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'SUMMER MOMENT'

Princess Diana’s Brother Posts Never-Before-Seen Childhood Photo of Her

Diana would have turned 65 this month.

Cailey PetschHealth and Beauty Intern

PublishedJul 8, 2026, 5:03 PM EDT

UpdatedJul 8, 2026, 5:03 PM EDT

Updated Jul 8, 2026, 5:03 PM EDTPublished Jul 8, 2026, 5:03 PM EDT

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Charles Spencer, the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, shared a never-before-seen photo of the beloved royal as a young girl.

On July 8, Charles shared a childhood photo on Instagram of himself and his sister, the late Princess Diana, playing on a backyard swing set in 1966.

Charles, then two years old, wears puffy blue bloomers and a white t-shirt and stares down at his legs while grasping the wooden swing’s chains. His golden-blond hair echoes the fluffy style he wears six decades later, though the hue has since turned entirely white.

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​A five-year-old Diana, wearing a blue-and-white floral-patterned leotard, swings on the set’s red metal bars. Her blond hair is cut in a short bob with straight-across bangs—a cute, age-appropriate mid-century style, decades before her statement-making pixie cut.

Charles, now 62, posted the photo with a note, writing, “Summer moment, 60 years ago.” Despite the short-and-sweet caption, commenters shared more somber sentiments.

“What seems to be a strong Spencer trait: courage,” one person wrote. “True courage. You both have it.”

“Still hear her name mentioned most weeks in 2026,” another supporter shared.

​Diana’s inimitable impact has previously been discussed by Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer.

​In a 2025 interview with Good Morning Britain, host Richard Madeley asked Charles, “It’s 27 years since your sister died in Paris that night, how alive in your memory is she now?”

​“Yes, and in so many people’s,” he responded. “I mean, even when I was in makeup just now, somebody came up almost crying, saying how much that she meant to them. And every day, people tell me what an inspiration she was, how much they miss her, and what they did on the day she died. It’s extraordinary.”

​Diana died at just 36 from injuries sustained during a catastrophic car accident in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel.

​Pushing further, Medley asked, “And what are your reflections on 27 years, nearly three decades, on the passage of time and how it assuages grief?”

​“Yes, well, I think, I mean, I’m sure everyone watching this program has had trauma in their family at some point,” Charles said. “And, like everyone else, you sort of get used to it, without it ever going away.”

​Charles’s post of Diana was made six days before his sister would have turned 65.

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On May 15, he felt her absence at his Arizona wedding, where he married his fourth wife, podcaster Cat Jarman, in an intimate U.S. ceremony.

Days before Charles shared the throwback photo, Diana’s son made a tumultuous visit to London.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles, who is now King Charles III, had two sons together: Prince William, 44, and ​Prince Harry, 41. The latter has lived in the U.S. with his wife, former actress Meghan Markle, since 2020, making infrequent visits to his home country.

​The estranged Duke of Sussex made a solo U.K. appearance on July 6 for a week of engagements in support of charity.

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Cailey PetschHealth and Beauty Intern

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