Over the past few years, a lot of attention has been put on the royal family due in large part to the marriage between Prince Harry and American born Meghan Markle. More recently even, the press, both British and American, have covered the step back of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from the royal family with their roots planted now in the United States. However, the press that came with them resembled that of the past coverage of the Duke’s mother, Princess Diana.
Next in our series covering the top 100 Greatest Women on Coins as described in Whitman Publishing’s 2015 publication by author Ron Guth, we go back to a time when the Princess of Wales became one of the most adored members of the British royal family. A top-10 ranking describes not only her popularity back then but her popularity still today 20+ years after her death.
#6 - Princess Diana
In July of 1961, The Honourable Diana Frances Spencer was born. Up until her father inherited the title of Earl in 1975 and she became Lady Diana Frances Spencer, Diana lived a normal life as a child. When she met the Prince of Wales, Charles, her life changed forever. At the time, Charles was dating Diana’s older sister, Lady Sarah, and it did not take long for attention to turn to Diana in 1980. By February of 1981, Charles and Diana were engaged.
On July 29, 1981, Prince Charles and Princess Diana would be married at Westminster Abbey just after she turned 20 years old. Over 3,000 guests would be in attendance and over 700 million would watch the televised event around the world. As she wed the Prince, her title would then change to Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales. From their relationship came two children, Prince William and Prince Harry. While their life seemed like a fairytale, their marriage would end in divorce in August of 1996 as Diana blamed the split on the pressure that came with her position, the media scrutiny, and Prince Charles’ relationship with ex Camilla Parker-Bowles for whom we know now he would come to later marry. In August of 1997, Princess Diana would tragically be killed in a car accident that would also take the life of the driver and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed.
Diana would come to be a beloved and attractive figure to put on modern coins as she appears on numerous coins from all different countries. Her marriage to Charles in 1981 and her death in 1997 would incite a number of coins in which she would be depicted. Upon her marriage, the country of Great Britain produced a large 25-pence coin in copper-nickel and silver with Diana and Charles on the reverse. In 1999 after her death, the country would strike a 5-pound coin in copper-nickel, silver, and gold, entitling the commemorative coins “In Memory of Diana.” According to Guth, the 5-pound coin would be nothing short of ironic as Queen Elizabeth II would appear on the opposite side. He cited their strained relationship for the irony in which he continued to point out the noticeably larger profile of Queen Elizabeth on the coin versus Diana’s profile.
Those countries that produced marriage coins of the Prince and Princess also produced coins upon her death. However, the author points out that there are more coins in honor of her tragic passing than of the marriage coins, noting the popularity of the beloved Princess even after her death.
In August of 2017, the 20th Anniversary of Princess Diana’s passing was commemorated with a number of coins in remembrance.
Collecting coins with the image of Princess Diana is fairly easy given the number of coins that have been produced. Guth quotes prices ranging from $5 for common strikes to thousands for the gold examples.