RICHARD KAY writes that long-forgotten portraits show few better in capturing Diana’s radiant beauty.

Long before photographers around the world discovered Lady Diana Spencer, she displayed extraordinary natural behavior in front of the cameras.

Over the years, few have captured her radiant beauty better than Lord Snowdon, the cameraman and ex-husband of the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret.

The photos she took were some of the most iconic and memorable that Diana had ever taken.

But some, like this long-forgotten portrait, are rarely seen. It reappears as the 25th anniversary of the princess’ tragic death approaches, and five years after Snowdon himself.

So is an invisible photo of Prince William. Indeed, the plain, unsmiling figure sitting in an oversized oak chair and waving his pet rabbit does not look like William. She was nine years old when the photo was taken, when the reality of her parents’ failed marriage had to be made clear.

How different was the royal story when this photo of 19-year-old Diana was taken. What an extraordinary memory of the young woman who fascinated Prince Charles in the summer of 1980.

It took only two months for their relationship to begin, and she wanted any talk of the engagement published, let alone the wedding. Snowdon was commissioned by Vogue to capture the elegant charm of a girl who would change the royal family forever.

Watch it today and you’ll marvel at the disturbing casting from the creators of The Crown and the likes of Emma Corrin to play the gorgeous Diana in the fourth season of the Netflix series.

So is an invisible photo of Prince William. Indeed, the plain, unsmiling figure sitting in an oversized oak chair and waving his pet rabbit does not look like William.

Watch it today and you’ll marvel at the disturbing casting from the creators of The Crown and the likes of Emma Corrin to play the gorgeous Diana in the fourth season of the Netflix series.

Diana, who will turn 61 yesterday, was not yet the pin-up girl who would become the world’s most photographed woman. Instead, she displays a fragile grace that is unsure of the dazzling effect of her gaze. Her skin is peach-colored and those piercing blue eyes aren’t overshadowed by her signature fringes and nickname “shy Di.”

And maybe a sign of a smile on his face, aware of the great secret he carries with him? The world may not know it yet, but her romance with Charles quickly went on before it went fully public in September 1980. They got married the following July.

Snowdon would have taken many more pictures of Diana, but none of them when she was as happy as here.