Getty Images has snapped up 20,000 photographs of the late Princess Diana taken by royal photographer Jayne Fincher from 1980-1997.

Jayne – who is the daughter of Fleet Street legend Terry Fincher – said: ?I am absolutely thrilled that the collection is going to such a well-respected home. The imagery encapsulates 17 years of my working life and the collection is something that is extremely special to me.?

Jayne spent much of 1980s and 1990s attending domestic and international press calls for Princess Diana, developing a close friendship with her from the time of her engagement to Prince Charles.

?I feel very confident that the Hulton Archive?s expertise will enable the collection to be preserved, conserved and made accessible to a worldwide audience,? added Jayne whose work has been featured in the pages of AP.

The Princess Diana Memorial Trust Archive will form part of Getty Images? Hulton Archive which is a division of Getty Images.

Commenting on the collection, which is to be renamed the Princess Diana Archive, a Getty spokesman said: ?The imagery was sold to Getty Images to enable the Trust to concentrate on its charitable efforts and for the collection to be utilised and distributed more widely than ever before.?

Picture credit: Getty Images Hulton Archive