It’s been nearly 21 years since Princess Diana passed away in a tragic car accident, but she is still dearly missed by millions of people all over the world.

As if it wasn’t sad enough that Diana passed away at the young age of 36, it has now been revealed that her family members blatantly disregarded her final wishes after her death.

Diana signed her will four years before her death, and she modified it again in the final months of her life after her divorce from Prince Charles. This will provided that:

• 75 percent of her jewelry and possessions should be divided between Prince William and Prince Harry, with the remaining 25 percent divided among Diana’s 17 godchildren.
• £50,000 should go to her butler.
• The remainder of her estate (£21 million, which would be the equivalent of $31.5 million now) should be placed in trust for the princes until each turned 25.

Diana named her mother and sister as executors of her will, which meant that they were tasked with making sure her final wishes were carried out. In December of 1997, four months after Diana’s death, her mother and sister went to court and managed to get a “variation order,” permitting them to distribute the princess’s estate differently from how she’d specified. This order stated that:

• The two princes would not receive their shares of Diana’s estate until the age of 30 (although they would begin receiving income distributions at age 25).
• Instead of splitting 25 percent of Princess Diana’s jewels and possessions, each of the godchildren would receive a single memento, chosen by the executors. And none of that would happen until the younger prince, Harry, turned 30 in 2014.

Harry finally got his share of Diana’s estate in 2014. In the seventeen years between her death and that date, 150 items from Princess Diana’s possessions were traveling the world as part of an exhibition put together by Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer. The proceeds from this exhibition raised over $2 million, which her family claims was donated to charity.

While Diana would likely be happy that her possessions raised so much money for a charitable cause, it still remains a mystery why her family so blatantly ignored her wishes.

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