This summer will mark 25 years since Princess Diana left this world. But while she may not be physically here, she is never far from the thoughts of her sons: just last month, Prince Harry told Today's Hoda Kotb, "I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to leave them. But I feel that more than ever in the last two years. Definitely. So she's looking out for us."

On this day 25 years ago, Diana had three and a half months to live; in 1997, according to the Daily Express, she was "getting her life back." Her brother Earl Spencer echoed this sentiment, saying that his sister was "looking for a new direction in life" when she was killed in a car accident in Paris at the age of only 36. Diana spoke "endlessly" about leaving the UK.

"I don't think she understood why her genuine good intentions were ridiculed by the media, why they were trying to bring her down. It's inexplicable."

After marrying Prince Charles in 1981 and becoming the most famous woman in the world, the couple separated by 1992, when Andrew Morton's Diana: Her True Story (then classified as a biography but later revealed to have received ample support from the princess herself ) was published.

"This woman had found her 'look,'" says Kinsey Scofield, founder and creator of ToDiForDaily.com. "She was strategizing-some might say scheming, but I say she was strategizing. She was strategizing. She was trying to control the situation. She was trying to take back her life. By the end of her life, she had changed the narrative and was in control of her situation."[9

Scofield points to that famous "revenge dress" - which she wore in 1994 when the Welsh couple's separation was deepening - as an example of Diana "controlling her own narrative." (Incidentally, Scofield plans to publish a book entitled "R is for Revenge Dress" later this year.)

"She quickly realized how the royal family functioned and what their dynamic was like: 'Never complain, never explain,' never address their problems. So when people started saying things about her that weren't true, or that she didn't want to put out there, she would get in front of the microphone and say, 'That's not true. That's a lie.' So Diana developed relationships with people like Andrew Morton and Richard Kay. She quietly built relationships with people she needed, and then leaked stories about herself so that some balance would occur in the commentary of her life."[14

The Crown Prince and Princess eventually divorced on August 28, 1996. Only 368 days later, Princess Diana passed away, leaving much behind.

While there are certainly similarities in the stories of Diana and Princess Meghan, such as the royal marriage, media abuse, and the desire to leave the UK, it was Diana who actually dealt with protecting herself through the press, especially in her later years, in a way that Meghan should emulate, Scofield says.

"In this aspect, I think Meghan Markle could have learned a lot from Diana. Because Meghan talked a lot about how frustrating it was not being able to defend herself. On the other hand, Diana had been doing this behind her back for years and was on top of it.

We only wished we had more years to see Diana continually blossom.