The new Princess Diana statue will be opened to the public to mark the anniversary of her death.

The Princess Diana statue

The Princess Diana statue

The Princess of Wales died in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997, and Historic Royal Palaces has now decided to open the new memorial to the public next week.

A spokesperson for Historic Royal Palaces said: "We acknowledge that there will be interest in viewing the statue on that day."

Kensington Palace and its gardens are operating reduced opening hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But special arrangements had been made to allow visitors to view the statue - which was unveiled last month by Princes William and Harry - between the hours of 3pm and 5pm on Tuesday (31.08.21).

Entry for the public is free and there is no need to book ahead. However, visitors have been warned that they won't be allowed to approach the statue or leave flowers.

The statue unveiling saw the two princes reunite in London and Stewart Pearce - who was a friend of Princess Diana - subsequently claimed that they'd achieved "peace".

Stewart explained that coming together to celebrate their mother has helped the royals to find some common ground, following reports of a feud between them.

He said: "I feel that the vibration of it has detonated the essence of peace.

"By the behaviours that were just so easy, so formal - or informal, rather - so humorous between the two of them, I felt that that behaviour would actually completely change the way that the vilification has taken place, which is really based on the fear or [ideas of] so many people with so many opinions thinking that they’ve actually been talking to individuals within the royal court."

Tagged in