After a long 70 years of crown jewels and fancy, colorful suits, Queen Elizabeth II sadly passed away September 8th. Over half a century towering England, she became the longest reigning monarch in history.  

Only a mere 5’4″ tall,  she left some pretty big shoes to fill which are now in the hands of her son, the newly crowned King Charles III. 

Before marrying Mrs. Camilla Parker-Bowles, King Charles III had originally wed Princess Diana, an icon, and beloved royal.

Naturally, with the death of the Queen emerged reminiscences of the late Princess Diana.

For a refresher on these notables, read below.

Meet The Queen

1. Crowned in 1953 since her father died young.
2. Served by 15 Prime Ministers including Winston Churchill and Boris Johnson.
3. The only person in the UK allowed to drive without a license.
4. Celebrated two birthdays.. because the weather was bad on her real one.
5. Because of royal pressure and customs, it was a big deal for her to condone divorce in her own family.
6. After Princess Diana’s death, the queen refused to lower the flag as she would for other family members.
7. In 2017, her husband retired from public life leading her to reduce her own appearances and allow Prince Charles to carry on some duties.
8. The queen remembers Diana as a “gifted human being.”
9. The queen did not attend her son’s civil wedding to Parker-Bowles  as she rejected the idea of their marriage, but she did agree to organize a reception out of common courtesy.
10. Princess Diana’s younger son, Prince Harry, grew to disdain royal duties.
11. In 2021, Prince Phillip, the queen’s husband, passed away.

Meet Diana:

1. Diana Spencer died in a car crash in 1997.
2. Her bodyguard was the only survivor among four people.
3. One of the passengers was Diana’s boyfriend, Dodi Fayed.
4. While married to the Prince, Diana fell in love with a Royal protection officer, Barry Mannakee, who also mysteriously died in a bike crash 10 years before Diana’s death and seven months after he was dismissed from his job.
5. Princess Diana strongly believed he was set up in revenge  which she shared on live TV, even though officers found no evidence.
6. Before marrying the prince, Diana was already a Lady as she was born into an aristocratic family.
7. She was very modest and loved to be in contact with people and share her humanitarian ideas. 
8. She publicly went against multiple royal polices which caused tension in the family.
9. Diana was very close to Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury.
10. Her wedding train was 25 feet long.
11. She was a large part of changing conservative attitudes about illnesses such as AIDS.
12. Diana was part of a toxic marriage with Charles who insisted and very openly had a mistress, because he refused to be “the only prince in Wales who never had a mistress.”
13. Diana chose not to wear the royal tiara at her wedding and decided instead on a family heirloom with sentimental meaning.
14. Diana is one of the most liked royals to this day. 

What was their relationship like?

• Queen Elizabeth approved of Diana’s marriage to Charles. 
• They later divorced in 1996 after the royal family was rocked by revelations about the news of infidelity. 
• Though the princess knew how to handle the royals, she was terrified of her mother-in-law in the early days.
• Princess Diana once told royal biographer Ingrid Seward,“I have the best mother-in-law in the world.”
• After the wedding, Diana and Charles’ relationship grew rocky, so did her relationship with the queen.
• Seward also wrote how the monarch began to dread the emotional princess’ unscheduled visits. “A footman said, ‘The princess cried three times in a half an hour while she was waiting to see you.’ The queen replied, ‘I had her for an hour — and she cried nonstop.'”
• The queen wanted to help her daughter-in-law, but didn’t know how. For Princess Diana, there was a hope that somehow the queen would intervene to make things better in their marriage.
• There was a communication problem as the queen, to protect her son, believed Diana’s behavior was “silly.”
• Elizabeth II seemed, publicly at least, unmoved by Diana’s death, even as the prime minister — media-savvy Tony Blair — coined a memorable phrase in describing Diana as “the people’s princess.”
• The queen eventually relented and came to London to pay her respects. The royal family then took steps to regain public favor, in part by adopting the more people-friendly approach Diana employed.