On her first official visit, in July 1985, she met children at a Red Cross adventure camp for youngsters with disabilities at Hindleap Warren, in Forest Row.
In a diary entry from the time, then-chairwoman of the Activenture camp Eileen Nicol said: “The Princess of Wales was charming. She has so much compassion for the children. She spoke to every one of them.”
Diana speaking to children at the Red Cross adventure camp Activenture at Hindleap Warren in Forest Row in 1985 (Image: Argus Photographic Archive) The much loved royal met Body Shop founder Anita Roddick the following year at the store’s now demolished headquarters in Littlehampton, with Anita giving the princess a demonstration of some of the products.
The princess at the Body Shop headquarters (Image: Argus Photographic Archive) The Body Shop announced in October 2024 that it was moving its headquarters from Littlehampton to the Plus X Innovation Hub near the University of Brighton.
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A Sussex success story, the brand was founded by Dame Anita in 1976.
In 1987, the Princess of Wales returned to Sussex at Arundel Cathedral to attend the wedding of her friend Edward Fitzalan-Howard, then Earl of Arundel, and fiancée Georgina Gore.
Princess Diana with broadcaster David Frost in Arundel after attending the wedding of the then Earl of Arundel (Image: Argus Photographic Archive) In 1988, the princess visited Lewes Magistrates Court. The same year she was photographed with conductor Mark Wigglesworth at a concert in Brighton.
Diana with Mark Wigglesworth (Image: Argus Photographic Archive) In 1989 she chatted to residents at the Eastbourne Disabled Housing Trust.
Princess Diana chatting to residents at the Eastbourne Disabled Housing Trust on May 10, 1989 (Image: Brighton Argus) After opening the International Congress for the Family at the Brighton Centre in July 1990, which was stormed by a group of gay activists, Diana went on to the Sussex Aids Centre in Kemp Town later that day to speak to people with the virus.
Diana outside the Brighton Centre (Image: Argus Photographic Archive) Diana’s last visit to the county before her untimely death was a fleeting one, catching the Gatwick Express train from Victoria with sons William and Harry in April 1997, as they prepared to fly to the Caribbean.
She was 36 when she was killed in a car crash in a Parisian tunnel on August 31, 1997, as her driver Henri Paul was fleeing paparazzi. Her companion Dodi Fayed, son of billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed, and Paul also died in the crash.