Claim:
An image authentically depicts a young Diana Spencer during her time as a nanny before she became Princess of Wales.
Rating:
Since at least 2024, an image has circulated online purportedly showing a teenage Diana Spencer working as a nanny before she became Princess of Wales.
Social media users posted the black-and-white picture, which shows Diana taking a baby in a stroller out for a walk, on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Reddit and YouTube. Some posts said the picture was from 1980, whereas others dated it to 1979. Similarly, some posts said Diana, who came from an aristocratic family, was 18 years old in the picture, and others said she was 19.
This is an authentic image of the princess, dated Nov. 1, 1980, in Getty Images’ archives. Diana was born on July 1, 1961, per the British Royal Family’s official website. Assuming Getty Images, a reputable visual-media agency, is correct about the photo’s date, she would have been 19 at the time of the picture.
According to the caption on Getty Images, photographer John Hoffman took the picture of Diana with her “young charge Patrick Robinson” during his daily outing in the “Eaton Square district of London during her time as a nanny.” However, it is likely the child’s name was actually Patrick Robertson, not Robinson, per a report from the American television program “Inside Edition” on Diana’s time as a nanny that featured the image (see 0:44).
Before she joined the royal family, Diana’s official title was actually Lady Diana Spencer, as her father became an earl through inheritance in 1975. “Inside Edition” reported she made $5 an hour working as a nanny.
The royal family’s biography of Diana says she “looked after the child of an American couple” and worked as a kindergarten teacher “for a while” before becoming engaged to King Charles, then Prince of Wales. The family officially announced the engagement on Feb. 24, 1981.
Snopes has previously fact-checked the authenticity of other images featuring Diana, who former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair famously described as the “people’s princess.” Among them are a photo of her holding hands with Mother Teresa and a picture of her shaking hands with an AIDS patient.
Sources
Getty Images. “Lady Diana Spencer Takes Her Young Charge Patrick Robinson for His…” Getty Images, Photograph, 1 Nov. 1980, www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/lady-diana-spencer-takes-her-young-charge-patrick-robinson-news-photo/73389842. Accessed 3 June 2025.
Hare, Breeanna. “How Diana Became Known as ‘the People’s Princess.'” CNN, 31 Aug. 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/31/world/princess-diana-death-the-windsors-series.
Inside Edition. “Meet the Woman Who Hired Princess Diana as a Nanny before She Married Charles.” YouTube, 19 May 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-8yxRBu1Bo. Accessed 3 June 2025.
The Royal Household. “Diana, Princess of Wales.” The Royal Family, The Royal Household, 14 Mar. 2016, www.royal.uk/diana-princess-wales. Accessed 3 June 2025.