The Associated Press

LONDON (Aug. 31) - Significant dates in the life of Diana, Princess of Wales.

July 1, 1961 -- Lady Diana Frances Spencer is born, the daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer.

July 29, 1981 -- Married Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, at St. Paul's Cathedral, while millions watched the "fairy tale wedding.'' He was 12 years her senior.

June 21, 1982 -- Prince William Arthur Philip Louis born.

Sept. 15, 1984 -- Prince Harry (Henry Charles Albert David) born.

June 15, 1992 -- After months of speculation about the state of the royal marriage, Andrew Morton's book "Diana: Her True Story'' says Charles has had a longtime affair with a married woman, Camilla Parker Bowles, driving Diana to injure herself and attempt suicide.

Aug. 25, 1992 -- The Sun newspaper prints transcript of phone call monitored in December 1989 between Diana and a man who affectionately calls her "Squidgy.''

Dec.9, 1992 -- Prime Minister John Major announces to Parliament that Diana and Charles are separating but there are no plans for divorce.

Jan. 12, 1993 -- The Sun publishes transcript of intimate phone call said to be between Camilla and Charles, reportedly monitored December 1989.

June 29, 1994 -- In a TV documentary, Charles says he had committed adultery after the marriage broke down with "both having tried.''

Oct. 3, 1994 -- Anna Pasternak's book "Princess in Love'' says Diana had five-year affair with her riding instructor James Hewitt.

Nov. 20, 1995 -- In a television interview, Diana admits adultery with Hewitt.

August 1995 -- Reports link Diana and rugby star Will Carling. Carling and wife separate Sept. 29, 1995.

December 1995 -- Charles receives letter from Queen Elizabeth II urging divorce, and he agrees.

Feb. 28, 1996 -- Diana agrees to divorce.

Aug. 28, 1996 -- Final decree of divorce

Aug. 31, 1997 -- Diana killed in Paris automobile accident. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, is also killed.

AP-NY-08-30-97 2347EDT

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PARIS (Reuter) - Britain's Princess Diana and her millionaire companion Dodi Al Fayed were killed early Sunday when their car crashed while being chased through Paris by photographers on motorcycles.

Diana, the world's most photographed woman and divorced wife of the heir to the British throne, was rushed to the intensive care unit of the Salpetriere hospital in eastern Paris.

But five hours after the crash, French Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement told reporters at the hospital doctors had failed to save her life. The driver of the car was also killed. The fourth person in the car, one of the princess's bodyguards, was injured and freed from the crushed wreckage in a road tunnel under the posh Eighth District.

Diana died on the eve of a conference in Oslo at which about 100 countries will try to agree on a treaty to ban anti-personnel land mines -- her favorite cause, for which she traveled to war zone in Angola and Bosnia.

Several press photographers were taken into custody for questioning after the crash, police said.

The British ambassador to France, Sir Michael Jay, told reporters: ``The Queen and the Prince of Wales and the prime minister (Tony Blair) have been informed of the death of the Princess of Wales. Our thoughts and our prayers are with her family and with her friends.''

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles are deeply shocked and distressed by the death of Princess Diana in a car crash, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace on Sunday.

The statement, carried by Britain's Press Association news agency, said Diana's two sons, William and Harry, had been told of their mother's death.

The Press Association said news of Diana's death was passed to the queen, Prince Charles and other members of the royal family at their Balmoral estate in Scotland, where they are spending their summer holidays.

Diana, 36, and Harrods heir Al Fayed, 41, had been the focus of frenzied media attention for the past month after photographs showed the pair embracing on a Mediterranean holiday.

The accident took place about 35 minutes past midnight while the Mercedes Benz carrying the princess was being pursued by press photographers on motorcycles. The car was driving at the time through a tunnel at the Place de l'Alma, across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower, police said.

The officials declined to give the names or identify the employers of the motorcyclists. A badly damaged motorcycle was taken away from the accident site by police after the crash.

Diana was due back in Britain on Sunday after her latest holiday with Al Fayed in the Mediterranean and had been expected to see her two sons, William and Harry, at her London home at Kensington Palace.

After the breakdown of Diana's marriage to heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, culminating in a divorce a year ago, she was careful to keep any men friends out of the public eye.

But she threw caution to the winds with Al Fayed taking her sons on holiday in July on the yacht of Dodi's father, Mohammed Al Fayed, and hinted she would have a shock announcement within weeks.

Al Fayed was the heir to a business empire that included Harrods, London's ``top people's'' store.

His Egyptian-born father is one of the most controversial men in British public life. He contributed to the election defeat of Britain's former Conservative government with his allegations that senior politicians took money from him to ask questions in parliament.