which adorn gates of Kensington palace, her former residence, on the anniversary of her death. One large banner displaying a series of photos of Diana reads: “Her work continues through her loving sons Prince William and Prince Harry.”

Princess Dina was tragically killed in the crash alongside her partner Dodi Fayed. The young princes – William, then just 15, and Harry, 12 – were on holiday with their father at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at the time. It was Charles who broke the gut-wrenching news to them.

“One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died,” Harry said in the BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days, to mark the 20th anniversary.

Diana tragically died in a horrific car crash in a Paris underpass in 1997 ( 
Image:
Mirrorpix)
“How you deal with that? I don’t know. But you know, he was there for us. He was the one out of two left, and he tried to do his best and to make sure that we were protected and looked after,” Harry said. “But you know, he was going through the same grieving process as well.”

William said: “I remember just feeling completely numb, disorientated, dizzy. You feel very, very confused. And you keep asking yourself, ‘Why me?’ All the time, ‘Why? What have I done? Why? Why has this happened to us?'”

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Their last interaction with their mum was a brief phone call, something that happened every evening since their parents’ separation.

“I can’t really, necessarily, remember what I said,” Harry said in the HBO 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother. But all I do remember is probably, you know, regretting for the rest of my life how short the phone call was. And if I’d known that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother – the things I would have said to her.”

Fans have come to pay their respects ( 
Image:
Amer Ghazzal/REX/Shutterstock)

An image of Diana seen on the gates of Kensington Palace ( 
Image:
Amer Ghazzal/REX/Shutterstock)
But rather than having time to process their loss, less than a week later they had to say goodbye in the most public of funerals.

An estimated 2.5 billion people globally watched as William and Harry walked, heads bowed, behind her cortege. Walking with them were Charles, Diana’s brother Earl Spencer and Prince Philip. “I’ll walk if you walk,” Philip had promised his grieving grandsons.

Harry reflected on that day. “My mother had just died and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands watching me while millions more did on television. I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”

Prince William and Harry have opened up about their grief following their mother’s death ( 
Image:
PA
William said: “There’s nothing like it in the world. There really isn’t. It’s like an earthquake has just run through the house and through your life and everything. Your mind is completely split. And it took me a while for it to actually sink in.”

The young boys were in shock and despite the Palace’s best efforts to get them to open up, it was tough. “Being so small at that age, it was very difficult to communicate or understand your ­feelings,” said William. “I was very touched by it, but none of it sank in… In order not to break down we have to put on a game face,.”

Harry admitted it was confusing to see the love and emotion from so many who had never met his mother. He says the first time he cried was when his mother was buried at her family home, the Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire. Her final resting place was on a small island in the Oval Lake – where her family could grieve and have the People’s Princess, finally, to themselves.