AS THE world marks 20 years since the death of Princess Diana, a photographer of famous faces reminisced about the time she spent with the ‘electric’ royal.

Gemma Levine, of Chipping Norton, worked with the Princess on a book of portraits to raise money for a cancer charity.

The pair made an instant connection, sharing jokes and stories about their children and meeting several times.

Mrs Levine recalled her meetings with Diana, who she said had an ‘electric’ personality and would light up rooms.

She said: “Diana was fantastic to photograph. I said to her ‘I only have one request: I want you to take off all your jewellery. You have such a fantastically beautiful face, why let the jewellery detract from that.’

“We did two sessions together and they were terrific fun. She sent me lovely flowers to thank me.

“She was just good fun and very interesting, and we got on extremely well. There was continuous conversation – easy, warm and humorous.”

Mrs Levine and the Princess first met when the photographer was putting together a book of photographs, People of the 90s, to raise funds for the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children, of which Diana was the patron.

A meeting was arranged at Mrs Levine’s London studio - but the two ended up meeting earlier than anticipated.

Following a swim the day before the meeting, Mrs Levine inadvertently shared a lift in Harvey Nichols with the Princess, though hoped she went unnoticed due to her wet hair and lack of make up.

She said: “The next day when she arrived I opened the door and she came running along the hall. She looked at me but she didn’t focus on me. She said it was lovely to meet me and brought all her clothes.

“She stayed for about three hours and, when she was leaving, I went to the door to say goodbye. She turned around with a smile on her face and said: ‘Haven’t we met somewhere before?’”

Their chance encounter in the lift is not the only amusing anecdote Mrs Levine has about the Princess.

Once, when returning home at midnight, she was alarmed to hear the sound of her telephone ringing.

“I thought, who is that at this time?” said Mrs Levine. “I answered and a voice said: ‘Hello Gemma’.

“I said: ‘Who’s that?’

“She said: ‘Diana’.

“I said: ‘Diana who?’ and there was just a peel of laughter. She was in hysterics.”

Then, just a few years after they had first met, the news came on August 31, 1997, that Diana had been killed in a crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris.

Mrs Levine said: “I remember it. I was in my car early in the morning and I got the shock of my life. I stopped in a lay-by to cry.

“The World Service asked me to come to London to talk about the work I did. I felt very lucky to do that. I had something lovely to say about this lady.”

Mrs Levine started her career in photography 50 years ago. She became renowned for her black and white shots of famous faces and produced several collections of portraits for various charities.

She has photographed many famous faces, shooting every British Prime Minister since Harold Wilson – with the exception of Theresa May, who declined her offer.

Princess Diana was a frequent visitor to Oxfordshire. Her trips to the area included a visit to Sobell House hospice in 1985. To view a gallery of her time in the county visit oxfordmail.co.uk.