She was the People’s Princess – and the people of the North East will never forget how Diana touched their lives.
As the nation today marks 25 years since her tragic death, we look back at the memorable occasions when her royal duties brought her to our region.
The Princess of Wales received a warm welcome each time, as she captivated the North East in a series of visits during the 1980s and 1990s.
Her first solo visit to the region – a cherished memory for many Geordies – came in May 1983.
The fresh-faced new royal had a day of engagements on Tyneside, less than two years after her marriage to Prince Charles.
“Princess Diana warmed the hearts of thousands of Geordies when she opened the new Redheugh Bridge,” reported our sister paper the Evening Chronicle.
“She arrived on a plane of the Queen’s flight looking radiant in a blue velvet suit and matching sparkling earrings.”
Many had to brave a bitterly cold wind for up to six hours to catch a glimpse of the princess, who had recently given birth to Prince William.
Thousands turned up to cheer her on and schoolchildren chanted “We want Di” as the then 21-year-old Diana arrived.
Accounts from the time say she was greeted by gasps of appreciation as she stepped daintily down the stairway of the royal jet and shot a smile at waiting photographers.
She was in Newcastle to officially open the city’s new Redheugh Bridge, which carries a plaque bearing her name, and later cut the ribbon at the £30m Findus factory in Longbenton. Again there were thousands waiting to see her.
Her visit to Percy Hedley School in Forest Hall, Newcastle, in 1989 was an example of what made her so special.
Elaine Boyd of Warkworth, Northumberland, a pupil with cerebral palsy, wrote and asked the princess if she could come and visit her school and could not believe it when the princess replied and said yes.
Unfortunately a trip to Cramlington in May 1989 made headlines for the wrong reasons when she was lunged at by serial sex pest, before he was caught by Diana’s security.
In 1991, the royal favourite visited Thomson House in the Groat Market, home of the Chronicle, as she opened our colour presses.
She also paid a visit to St James’s Park, where she was presented with football shirts for her two sons.
Typically, she planned her visits around places where she felt she could offer the most comfort to the suffering or disadvantaged.
In August, 1992, she travelled to St Oswald’s Hospice in Gosforth, Newcastle, and, the next year, St Benedict’s, in Sunderland. Staff remember the way she was never afraid to hold hands and offer personal words of support. She also visited Newcastle Barnardo’s centres in Jesmond and Longbenton.
Her visit in August 1992 also saw her officially open the marina at St Peter’s Basin, where she enjoyed a chat with Irene Allen, division commissioner of the Walker Girl Guides.
Diana was surrounded by bodyguards and, after spending a minute or two with Irene and the Brownies and Guides, those surrounding her tried to hurry the Princess along. Without looking away from the starstruck bunch, she said: “In a moment. I’m talking to the children.”
Most poignant, perhaps, was her visit in December 1992 to Interconnections Systems factory in South Shields, where Diana ‘s smile hid the fact her separation from Prince Charles had been officially announced that day.
And in June 1993 another visit to Newcastle saw her visit Relate, in Ridley Place, where Age Concern volunteer Meg Colpitts described her as “lovely and very down to earth, so natural”.
The Princess died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, as the Mercedes car she was travelling in crashed into the 13th pillar of the Alma tunnel at 120mph.
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