Rarely-Seen Photos Show a Private Side of Princess Diana's Childhood

Before she was Diana, Princess of Wales, she was Lady Diana Frances Spencer, born to a family with 500 years of nobility. Diana's upbringing was posh, but it wasn't always happy; her mother, Frances, left her father, then Viscount Althorp, for another man. She lived mostly with her father after that, though he apparently left her to the care of nannies and boarding schools, Tina Brown writes in the foreword of a new coffee table book, Remembering Diana: A Life in Photographs. The tome presents more than 100 images from Diana's life, from family photographs of happier times in childhood to the royal the world came to know and love. The book is a complement to an upcoming Diana documentary, Diana: In Her Own Words, which airs on National Geographic on August 14 at 9 PM EST. Overall, these earlier images showcase the humanity of the girl who would become the People's Princess. Click through for a preview.

Diana Spencer, the fourth child of Frances and Edward Althorp, was born on July 1, 1961. She would later gain the title Lady Diana Spencer after her father became the Earl Spencer in in 1975. Here she is pictured on her first birthday.

Young Diana, pictured in her stroller at Park House, Sandringham in Norfolk, 1963. She was born into an aristocratic family; the Queen even attended her parents' wedding.

Princess Diana as a chubby-cheeked two-year-old at Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. Early in her childhood, she and her family lived in a rented property on the Queen's estate.

Diana at three years old. "She was quite a lovable child," au pair Inge Crane told CNN. "She was very, very cuddly."

A young Diana Spencer pushes a stroller at Park House, Sandringham in Norfolk. In 1983, the Queen turned Park House into a hotel specifically designed to accommodate disabled people and their families.

Diana, pictured circa 1965. Her brother, Charles, would later say she started exhibiting a spirit of giving and "fighting for good causes" at a young age.

Diana playing with her brother Charles Edward Maurice on the grounds of Park House, Sandringham when she was six years old.

A photo from a private family album shows Diana posing cheekily as a young girl. Obviously a natural in front of the camera, she also had a keen sense of style from an early age.

Diana with her brother Charles at their home in Berkshire.
"Diana deserves a place in history," Charles would say after her death. "This was a special person, and not just a beautiful one."

A family photo taken at the 50th wedding anniversary of Diana's grandparents, the Earl and Countess Spencer. From left to right: Richard Wake-Walker, Lady Anne Wake-Walker, Elizabeth Wake-Walker, Christopher Wake-Walker, Earl Spencer, Countess Spencer, Lady Sarah Spencer, Viscount Althrop, Lady Jane Spencer. Diana Spencer and Charles Spencer stand in the front.

Diana, her siblings, and her father pose for a photograph at home. The family moved to the Spencer estate after Diana's grandfather died, making her father the eighth Earl Spencer.

Diana pictured during a summer vacation. "Diana's dreams all through her childhood really were just to be happily married and to have a large family," nanny Mary Clarke told CNN.

A barefoot Diana poses with a croquet mallet while on holiday in Itchenor, West Sussex.

Always poised, even when jumping off a slide into the family’s pool at Park House, a youthful Diana shows off her fun side. Her red swimming badges can be seen at the bottom of her bathing suit.

Diana sits on her suitcases as she prepares to go to boarding school at Riddlesworth Hall. Distraught over the separation from her home, she told her father, “If you love me, you won’t leave me here.”

Diana pictured during a summer vacation in Itchenor, West Sussex in Britain.

Diana grew up surrounded by dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, and horses. “She loved animals when she was a child,” her mother said. “She loved everything that was small and furry or had feathers.” Diana learned to ride horses before she was four, but after she broke her arm in a riding accident, her love faded. Still, her empathy for all living creatures would be a hallmark of her life. Here she holds her pet guinea pig during a pet show in Sandringham. She brought her guinea pig to her first boarding school, Riddlesworth Hall, where she was made head of “Pets’ Corner,” where the students’ pets were housed.

Diana’s pet Shetland pony Soufflé moves in to nuzzle her 14-year-old owner. Diana kept the pony at her mother and stepfather’s house on the Isle of Seil, off Scotland’s west coast, which she visited during vacations.