A teenager has revealed how Princess Diana inspired her from beyond the grave to embrace her true transgender identity at just 15 .

Now called Diana Duff - in honour of the royal, who died in 1997, three years before she was born - the college student says she has always seen the 'people's princess' as a powerful role model, as she touched so many lives.

Diana, now 17, of Glasgow, Scotland, who was born a boy called Jamie, said: 'People asked me why I call myself Diana, when most trans people go for a similar sounding name to their birth name.

'But I picked mine because I really admired Diana, Princess of Wales. Her legacy lives on and I feel like she really moved so many people. She had such a kind heart.

'I felt like it would be amazing if I could inspire lots of people, just like she did.'

Diana, who has been living as a girl for a year-and-a-half, after breaking down in tears and coming out to her mum, Tracy Walkden, 39, a secondary school support worker, has now started hormone therapy.

Diana Duff, 17, who was born a boy called Jamie has revealed how the late Princess Diana inspired her to embrace her true identity

As a teenage boy, Diana developed body dysmorphia and envied girls who were able to wear skirts and frilly shirts

Planning to have gender reassignment surgery within two years, she continued: 'As a little boy, I always had a natural leaning towards feminine things, whether it was Barbie Dolls at home or trying on my mum's high heels.

'I was always in princess dresses. My dad tried to take me to watch football, but it was never something I was interested in.

'I think I had the biggest doll collection in the whole of Glasgow.

'In primary school I would look at the girls and felt envious as I would have preferred to be in a skirt and shirt with the frills on, rather than the shirt and trousers I had to wear.'

Diana picked her new name in memory of the late princess as she's always been inspired by her kind heart

But Diana's full-blown identity crisis began when she hit puberty.

She continued: 'When I was younger, I wasn't very aware that I was born male. I don't think you really have a sense that you are a girl or a boy and have different parts.

'But, when we all started going through puberty, I realised I was getting facial hair, my shoulders were broader, and I wasn't going to develop breasts like the other girls.'

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable in her own skin, Diana developed body dysmorphia, a mental health condition where sufferers worry about flaws in their appearance.

During her teens, Diana tried to be as masculine as possible to hide her true identity (left). But now she's undergoing hormone therapy and is on the waiting list for gender reassignment surgery (right)

Diana (centre) with her mother Tracy, brother Rocco, Diana and brother Aaron

'I knew my whole life was a lie,' Diana said. 'I felt like I was born in the wrong body. For me, I felt like a woman and seeing my own body and all the masculine parts, disgusted me.

'Every single thing that was masculine, I didn't like.

'With my family, I became the master of being as masculine as I could be, not letting the real me show.

'When there were trans people on TV when we were watching as a family, I'd leave the room feeling really awkward.'

Diana is Crowdfunding to pay for facial feminisation surgery and is having gender reassignment surgery on the NHS

Diana with her younger brother Aaron. She came out to her family 18 months ago

Lacking the courage to share her true feelings with her mum or siblings Rocco, three, and Aaron, 13, Diana felt extremely isolated.

But, when she reached 15, everything came to a head.

'It got to the end of the school year and I thought, 'I cannot do another year of getting changed in the boys changing rooms for PE',' she explained.

'I'd done it for too long and I was horrified. It was murder, every week, getting changed for PE with boys all around me, when I felt like a girl.

As a little boy, Diana had a natural leaning towards feminine things

'It was how a girl would feel taking her clothes off in a room full of boys. It was so traumatic. '

So, in August 2016, a month into her school summer holidays, Diana finally told her mum everything.

'I said, 'I need to talk to you.' Then I just burst out crying,' she explained.

'She asked, "Are you transgender?" as if she just knew.

'I'd told my younger brother Aaron, now 13, a month before and he said he'd already had an idea, too.'

Brave Diana then set out changing her name by deed poll, in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had inspired her to come out.

She said: 'Everyone loved her and she did so much good – by shaking hands with AIDS patients and bringing so many people so much joy.

'I felt like it would be amazing if I could inspire lots of people, just like she did.'

Calling Sandyford Gender Identity Clinic in Glasgow, Diana was put on the waiting list for hormone treatment, which she started this month, ahead of surgery to remodel her penis into a vagina, which she is having done on the NHS.

Diana confided in her brother Aaron before telling her mum that she was transgender

With her voice already broken and developing facial hair, which she shaves daily, Diana, who is crowdfunding to help pay for her £5,000 facial feminisation surgery, is desperate for her treatment to start.

She said: 'I wear make-up and am starting laser treatment on my hair later this month.

'It's a misconception that being trans is about dressing up in girls clothes, but for me it's about the body underneath.

'I finally feel able to express myself and be who I have always known I am meant to be.'