Princess Diana's cutest mum moments with William and Harry

On Thursday 1 July, Princess Diana would have celebrated her milestone 60th birthday. In honour of the late People's Princess, we're taking a look back at the unbreakable bond she shared with her two sons Prince William and Prince Harry, who she welcomed with Prince Charles in 1982 and 1984 respectively.

Diana enjoyed a close relationship with her sons before her tragic death in 1997. She wanted her children to have as normal an upbringing as possible and treated them to days out at theme parks, sent them to public school and took them on royal tours.

In turn, William and Harry have honoured their mother's legacy by continuing some of her most vital charity work.

we take a look back at the Princess' sweetest moments with her children. From personal photos and public appearances, it was clear that Diana adored her sons. They were the apple of her eye, and likewise, William and Harry have spoken lovingly about their mother.

In an ITV documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, which aired in 2017, Harry said: "She was our mum. She still is our mum. And of course, as a son I would say this – she was the best mum in the world. She smothered us with love, that's for sure."

Diana was the best at giving hugs. Harry has said: "She would just engulf you and squeeze you as tight as possible and being as short as I was then, there was no escape, you were there for as long as she wanted to hold you. Even talking about it now, I can feel the hugs that she used to give us.

"I miss that feeling, I miss having that mother to give you those hugs and that compassion that everyone needs. Behind closed doors, she was a very loving, caring mother and an incredibly funny person.

"I think she lived a lot of her life, especially in private, through us and I think that childish fun element really came out when she was spending time with us."

Diana did her best to keep a young William and Harry out of the public eye and tried to keep their undeniably unusual upbringing as normal as possible – whether that meant doing the school run or taking them to Alton Towers for a treat. In the ITV documentary, Harry revealed that Diana was "one of the naughtiest parents".

"She was fun through and through," he said. "One of her mottos to me was, 'You can be as naughty as you want, just don't get caught.' She would come and watch us play football and, you know, smuggle sweets into our socks.

After welcoming her second son, Prince Harry, in 1984, Diana revealed that her two boys adored each other in a letter to a palace steward, Cyril Dickman.

She wrote that William "could not stop kissing" Harry after his birth, adding: "William adores his little brother and spends the entire time swamping Harry with an endless supply of hugs and kisses, hardly letting the parents near!"

She also updated Cyril with their boarding school education a few years later, writing: "The boys are well and enjoying boarding school a lot, although Harry is constantly in trouble!"