'There was such a warmth and caring': Royal watcher reflects on Princess Diana's legacy 25 years after death

A Manitoba royal watcher is reflecting on the life and legacy of Princess Diana on the 25th anniversary of her tragic death that rocked the world.

Jodi Maxwell-Lee has been a royal watcher for as long as she can remember.

“It's quite shocking to think 25 years has passed because it doesn't feel like it was that long ago,” she told CTV Morning Live Winnipeg in an interview from her Portage la Prairie, Man. home Wednesday morning.

FILE - In this file photo dated Nov. 7, 1985, Britain's Princess Diana wears the Spencer tiara as she and Prince Charles attend state dinner at Government House in Adelaide, Austraila. The BBC’s board of directors has announced Wednesday Nov. 18, 2020, the appointment of a retired senior judge to lead an independent investigation into the circumstances around a controversial 1995 TV interview with Princess Diana. (AP Photo/Jim Bourdier, FILE)

On Aug. 30, 1997, a group of paparazzi camped outside the Hotel Ritz in Paris, in hopes of getting shots of Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, pursued their car to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel, where their driver lost control and crashed.

Bouquets of flowers, many including personal notes, covered the grounds outside Diana's home in Kensington Palace. Weeping citizens lined the streets outside Westminster Abbey during her funeral.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, view the floral tributes and other mementos to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, at London's Buckingham Palace, Friday Sept. 5 1997. The funeral for Princess Diana, who was killed from injuries sustained in a car crash in Paris Sunday, is planned for Saturday at Westminster Abbey. (AP Photo/Pool)

Maxwell-Lee recalled the princess’ death coming at the dawning of what could have been a new era for the royal, after her marriage to Prince Charles had disintegrated.

“It was shocking because she was 36 years old, and she was just starting to live again and to become her own person again,” Maxwell-Lee said.

“We were all so sad to lose somebody who was just starting to make another impact.”

Maxwell-Lee points to the princess’ work with AIDS patients and people with leprosy as particularly ground-breaking. She credits Princess Diana’s global impact with her ability to show her humanity, dispelling some of the impenetrable sheen surrounding the Royal Family.

Diana, Princess of Wales, chats with AIDS patient Wayne Taylor at Casey House AIDS hospice in Toronto in this Oct. 26, 1991 photo. It's been almost 30 years since Diana, Princess of Wales, kissed an AIDS patient on the cheek.Her open-hearted, selfless gesture of compassion at London's Mildmay Hospital in 1989 was noticed around the world and helped reduce the vast belief that AIDS could be transferred by human touch. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Hans Deryk

“I am a huge fan of the Royal Family but before Diana, there was almost like a mystery about them. There was a coldness that you just knew you couldn't pass,” she said. “With her, there was such a warmth and caring. You just felt like you knew her and you felt like you had this right to be in her life.

Twenty-five years later, Maxwell-Lee said she believes the Royal Family learned an important lesson from Princess Diana’s tragic death and lasting impact. She said Diana's legacy is alive in Prince William and Kate, with the royal couple serving as a bridge between past royal tradition and the monarch's modern role.

Britain's Prince William, and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, left, leave after visiting the Fitzwilliam Museum to view a painted portrait of themselves as it is revealed to the public for the first time, in Cambridge, England, Thursday June 23, 2022. The piece, painted by award-winning portrait artist, Jamie Coreth, was commissioned in 2021 by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund, which is held by the Cambridge Community Foundation, as a gift to Cambridgeshire. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)

“They're trying to still respect the monarchy and what it stands for, but yet they're opening up a little more. They're not sharing their private life as much, as they shouldn't. They don't need to. But you see that her legacy is with William. You can see the way he and his wife interact with other people,” she said.

- With files from CTV’s Nicole Dubé and the Associated Press