Remembering Princess Di on Her 50th Birthday

Princess Diana would have been 50 years old on July 1, 2011, if her life hadn't been snatched away so suddenly in a Paris highway tunnel on Aug. 31, 1997. Only 36 when she died, the "Queen of People's Hearts" and mother of the future king of England nevertheless left a lasting legacy in photos. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/62091/princess-diana-the-best-photos#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Gemma Levine/Getty Images)

Meeting the public on her wedding day, July 29, 1981. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/62091/princess-diana-the-best-photos#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Princess Diana Archive/Getty images)

Princess Diana wears what some nicknamed "the Elvis look" in Hong Kong, 1989. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/62091/princess-diana-the-best-photos#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Tim Graham/Tim Graham/Getty Images)

Princess Diana mingles with the crowd at the Royal Ascot Races, 1985. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/62091/princess-diana-the-best-photos#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Tim Graham/Tim Graham/Getty Images)

The princess at a banquet in Canada, 1983. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/57251/princess-diana-at-her-loveliest#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Anwar Hussein/WireImage)

Her silk taffeta ball gown was decorated with hand embroidery, sequins, lace, and 10,000<br> pearls; the train was 25 feet long. It is among the most famous wedding dresses in history.   <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/57251/princess-diana-at-her-loveliest#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Finally, the Moment Arrives: A Kiss to Remember <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/57671/charles-and-dianas-wedding-day#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Keystone/Getty Images)

July 29, 1981: On the balcony of Buckingham Palace, the former Lady Diana Spencer waves to<br> the London crowds beside her new husband Charles, Prince of Wales. The marriage, of course, was not as idyllic as the wedding -- but Prince Charles and Princess Diana did parent two strapping sons together, and now one of them, Prince William, is poised to take a wife in a ceremony that, like Charles and Diana's, will be watched by hundreds of millions around the world. But it may not be quite as lavish.   <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/57671/charles-and-dianas-wedding-day#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Next Stop, Honeymoon, 1981.   <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/57681/royals-on-honeymoon#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

When the world's wealthiest and most influential families decide where they'll spend that<br> fateful first trip after their weddings, only the best will do -- in other words, Niagara Falls is out. Luckily, Prince William and Kate Middleton can cull ideas from honeymooning royals of years past. That includes William's parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, who went to the family's Balmoral estate in Scotland after their wedding in 1981. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/57681/royals-on-honeymoon#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)

Princess Diana looks on as the boys ready for Prince Harry's first day at Wetherby School in<br> Notting Hill, London.   <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/52451/princess-diana-with-her-sons#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)

Diana, Princess of Wales, holds baby Prince William in Scotland in 1983.   <a target="_blank" href="http://www.life.com/gallery/52451/princess-diana-with-her-sons#index/0">For more Princess Diana pictures visit Life.com</a> (Anwar Hussein/WireImage)