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'Diana, Princess of Wales with her sons'

1 portrait matching these criteria:

- npg number matching 'P717(16)'

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© John Swannell / Camera Press

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'Diana, Princess of Wales with her sons'

by John Swannell
Iris print, 1994
15 1/2 in. x 19 in. (394 mm x 482 mm)
Given by the photographer, John Swannell, 1998
Primary Collection
NPG P717(16)

Sittersback to top

Artistback to top

  • John Swannell (1946-), Photographer. Artist of 128 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Princess Diana and her sons were captured in this informal pose during a relaxed moment between sittings for an official Christmas card.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Cooper, John, Great Britons: The Great Debate, 2002, p. 159 Read entry

    During her marriage, Diana found it hard to reconcile the demands of her royal duties with the spontaneous giving of maternal love. The Windsors' concept of monarchical duty has not permitted them to develop a child-centred view of upbringing. Diana's own family was similar, and she was determined to provide warmth, stability, and normal fun for her boys to balance the country sports encouraged by their father. Some expressed surprise that they were permitted to wear baseball caps, eat hamburgers and visit theme parks, and there was much tut-tutting when she took them, under-age, to a certificate 15 film.

  • Tinker, Christopher, Speak its Name! - Quotations by and about Gay Men and Women, 2016, p. 315

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Portrait setback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1994back to top

Current affairs

The Queen opens the Channel Tunnel. After seven years of digging, various financial hold-ups and technical difficulties, a long-awaited rail link is created between Britain and France. The tunnel is 31 miles long with 24 miles under the sea, the longest under-sea tunnel in the world.

Art and science

Trevor Bayliss starts production of his clockwork radio. The innovation is a fantastic example of simple environmentally friendly design and has been found particularly useful in areas where there is no electricity supply, such as remote communities in Africa.
Blur release their classic Britpop album depicting London life, Parklife.

International

Violence breaks out in Rwanda. An estimated 800,000 people were massacred in the Rwandan Genocide, most of them Tutsis, murdered by extremist Hutu militia groups.
South Africa holds its first democratic elections in which full enfranchisement is granted. The African National Congress led by Nelson Mandela won the majority of the vote, and Mandela became the country's first black State President.

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