‘We’re flying over granny’s house’: Memories of Diana

Princess Diana once took over the tannoy on a plane full of passengers to tell them they were "flying over granny’s house" as they flew over Windsor Castle.

Sir Richard Branson recalled the story as he shared some of his fondest memories of his friend Diana.

Talking about her sense of fun, he said: "I remember one time when she was flying on a Virgin Atlantic plane. She went into the cockpit with Prince William on her knee and she got on the loudspeaker to everybody in the plane and said ‘if you look out to the left you will see granny’s house’ as we flew over Windsor castle.

"She had everybody in fits of laughter."Sir Richard first met Diana when she stayed on his private island paradise, Necker Island, with Prince William and Prince Harry.

He said regular tennis matches were often a time when she’d talk about the more difficult aspects of her life in the public eye.

He said: "Well, we used to play tennis together – she won of course. We’d obviously talk afterwards, she’d had a lot of struggles, and particularly in the last two or three years of her life, she would open up about them.

"She put on a very strong face about it and just got on with her life."

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Comedian Ruby Wax, who was also a friend of the Princess, recalls being totally star-struck the first time she met Diana.

She said: "As she shook my hand I went into a plié position, and I couldn’t pull out. I froze, you know with my legs in the second position in ballet as we call it."

Barrister and member of the House of Lords Helena Kennedy was with Wax at the time and tried to help.

"She was trying to get me together, and saying "if you knew Ruby…" you know, trying… and I, everything dried up…and then Helena went "you’d really like Ruby, she’s quite funny" and so now, Diana is looking at me and nothing is coming out of my mouth.

"It was my most humiliating moment. Later I was in a health club, where she was playing tennis and she came bouncing in and she said ‘I’m sorry I’m all sweaty’ and then she was my girl."

Speaking at her home, she added: "We’d sometimes come here or I’d go to her place. I’d tell her what I thought of her clothes, go through the closet, that’s the girl, I should have said give me some!"

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Both Sir Richard and Ruby believe the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death should be an opportunity to celebrate her legacy and not simply reflect on her tragic death.

Ruby, as a mental health campaigner, has recently worked with Prince William and Prince Harry on their Heads Together campaign.

She believes like their mother they are shining a light on causes that traditionally have been surrounded by stigma.

She said: "Mental health has such bad implications, so I would rather that they’re the representatives… these are clean, healthy, smart, sexy boys, and for them to say we will work with this is a great role model."

For Sir Richard part of Diana’s lasting legacy has been to help "save" the Royal Family.

He said: "She’s had two magnificent kids who have done fantastic things and will continue to do great things. And I would say that actually has saved the Royal Family.

"There was a time when Britain could have easily become a republic, a few years before her death. But now the thought of that has gone completely and I think that’s largely to due to her two wonderful children."

On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will meet representatives from some of the charities that their mother supported in the sunken garden at Kensington Palace.

This year the garden has been given a special white theme in memory of Diana, who often used to stop and talk to the gardeners working on the grounds.

Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the day Diana died in a car accident in Paris. She was 36 years old.

:: You can watch Sky News’ documentary Diana The People’s Princess at 8pm tonight.

(c) Sky News 2017: ‘We’re flying over granny’s house’: Memories of Diana