In mid-December 1995, a handwritten letter from the Queen was delivered to Diana at Kensington Palace. It suggested that, for the sake of the children, Diana and Charles should be divorced sooner rather than later. A similar letter was delivered to Charles later that day. Next morning Diana began discussions with Anthony Julius, a senior lawyer at Mission de Reya, whose senior partner Lord Mishcon had advised her during the separation. The divorce-in which Diana won a settlement estimated at 27 millions but lost the right to the title Her Royal Highness-was announced in February the following year after much legal wrangling. the divorce became absolute in August, 1996. It was agreed that she should continue to live at Kensington Palace, to provide a secure home for her sons, although she had to remove her office from St James' Palace. It suited Diana, who had never seriously considered going to live abroad. Gradually, her self-confidence grew, especially as she felt she could now achieve her aim of helping others in her own, highly individual way. And partly, some now believe, because of her growing romance with Dodi Fayed, the film-producer son of controversial businessman Mohamed Al Fayed. They romance became public when the sleek, relaxed princess was pictured with her sons, sunbathing and diving from Dodi's father's yacht in the Mediterranean. After returning the boys to Britain, Diana flew to France again to enjoy a further five-day holiday with Dodi on the yacht off Corsica and Sardinia and finally met with her destiny. On August 31, 1997, Diana aged 36, was dead, killed with Dodi in the horrific midnight Paris car crash which stunned the world. And for countless millions, who had followed every twist and turn of her incredible life story, the fairytale was indeed over.
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