Mourners broke down in tears as they gathered at Princess Diana's former home on the 20th anniversary of her death.

Princess Diana

Princess Diana

People from all over the world arrived at Kensington Palace in their droves on Thursday (31.08.17) to pay their respects to the late princess, who died in Paris on August 31, 1997 following a car crash in the French capital, and many couldn't hold back their emotions.

Several burst into tears as they approached the railings of the royal residence, and many put up pictures of the late Princess of Wales.

Some even brought champagne to celebrate her life and ate a Diana-decorated cake as they swapped stories about the royal, who was 36 when she passed away.

Others brought handwritten tributes and candles, while priest Frank Gelli held an informal a service outside the Palace's gates and sprinkled his pop-up congregation with holy water.

A message on the official Kensington Palace Twitter account read: "The Duke and Prince Harry are grateful for the many flowers, letters and messages they have received about their Mother.(sic)"

Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry, who were 15 and 12 when she died, visited the Palace gates on Wednesday (30.08.17) to read the tributes, and royal superfan Terry Hutt, 82, who has visited the royal residence on August 31 every year for 20 years, praised their attitude.

He is quoted by ITV as saying: "You can think of it as happiness and you can think of it as sadness. Today is sadness, but yesterday William and Harry were here and that brought a lot of happiness.

"Diana was someone special. She's got a couple of good sons and one of them will become king."