The breakdown of Princess Diana and then- Prince Charles ' marriage—including the divorce neither wanted but which Queen Elizabeth II quietly insisted they get—wasn't an obvious precursor to the most tragic of outcomes .

In actuality, despite her persistent feeling that the royal family had thrown her out with yesterday's tabloids, the world still could have been Diana's oyster after her divorce. She retained a residence at Kensington Palace and the title of Princess of Wales. She agreed to a $22.5 million settlement , plus $600,000 a year to run her office.

And, more important than anything else, she has sons Prince William and Prince Harry to look after half the time.

But after she died on Aug. 31, 1997 , at the age of 36, it became impossible to vie

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