In the days after Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash in 1997, Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin changed the lyrics of their song, “Candle in the Wind,” to reflect the life and death of the cultural icon. Elton John performed the song at Princess Diana’s funeral, singing that her “candle’s burned out long before [her] legend ever will.”

It’s true that Princess Diana’s legend has only grown in the decades since her death. So much so that many people hold misconceptions about who she really was. That’s not to say that our image of Diana is invalid or false, but it is interesting to see how romanticizing a person after their death can skew the truth.

These are a few of the most common misconceptions about Lady Diana Spencer and her life before and after becoming a princess.

1. 1. Diana was a real-life Cinderella
2. 2. Her nickname was Di
3. 3. She was shy
4. 4. She was a saint
5. 5. She was murdered

1. Diana was a real-life Cinderella

One of the most famous titles for Diana was the “People’s Princess” because she had a down-to-earth charm that ordinary people related to. She even worked at a kindergarten after she finished school. It seemed like a Cinderella story for a regular woman to begin dating a prince. But Diana was far from an average UK citizen.

Diana was a member of the British nobility, becoming Lady Diana Spencer when her father inherited an earldom. She had grown up at Park House, an estate owned by the royal family and rented by her parents. She played with Princes Andrew and Edward as children. And while her title as Princess of Wales only came from her marriage to Prince Charles, she wasn’t as far down the hierarchy as we’ve been led to believe.

2. Her nickname was Di

So many people have called Diana “Lady Di” or “Princess Di” that it seems obvious her childhood nickname was Di as well. But close family and friends had a different name for the future Princess of Wales: Duch.

As a child, Diana often “acted like a Duchess,” and so her family lovingly nicknamed her Duch. She even used the nickname into her adulthood, signing her name as Duch in Christmas cards and correspondence with those close to her.

3. She was shy

Another nickname given to Diana by the media was “Shy Di.” In public, she often tilted her head down and was the epitome of “very demure, very mindful.” But anyone close to her would laugh at the idea that that was her true personality. Her brother, Charles Spencer, even said that the rumor was ridiculous and that she was merely reserved until she could make proper judgments of new people.

Dickie Arbiter, one of Diana’s royal advisors, described her as having a wicked sense of humor and said that she only kept her head down because she was tall. At 5’10,” Diana was conscious of other people’s comfort when speaking to her. She wasn’t quiet or shy at all.

4. She was a saint

Princess Diana was known for her compassion and humanitarian efforts. She was famous for shaking hands with AIDS patients, showing that they were not contagious, as many believed during that time. She worked hard for Britain, and the people loved her for it. But, like the rest of us, Diana was human and fallible.

For as much as she seemed to dislike the press, Diana certainly knew how to spin a story in her favor. Even though she was the first to cheat on their marriage, Diana’s interview in 1995 made her out to be a tragic victim of Prince Charles’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. She also advised Tony Blair, who was yet to become Prime Minister at the time, that he should be photographed with “down-and-outs” to raise his reputation. Was she caring? Yes, but also deceptively cunning when it came to her image.

5. She was murdered

This isn’t so much a misconception as a conspiracy theory, but the theory was so prevalent that it became something like canon for many Princess Diana fans. Even the father of Dodi Fayed, Diana’s boyfriend who also died in the car crash, believed that it was an assassination. People claimed that the seatbelts had been tampered with or that the driver, Henri Paul, had been hired by MI6 and the royal family.

The British Police created Operation Paget to investigate all of the claims, but found no evidence of a targeted attack or a cover-up. They did find that Henri Paul had been driving while intoxicated, and neither Diana nor Dodi was wearing seatbelts. It was a devastating event, but it was an accident.

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