Not as easy was finding a place for herself in the large Windsor clan.
Diana did not share the British royal passion for polo, corgis, opera and the outdoors. The rigours of upholding royal tradition were often irksome.
Time magazine put it well in an article on Diana a few years after her marriage: 'Diana sometimes finds the tribal rites of the royal family heavy going. For years the holiday schedule has been an inflexible routine: Windsor at Christmas, Balmoral in the summer, a cruise aboard the Britannia to Scotland in August. The family is relentlessly outdoorsy; they like nothing better than to put on their macs and picnic in the chill air of the Scottish Highlands. After the meal, they all go tramping through the heather with a pack of pesky corgis nipping at their heels. Not exactly Diana's idea of a giggle. For her the royal sing-alongs with Princess Margaret plinking the ivories just do not compare with listening to Dire Straits on her trusty Walkman.'
Photograph: Diana with the Windsors on the Queen Mother's 89th birthday. From left to right: Prince Andrew, Sarah Duchess of York, Lord Linley, Prince Edward, Charles, the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II. Photograph: Johnny Eggitt/AFP/Getty Images
Also see: Prince Charles in India
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