She knew how to work the camera. Diana used her bright blue eyes "almost as a weapon," according to royal photographer Ian Jones, who told the Telegraph in 2007, "The most striking feature were the eyes, bright blue and with a real sparkle. She had this knack of dropping her chin slightly so that she was looking up at the lens, drawing the camera right in in a very seductive way."
Prince William inspired her to auction off her dresses for charity. In June 1997, 79 of Diana's most iconic dresses and suits were sold at Christie's auction houses in London and NYC. It was her 15-year-old son William's idea to sell the clothing in order to raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital Cancer Fund and the AIDS Crisis Trust. In a handwritten note, Diana told bidders, "The inspiration for this wonderful sale comes from just one person; our son William."
She hated her stepmother. In 1976, Diana's father married Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, without telling his four children. Diana, who was 15 at the time, slapped him across the face, saying, "That's from all of us." She and her siblings also had a nickname for their stepmother: "Acid Rain."
She loved animals. "She loved everything that was small and furry or had feathers," Diana's mother has said. She especially loved her guinea pig, Peanuts, who she brought to boarding school with her. Diana was even made head of "Pets' Corner," where students' pets were kept, at Riddlesworth Hall.
She didn't want to go to boarding school. When Diana got to Riddlesworth Hall in 1970, she reportedly told her father, "If you love me, you won't leave me here."
She was "daunted" by marrying into the royal family. In Remembering Diana: A Life in Photographs, Diana admits to being unprepared for her new life, saying, "I didn't have any idea what I let myself in for. One day, I was going to work on the Number 9 bus, and the next, I was a princess."
She was an accomplished pianist. Diana learned to play the piano when she was a little girl.
She loved classical music. One of her favourites was Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem.