Princess Diana’s nieces have fond memories of their late aunt. Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza Spencer opened up about their father Charles Spencer’s sister Diana in a new interview with Tatler. The twin sisters were only five when their aunt tragically died in 1997, but staff at their “family home” Althorp—which was Diana’s childhood home—would share stories about the Princess of Wales with Amelia and Eliza.

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“We always just knew her as our aunt. Growing up in South Africa, I really had very little idea of how significant she was in the world until I was much older,” Eliza said.

Amelia remembers her paternal aunt as “incredibly warm, maternal and loving.” She said, “[Diana] always made an effort to connect with us as children and had a talent for reading children’s hearts.”

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Eliza also recalled a beach outing with Diana during which a photographer approached them. “Obviously it could have been quite terrifying for us, being so young and not understanding what was happening. But she turned it into a game of who could get back to the car first. It was amazing how she protected us in a way that made us feel safe and not frightened,” she shared (via People magazine). “We had no idea what she was doing at the time.”

“As a child, I realized the enormity of the loss for my father and family,” Eliza added. “It was only later that I came to understand the significance of the loss of her as a figure in the world.”