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The final text message sent by the late Nicola Bulley was read out during an inquest into her death last year.

The 45-year-old had been last seen walking her dog Willow along the River Wyre in Lancashire on January 27 last year. After going missing, the subsequent search to locate Nicola captured national attention. Police and emergency services searched for the missing mum until they found her body a few weeks later, concluding that she had fallen into the water and died.

At the inquest into her death last year, Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire, recorded her death as accidental after hearing two days of evidence. The case now features in the new BBC documentary the Search For Nicola Bulley, set to air on Thursday night.

On the first day of the inquest last year, the court heard from specialists, law enforcement and a Home Office pathologist, who pieced together how she lost her life. It included a timeline of the hours before she vanished, as reported by the Mirror at the time.

A poignant segment centred on the exchange of text messages between Nicola and her friend Lucy, around planning a playdate for their daughters. It included the last text she received, and sent, from and to the other parent.

The night prior to her disappearance, Nicola reached out to Lucy, whose response came the next morning when she saw the text, the court heard. Lucy responded at 8.13am and told the court: “I said my daughter would love to come and play.”

Nicola Bulley went missing in January last year and, after her body was located weeks later, an inquest found her death as accidental and due to drowning ( 
Image:
Family Handout/PA Wire)
At 8.59am, Nicola responded confirming a time alongside a smiley face emoji. Additionally, there were plans for both to meet up the following day, as Lucy added: “We were going to be meeting up, a group of mums, on the Saturday night for a few drinks.”

Home Office pathologist Alison Armour, who conducted the post-mortem on Ms Bulley, stated that the presence of water in her lungs and stomachled her to conclude the cause of death was drowning. During the inquiry, the coroner prompted Ms Armour to summarise her findings, to which she responded: “I conclude the cause of death as drowning. The lungs themselves showed classical features we see in drownings. In my opinion Nicola Bulley was alive when she entered the water.”

Ms Armour explained that water in the lungs indicated swallowing, an “active process”, signalling that Ms Bulley was alive when she entered the river. She also noted there were no brain bleeds or natural diseases detected, and only typical therapeutic levels of medication in Ms Bulley’s system. Additionally, a low level of alcohol was consistent with the natural process of body decomposition, the inquest heard.

Supporting this conclusion, Professor Michael Tipton, described as a world expert on drowning, agreed with the pathologist’s findings. And a specialist from the police’s underwater search team speculated that Ms Bulley likely fell into the River Wyre before drifting downstream.

The court was shown footage by PC Matthew Thackray in St Michaels on Wyre in Lancashire, suspected to be where Ms Bulley plunged into the water. In the video, he indicated: “There is a large vertical slope from the bench and into the water. “On the day there was a steady flow downstream.”

He explained: “The river was 4C, so almost freezing, and if she fell in the muscles would probably seize making it difficult to swim properly.” He estimated that she’d have been swept away at a rate of a “metre a second” downstream.

With the rise of online scams and deepfakes circulating on social media, Dr Punam Krishan once admitted she was “deeply concerned.”

Known for her appearances on the BBC One’s Morning Live, the GP made her Strictly Come Dancing debut back in September, 2024, and has even managed to avoid the competition’s first elimination last week.

This Saturday, the Glasgow-born TV star will be back on the dancefloor once more with professional partner Gorka Marquez. But with fame sometimes comes danger as Punam, 41, once admitted she’d fallen victim to online scammers, which has since led her to warn other about the harmful potential of social media.

Dr Punam Krishan has been partnered up with Gorka Marquez for Strictly’s 20th anniversary season ( 
Image:
BBC/Guy Levy)

Punam once warned her fans about the dangers of social media as online scammers have taken pictures of her and her family to prey on them ( 
Image:
@drpunamkrishan/Instagram)
Taking to her column with the iPaper, Dr Punam Krishan penned: “Barely a day goes by before I receive a message from a follower on social media informing me of a fake account using my images to spam them.”

She then shared her “worry” over the prominence of “deepfakes” online as she disclosed that scammers often steal pictures from her social media account, which sometimes include members of her family, to spread misinformation online. Punam opened up about the “distress” scams trigger: “‘It is distressing to hear from followers who have received messages from fake accounts pretending to be me.”

“I worry about the implications of this a lot. I immediately block and report these accounts, and I also advise my followers to do the same, but I still feel anxious about how far and wide they have travelled.” She continued: “What if someone has fallen for it, has transferred money or worse – taken the ill-informed advice and become unwell as a result?”

In more recent news, Dr Punam Krishan revealed that the Strictly chaos and pressure were nothing she couldn’t overcome as she spoke about the reality of juggling her job with her family life – and raising her children.

“I often feel like a character in Motherland,” she said. “When I turn up at work I feel in utter control, but there is so much childcare chaos behind the scenes, the before-and-after work rush of making sure you get to your kids on time, that you’re present for them when you go and meet them and they don’t see how stressful it’s been – that in itself is an art”, she once said.

This Saturday, Dr Punam Krishan will deliver a Bollywood performance with her dancing partner Gorka Marquez for the first time in Strictly Come Dancing history as part of Movie Week. The pair will dance to the tune of ‘Bole Chudiyan’, from the movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

The world stopped on Aug. 31, 1997 when a car crash killed Princess Diana and two others. Twenty-five years later, Diana still has an impact on those whose lives were intertwined with hers

Princess Diana was starting a new chapter following her divorce from Prince Charles, but her life was tragically cut short on Aug. 31, 1997, when a car accident killed her and two others, Dodi Al Fayed and driver Henri Paul. She was 36.

“There are very few moments like those in history. I remember where I was in every tiny detail when I heard about Diana,” says royal biographer Ingrid Seward, who knew Diana personally. “It affected everybody.”

Twenty-six years later, Princess Diana’s legacy continues to impact those whose lives were intertwined with hers.

PEOPLE presents The Story of Diana: Archival footage and conversations with those who knew the Princess of Wales best reveal how her story remains relevant today. Now on PeopleTV.

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Queen Elizabeth

Shutterstock; Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

The Queen, who died in Sept. 2022, was criticized for her silence in the days that followed Diana’s death, but she spoke out in a televised speech on Sept. 5, 1997, as both “your Queen” and “as a grandmother.”

Although the monarch is usually stoic, she’s shown her ability to express warmth, especially in the years before her death — participating in comedy skits like at the 2012 Olympics with James Bond and sharing the screen with Paddington Bear for her Platinum Jubilee in summer 2022.

“The Queen can now see Diana’s legacy is a huge force for good,” says Seward.

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King Charles

Antony Jones/UK Press via Getty; Chris Jackson/WPA Pool/Shutterstock

Andrew Morton, Diana’s biographer, says that despite King Charles’ many achievements as the longest-serving Prince of Wales and current monarch, his first marriage will “always haunt him.”

“Just as Henry VIII is remembered for his six wives, Prince Charles is remembered for his first wife,” Morton says. “It will always haunt him. His life has been defined by his marriage.”

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Prince William

James Gray/Shutterstock; Julian Finney/Getty

Prince William was just 15 when his mother died. Today, as a 41-year-old man and father of three, he carries on Diana’s legacy— from supporting her causes to his hands-on approach as a dad to Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. His decision to move his family from London to the countryside of Windsor last year reflects Diana’s wishes for him to have as normal an upbringing as possible.

“William is the living example of his mother,” says Diana’s former bodyguard Ken Wharfe.

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Prince Harry

Tim Rooke/Shutterstock; Michael M. Santiago/Getty

Prince Harry was just 12 when he walked behind his mother’s casket during her funeral, something he later criticized.

“I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances,” he said in 2017.

Harry, now 38, has called himself “my mother’s son,” keeping her presence close through his charitable causes and his own family.

“Harry has made it perfectly clear that every decision he has made he refers upstairs to his mother,” says Morton. “His decision to go to America — he felt she was watching over him and giving him the thumbs-up.”

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Charles Spencer

John Stillwell/PA Images via Getty; Dave Benett/Getty

Princess Diana’s brother memorably slammed the royal family and the press for their treatment of Diana in his eulogy, and he continues to defend her. Last year, Spencer, 59, called for a police investigation into the methods used by BBC journalist Martin Bashir to secure the infamous Panorama interview with Diana.

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Queen Camilla

The public’s blame largely fell on Camilla and her affair with the then-Prince Charles. However, the pair married in 2005, and Queen Elizabeth announced her desire for Camilla to be known as “Queen Consort” when Charles took the throne in 2022.

“Her life has turned around perhaps more than anybody else’s,” says Morton. “Diana’s death has put her right in the constitutional center of Britain.”

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Sarah Ferguson

Princess Diana Archive/Getty; Shutterstock

Fergie, as the Duchess of York is known, was often pitted against her sister-in-law: “We were positioned as saint and sinner,” she told PEOPLE in 2021.

When Princess Diana died, the already fractured royal family broke apart even more, leaving Sarah outside the orbit. “She taught me so much of public life,” said Fergie. “She was so brave.”

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Hasnat Khan

Stan Karczmarz/Sygma via Getty; Simon Parry/Shutterstock

Princess Diana and the Pakistan-born heart surgeon had a quiet romance from 1995 until shortly before her death, as he wasn’t comfortable with the spotlight that came with dating the royal.

Khan, 65, spoke to the Daily Mail in 2021 against Bashir for the methods he used to secure his Panorama interview. “One of her most attractive qualities was her vulnerability,” he said. “I later realized that Martin picked on those vulnerabilities and exploited them.”

The 9th Earl Spencer shared a shot of a monument honoring Diana

Charles Spencer in 2015; Princess Diana in 1987. Photo: Amanda Edwards/WireImage; Georges De Keerle/FSP/Liaison Agency

Charles Spencer is giving a glimpse of Princess Diana’s memorial at the Spencer family’s Althorp estate.

On Tuesday, the 9th Earl Spencer, 59, posted a picture of the memorial honoring his late sister at Althorp. Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997 at age 36, is buried at the Spencer family’s ancestral home in Northamptonshire, England.

“A special corner of Althorp, this morning,” Charles wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.

While Diana’s gravesite, which is located on an island within the Round Oval Lake.

The photo, which was taken from a distance, shows the monument in autumn light. The Grecian-style memorial is topped by Diana’s name and features four columns, opening to show a silhouette of the late princess flanked by two tablets. One displays the concluding tribute the Earl Spencer gave at Diana’s funeral at Westminster Abbey, and the other features a quote from Diana about her deep love for charitable work.

Charles Spencer Shares Childhood Photo with Sister Princess Diana on 26th Anniversary of Her Death

Charles, an author, historian and podcast host, walked behind Diana’s coffin during her funeral procession with Prince William, Prince Harry, now-King Charles and Prince Philip. Later, he delivered a fiery eulogy condemning the treatment she’d faced from the tabloid media and honoring her extraordinary legacy of compassion and care.

The events surrounding Diana’s death are explored in the sixth and final season of The Crown, which premiered earlier this month.

The Earl Spencer is known to pay tribute to Diana on social media for occasions like her birthday and All Soul’s Day. He also marked the 26th anniversary of her death over the summer.

On Aug. 30, the eve of the anniversary, he posted a throwback photo of himself and Diana as children. The image, posted without a caption, showed Charles standing next to his much taller sister — who wore a pink and white striped dress — as she put an arm around his shoulder.

In his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry recalled taking his wife, Meghan Markle, to Diana’s burial place for the first time in 2022 on the 25th anniversary of his mother’s death.

Princess Diana’s Final Year: From Her Famous Landmine Walk to Summer in St. Tropez

An aerial view of the burial site of Diana, Princess of Wales at Althorp.David Goddard/Getty

“I helped Meg into the boat. It wobbled, but I quick-stepped to the middle, got it righted in time,” Harry wrote in the text, published in January. “As she found a seat in the stern, I took up the oars. They didn’t work. We’re stuck. The thick mud of the shallows had us in its grip.”

“Uncle Charles came down to the water’s edge, gave us a little shove,” he continued, referring to his mother’s brother. “We waved to him, and to my two aunts. ‘Bye. See you in a bit.’ “

“No visit to this place was ever easy, but this one… twenty-fifth anniversary,” Prince Harry wrote in Spare. “And Meg’s first time. At long last, I was bringing the girl of my dreams home to meet mum.”

Princess Diana attends a dinner at the British Embassy in Washington, DC, November 1985.Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty

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“We hesitated, hugging, and then I went first. I placed flowers on the grave. Meg gave me a moment, and I spoke to my mother in my head, told her I missed her, asked her for guidance and clarity,” Prince Harry wrote. “Feeling that Meg might also want a moment, I went around the hedge, scanned the pond. When I came back, Meg was kneeling, eyes shut, palms against the stone.”

“I asked, as we walked back to the boat, what she’d prayed for,” he added. “Clarity, she said. And guidance.”

Sales of one-piece swimming costumes soar by 333% in the US after the latest episodes of The Crown

Elizabeth Debicki recreating the iconic swimwear looks worn by Princess Diana in season 6 of The Crown . Photo: Pool RAT/REY/Gamma-Rapho via Getty;Netflix

Princess Diana’s iconic swimwear looks are making a comeback for a reason.

The casual attire she chose for her final summer while cruising through the Mediterranean on various sun-soaked vacations with Prince William, Prince Harry and new boyfriend Dodi Fayed was symbolic in more ways than one.

Gone were the fancy designer gowns (having literally just sold them in a high-profile auction at Christie’s in Manhattan earlier that year) and embracing a new phase in her life post-divorce from Prince Charles, the summer of 1997 was a time of sartorial metamorphosis for the princess, as depicted in the opening episodes of season six of The Crown.

“If you look at the wedding dress, which is humongous and very over the top, and then you get to the revenge dress and then you strip it right back to the swimwear,” Sidonie Roberts, one of the show’s costume designers explains to PEOPLE. “There’s this sense of exposing and allowing yourself to unfold. There’s an actual unfolding. We said it [was] like the cocooned butterfly.”

Princess Diana in St Tropez on July 20, 2023.Lionel Cironneau/AP Photo

For that fateful summer, just months before her death in Paris on August 31, Princess Diana was seen in a perfectly curated collection of swimsuits (a crew member confirms she packed very little else!). Many of them were bespoke designs by the Israeli brand Gottex, whose founder Leah Gottlieb met with the princess in London and offered to supply her with some one-off pieces for her upcoming trip to St. Tropez where she was due to spend time on Dodi’s father Mohammed Al Fayed’s yacht.

The opening episode of season six of the Netflix drama shows exactly that. Wearing a medley of stylish one-piece swimsuits, from glamorous leopard print to vivid lime green and purple ombre, actress Elizabeth Debicki showcases Diana’s new less-is-more approach brilliantly, wearing swimsuits recreated by the same brand.

So iconic were the looks that Gottex recently launched a limited edition version of Diana’s leopard print design, which the royal wore to try and steer the paparazzi gaze away from her children during her first trip to the South of France with the Al Fayed’s, in a scene recreated in the show. The “Diana” collection features two versions of the animal print design, with prices starting from $160.

Princess Diana in the Gottex leopard print swimsuit in the summer of 1997.Michel Dufour/WireImage

 In another scene from part one of the final season (part two premieres on Dec. 14), Diana is seen wearing a low-back Tiffany blue swimsuit, her back to the camera, re-creating one of the final and most poignant paparazzi images of Diana. Caught in a reflective moment, perched on the end of a diving board on Fayed’s yacht staring out into the endless ocean, it’s also the image Netflix chose for the cover.

“I really love the blue swimsuit that Diana wears when she walks out to the end of the diving board and sits down,” Debicki recently told Harper’s Bazaar, adding; “There was just something about that swimsuit and recreating that moment that felt very sacred and important, and it was very important we got it right.”

 Testament to the longevity of her style status, one-piece swimsuits have been flying off the shelves since the new season premiered. According to Google, searches for “one-piece swimsuit” skyrocketed 176% worldwide and 333% in the U.S. Searches for “blue swimsuit” also soared by 158% worldwide and a staggering 846% in the U.S.

According to Jacques Azagury, her go-to designer during the last decade of her life, the style transition we saw during those final months had been a long time coming.

“It was the time of the supermodel, and everyone was wearing more body-conscious dresses and she was super fit,” the Moroccan-born, London-based designer tells PEOPLE. “After the break-up of the marriage, she rediscovered herself and she turned into this unbelievably stunning woman, that’s when her personality really started to shine.”

On whether he thinks the moments they shared nearly 40 years ago seem like a lifetime ago, he shakes his head: “No, it seems like it was yesterday because she is ever-present and still so prominent.”

“They were chatting away while they were dancing. I was very impressed,” Donahue’s wife Marlo Thomas said

Princess Diana (left) and Phil Donahue (right). Photo: Ken Goff/Gett

The late Phil Donahue and Princess Diana once shared a special moment together.

In an interview with host Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live in 2020, Donahue — who died on Aug. 18 at 88 years old after a “long illness” — sat down with his wife, Marlo Thomas, and played a game about celebrities he had met. And in doing so, Donahue opened up about an unforgettable night he once had with Princess Diana.

“I danced with her,” he revealed before joking, “I had to fight off all the guys who wanted to cut in!”

Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue’s Marriage: All About Their Decades-Long Relationship

Thomas explained that she was speaking at a charity luncheon in Chicago in 1997 when she was asked if her talk show host husband would do a favor.

“They said, ‘We need a man to dance with Princess Diana and there are three rules,’” she recalled. “‘A: he has to be married, B: she has to be in the room, the wife has to be in the room, and C: he has to be at least 6 feet tall, so we’d like Phil to be that person.’ So I told Phil and he said, ‘Oh I don’t want to do that,’ because Phil’s very shy, people don’t realize that. He did though.”

She continued, “He had his first dance with Princess Diana at the party and they got along great. They were chatting away while they were dancing. I was very impressed.”

Phil Donahue (left) and Princess Diana (right).Mike Forster/Daily Mail/Shutterstock

Later appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show, Donahue noted that he “never had so many pictures taken of me” as he did that night.

The couple also revealed they kept the photos of the dance, in which Diana can be seen in a floor-length purple gown and Donahue was dressed in a tux with a bowtie.

“My dancing partner,” Donahue called her.

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Phil Donahue.Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage

Oprah Winfrey Declares ‘There Wouldn’t Have Been an Oprah Show Without Phil Donahue’ in Tribute to Talk Show Legend

Donahue died on Sunday, Aug. 18, his family announced the next day in a statement first given to Today. They said he had Thomas, who he had been married to for 44 years, by his side along with “his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie.”

The 20-time Emmy winner forged a path for future daytime talk show hosts like Geraldo Rivera, Sally Jessy Raphael, Ricki Lake, Montel Williams and Oprah Winfrey — several of whom posted sweet tributes to Donahue after the news of his death.

“There wouldn’t have been an Oprah Show without Phil Donahue being the first to prove that daytime talk and women watching should be taken seriously,” Winfrey wrote in an Instagram post. “He was a pioneer. I’m glad I got to thank him for it. Rest in peace Phil 🙏🏽🕊️.”

Raphael shared a similar sentiment, writing, “His show changed the way we talked, what we talked about, and gave a voice to everyone. If there wasn’t a Phil Donahue, there would have never been a Sally Jessy Raphael. Quite simply, Phil was a legend, and his demise is a great loss to the world. My thoughts and prayers go out to Marlo and their family.”

The final season of ‘The Crown’ showed how Princess Diana’s two sons dealt with the aftermath of their mother’s tragic death in 1997

Prince William, Princess Diana and Prince Harry in May 1995. Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty

The Crown‘s final season covers the tragic death of Princess Diana — and how her young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, coped with the news.

As portrayed in the Netflix show, Prince William and Prince Harry — just 15 and 12 at the time — were at Balmoral Castle in Scotland when their mother died at age 36 in a Paris car crash in August 1997. Queen Elizabeth usually spent her summer months in Scotland with members of the royal family regularly visiting her, and King Charles has kept the tradition going.

In the BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days released in 2017, Prince William recalled “just feeling completely numb, disorientated, dizzy” upon learning about his mother’s death.

“You feel very, very confused,” William, now 41, said. “And you keep asking yourself, ‘Why me?’ All the time, ‘Why? What have I done? Why? Why has this happened to us?’ “

At the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2022, Prince William spoke about his personal connection to the country and how it holds both his “happiest” and “saddest” memories.

“I was in Balmoral when I was told that my mother had died. Still in shock, I found sanctuary in the service at Crathie Kirk that very morning,” he said. “And in the dark days of grief that followed, I found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors. As a result, the connection I feel to Scotland will forever run deep.”

Prince William and Princess Diana in 1991.Manuela DUPONT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty

14 Heartbreaking Quotes About Princess Diana from Prince William and Prince Harry

Prince Harry was told the news about his mother’s accident by his father, Charles. Harry, now 39, wrote in his memoir Spare, released early this year, that he was woken up by his father and informed of the crash.

“I remember waiting patiently for Pa to confirm that indeed Mummy was all right,” Harry recalled. “And I remember him not doing that.”

Charles told his younger son that Diana “didn’t make it.”

“These phrases remain in my mind like darts in a board,” Prince Harry said. “He did say it that way, I know that much for sure. She didn’t make it. And then everything seemed to come to a stop.”

Prince Harry and Princess Diana in 1991.Martin Keene/PA Images via Getty

Although Prince Harry reflected on his mother’s death and the aftermath in Spare, The Crown‘s creator Peter Morgan recently told Variety that he didn’t read the revealing book.

“I’ve not read a word of it,” Morgan said. “Not that I wouldn’t be interested. But I didn’t want his voice to inhabit my thinking too much. I’ve got a lot of sympathy with him, a lot of sympathy. But I didn’t want to read his book.”

Elizabeth Debicki at The Crown premiere on Nov. 12, 2023.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Elizabeth Debicki, who played Princess Diana in The Crown’s final seasons,  exclusively told PEOPLE at the Los Angeles premiere that she “learned a lot” playing the late royal.

“I don’t think you come anywhere near sort of learning as much as I learned about this character and not feel that the only thing worth doing in life is putting love into the world,” she said.

The actress also opened up about what she discovered about Princess Diana’s personality.

“I mean, I think I learned things about the degree to which she had an enormous and wicked sense of humor, the difficulties that she was facing, the way that she triumphed through them, the way she used her voice in a way that was sort of very progressive at the time,” Debicki said to PEOPLE. “Yeah, I learned a lot.”

The actress plays Diana in the upcoming sixth and final season of ‘The Crown’ — coming to Netflix on Nov. 16

The Crown star Elizabeth Debicki is on the cover of this week’s ‘Radio Times’; ‘Vogue’ Magazine December 1991 – Princess Diana. Photo: Radio Times; Patrick Demarchelier/Vogue Magazine

Elizabeth Debicki is honoring Princess Diana in her latest cover shoot.

The Crown star, 33, recreated Diana’s iconic 1991 Vogue cover for the new issue of Radio Times ahead of the upcoming sixth season — in which she plays the late princess — premiering on Netflix on Nov. 16.

In the image, Debicki is seen smiling while looking straight at the camera in character as Diana as she wears a black turtleneck sweater just like the one worn by the royal on the classic cover. The Australian actress wears a short, choppy blonde wig, emulating Diana’s hairdo, and wears similar makeup.

Elizabeth Debicki recreates Diana’s 1991 ‘Vogue’ cover for ‘Radio Times’.Radio Times
Elizabeth Debicki on the Most Important Thing She Learned While Playing Princess Diana in The Crown

Debicki portrays Princess Diana in her final days in the upcoming sixth and last season of The Crown. Princess Diana was killed in a car crash on Aug. 31, 1997, after being chased by photographers in Paris’ Pont de l’Alma tunnel.

The actress’s final appearance in the role follows her Emmy-nominated turn first playing the princess in the fifth season.

Andrew Morton, the author of Diana’s 1992 biography Diana: Her True Story who worked closely with the princess on the book, told Radio Times that Debicki played the role with “uncanny empathy” in the new issue.

Princess Diana on the cover of ‘Vogue’ in the December 1991 issue.Patrick Demarchelier/Vogue Magazine
The Crown‘s Kate Middleton and Prince William Make Their Red Carpet Debut at L.A. Premiere

“Hers was a tangled life, often buffeted by forces outside her sway. A woman searching for herself when everyone wanted a piece of her,” Morton told the outlet.

Speaking on Debicki’s portrayal of Diana in her last days, he added that the events portrayed will “stir up the settled silt of remembrance and loss,” per Daily Mail.

At the premiere of The Crown on Saturday, Debicki shared with PEOPLE that she “learned a lot” playing Princess Diana in the final series.

“I don’t think you come anywhere near sort of learning as much as I learned about this character and not feel that the only thing worth doing in life is putting love into the world,” she told PEOPLE.

Debicki also discussed what surprised her about Diana’s personality.

“I think I learned things about the degree to which she had an enormous and wicked sense of humor, the difficulties that she was facing, the way that she triumphed through them, the way she used her voice in a way that was sort of very progressive at the time,” she told PEOPLE. “Yeah, I learned a lot.”

The first part of the final season of The Crown debuts on Netflix on Nov. 16. The second and concluding part of the season will arrive on Dec. 14 with six episodes.

Princess Diana died following a car crash on Aug. 31, 1997

Charles Spencer, Princess Diana. Photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic; Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty

Charles Spencer is remembering his older sister, Princess Diana.

The 9th Earl Spencer, 60, shared a post on Instagram on Saturday, Aug. 31, commemorating 27 years since Diana was killed following a car crash.

Spencer shared an image that showed various photographs and newspaper clippings centered around Princess Diana, including one article about her christening and a photo of the late royal playing outside as a young girl.

He did not include a caption with his social media post.

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All About Charles Spencer, Princess Diana’s Brother and Closest Sibling

Spencer is the youngest of five children born to John Spencer and Frances Shand Kydd.

He grew up with his three older sisters: Sarah, the eldest, born in 1955, followed by Jane in 1957 and Diana in 1961. Spencer also had an older brother named John, who was born in 1960 but died just hours later.

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Following Princess Diana’s death, Spencer said he wondered if there was more he could have done to save his sibling. “You always think, God, I wish I could’ve protected her. It was just … it was devastating,” he told PEOPLE in 2017. “I always felt … intensely protective towards her.”

Since Diana’s death, Charles has become an outspoken defender of her legacy and champion of her causes.

Charles Spencer, Princess Diana. Amanda Edwards/WireImage; Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty
Charles Spencer Shares Rare Childhood Photo with Sister Princess Diana and Their Mom

Spencer was the one who gave the eulogy during Princess Diana’s funeral on Sept. 6, 1997.

Serving as “the representative of a family in grief, in a country in mourning, before a world in shock,” he paid tribute to his late sister as the “very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty.”

Spencer also called out how Diana was treated by the tabloid media, describing her as “the most hunted person of the modern age.”

While later speaking with PEOPLE, Spencer reflected on the moment and said the line “summed up so much of the anger I felt toward those who had done that to her.” He added of his eulogy, “In the final paragraph I had run out of energy, almost out of oxygen. I had to punch each syllable out of the base of my stomach.”

The ‘Blue Bloods’ actor said he was asked to cut in on the Princess of Wales’ second dance with John Travolta

Sabienna Bowman is a Digital News Editor at PEOPLE, where she has been working since 2023. She previously worked at POPSUGAR, Bustle and Scarymommy.

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Tom Selleck (Left); Princess Diana. Photo: Paul Zimmerman/WireImage; Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty

If not for John Travolta, Tom Selleck may have never danced with Princess Diana.

In a recent interview with Town & Country, the Blue Bloods actor, 79, discussed a passage in his new memoir You Never Know, where he recounted how he ended up dancing with the Princess of Wales at the 1985 White House Dinner.

At the time, Selleck was filming Magnum, P.I. in Hawaii and was unsure if he would attend the event, until his publicist told him, “‘Look, this is Princess Diana’s personal guest list and there’s only three actors on it: you, Clint Eastwood and John Travolta.’ “

In his memoir, the Friends alum recalled how he and Eastwood attempted to keep a low-profile while Travolta and the princess shared their now iconic dance.

Princess Diana (Left) with Tom Selleck in 1985.Shutterstock

“We slipped away from all the dancers and moved to a spot slightly around the corner,” Selleck wrote, per USA Today. “By now John and Princess Di were dancing to an up-tempo number and rocking out. Everybody else stopped dancing and formed a circle around them, clapping their hands.”

However, when the Saturday Night Fever actor and Diana began a second dance, a British woman approached Selleck and urged him to step in and ask the princess to dance before the pair’s second spin could “start rumors.”

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He wrote, “Clint and I said nothing,’ ” before he recalled the woman saying, “‘Mr. Selleck, you must step in and replace him.’ “

“’I’M NOT CUTTING IN ON JOHN TRAVOLTA!’ was my reply, probably in too loud a voice. She was not pleased,” Selleck continued.

While he didn’t cut in on Travolta, he did step up before the pair could embark on a third dance, and according to the Emmy-winner, Diana “was lovely, and there was a very shy quality about her in spite of her being well-schooled in the art of conversation.”

He added to Town & Country that while he doesn’t often get starstruck, he was dazzled by Diana. “Oh yeah, I was starstruck.”

You Never Know by Tom Selleck.Dey Street Books

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In terms of conversation, Selleck recalled to the outlet that he apologized for his lack of skills on the dance floor, revealing that he “skipped cotillion” at dance school.

“All I could do dancing was box step like we did in high school dances, a box step and a dip,” he revealed. “And I wasn’t about to dip with Princess Di! So I just talked. But she was very gracious … It was certainly memorable.”

While Selleck was dancing with Diana, his wife, Jillie Mack, got to dance with Diana’s then-husband Prince Charles (now King). “The prince danced with my wife, who’s a Brit. And he asked her for a second dance, so that was pretty neat for Jillie,” he told Town & Country.

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John Travolta (Left) and Princess Diana in 1985. Shutterstock

In the 2021 PBS special In Their Own Words: Diana, Princess of Wales, Travolta, now 70, opened up about his famous dance with Diana at the White House, revealing that Nancy Reagan was the one who introduced him to the princess.

“About 10 o’clock at night, Nancy Reagan tapped on my shoulder and said, ‘The princess, her fantasy is to dance with you. Would you like to dance with her tonight?’ ” he recalled. “And I said, ‘Well of course.’ “

Travolta gamely made Diana’s dream come true with not just one, but two dances that night.

“It was a storybook moment,” he said. “We bowed when it was over, and, you know, she was off, and I was off, and my carriage turned into a pumpkin.”