Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales

Coordinates: 51°29′58″N 00°07′39″W / 51.49944°N 0.12750°W / 51.49944; -0.12750
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales
The funeral cortège passing the Wellington Arch on Hyde Park Corner
Date6 September 1997 (1997-09-06)
Time9:08–15:32 BST (UTC+01:00)
Duration384 minutes
Venue
Coordinates51°29′58″N 00°07′39″W / 51.49944°N 0.12750°W / 51.49944; -0.12750
TypeRoyal ceremonial funeral
Participants

The funeral of

half mast.[2] The official ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey in London and finished at the resting place in Althorp.[3]

Two thousand people attended the ceremony in Westminster Abbey[4] while the British television audience was 32.10 million on average, one of the United Kingdom's highest viewing figures ever.[5] An estimated 2 to 2.5 billion people watched the event worldwide,[6][7][8] making it one of the biggest televised events in history.

Funeral

Diana's coffin borne through the streets of London on its way to Westminster Abbey. Her coffin was draped in a pall depicting the royal standard with an ermine border.

Diana's coffin, draped with the

Vélizy – Villacoublay Air Base, Paris, to RAF Northolt by Diana's former husband Charles, Prince of Wales, and her two sisters on 31 August 1997.[9] After being taken to a private mortuary it was placed at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, and later taken to Kensington Palace the night before the funeral.[9]

The funeral plan for the

Anglican funeral liturgy.[11] A large display of flowers was installed at the gates of Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace. Eight members of the Welsh Guards accompanied Diana's coffin on the one-hour-forty-seven-minute ride through London streets. On top of the coffin were three wreaths of white flowers from her brother, the Earl Spencer, and her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.[12][13] There was also a letter from Prince Harry on her coffin addressed to "Mummy".[14] The coffin bared a weight of a quarter of a tonne (250 kg / approx 550 lb) as it was lined with lead,[15] as is tradition with British royalty.[16]

At St James's Palace, Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales, her sons, and her brother joined to walk behind.[17] Five hundred representatives of various charities the Princess had been involved with joined behind them in the funeral cortège.[18] Alastair Campbell later revealed in his diaries that the government and the royal household feared for the security of Prince Charles, believing that he would possibly get attacked by the crowd, thus they ensured that he would be accompanied by his sons.[19][20] Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, initially opposed the idea of William and Harry taking part in the funeral procession, but ultimately decided to walk besides them, telling his grandsons "I'll walk if you walk."[21] William later described the experience as "one of the hardest things I've ever done", and Harry mentioned no child "should be asked to do" what they did. Nevertheless, William saw the act as a necessity to maintain "balance between duty and family" and Harry said that he was "very glad" that he took part in the procession.[22] In his 2023 memoir Spare, Harry claimed that the idea of having the boys walk behind their mother's coffin horrified several adults, in particular their uncle Lord Spencer who described it "a barbarity."[23] Spencer has previously stated that he felt he was lied to about the boys' desire to do the task.[23] Harry also claimed that there were suggestions that William should walk behind the coffin alone, but Harry refused to allow it as had the roles been reversed William would have done the same.[23]

The coffin then passed

Queen Elizabeth II bowed her head as it went by.[24] More than one million people lined the streets of London, and flowers rained down onto the cortège from bystanders.[12][25][26] Two screens were erected to relay the Westminster Abbey service in Hyde Park.[27]

The west towers and main door of Westminster Abbey, venue of the funeral

The ceremony at Westminster Abbey opened at 11:00

King of Spain, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Japan, the deposed King Constantine II of Greece, and South Africa president Nelson Mandela.[31]

The

Guide me, O thou great Redeemer, by William Williams to the tune Cwm Rhondda by John Hughes.[32] The chant Libera me was sung by the BBC Singers, together with Lynne Dawson, to the tune by Giuseppe Verdi.[32]

I thought it was very important to project it from a nation's standpoint. I wanted to make it sound like a country singing it. From the first couple of lines I wrote [which began "Goodbye England's Rose"], the rest sort of fell into place

Bernie Taupin on writing the lyrics for "Candle in the Wind 1997"[35]

During the service, Elton John sang a 1997 rendition of "Candle in the Wind", with new lyrics written as a tribute to Diana.[36] He had contacted his writing partner Bernie Taupin, asking him to revise the lyrics of his 1973 Marilyn Monroe tribute song "Candle in the Wind" to honour Diana, and Taupin rewrote the song accordingly.[35][32] Only a month before Diana's death she had been photographed comforting John at the funeral of their mutual friend Gianni Versace.[37][38] Files released by The National Archives showed that the Dean of Westminster, Wesley Carr, had personally appealed to senior aides at the palace to secure John's performance at the funeral, insisting on the "inclusion of something of the modern world that the princess represented".[39] A solo performance by a saxophonist had been considered as a second option.[39]

Diana's sister Sarah gave the first reading, a poem titled Turn Again To Life by Mary Lee Hall, and her other sister Jane gave the second reading, a poem titled Time Is taken from Music and Other Poems by Henry van Dyke Jr.[32] Her brother Charles gave the eulogy, in which he rebuked both the royal family and the press for their treatment of his sister.[40][41] "It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this – a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age," Spencer said during his speech.[42]

"Song for Athene" by British composer John Tavener, with text by Mother Thekla, a Greek Orthodox nun, drawn from the Orthodox liturgy and Shakespeare's Hamlet, was sung as Diana's cortège departed from the main nave of Westminster Abbey.[32] This was followed after a one-minute silence by half-muffled change ringing on the abbey's ten bells.[32]

Burial

See also: Althorp § Diana grave, memorial, and exhibition
Aerial view of Althorp; the house is at top right. Diana is buried on the small tree-covered island in the middle of the ornamental Round Oval lake.

The burial occurred privately later the same day. Diana's former husband, sons, mother, siblings, a close friend, and a clergyman were present. Diana's body was clothed in a black long-sleeved, three-quarter length woollen cocktail dress designed by

consecrated by the Bishop of Peterborough prior to the burial.[45]

At the ceremony, the Royal Standard which had covered the coffin was removed. Paul Burrell, Diana's former butler, claimed that the standard had been removed by Diana's brother moments before she was buried, and replaced with the Spencer family flag. He claimed the Earl said that "She (Diana) is a Spencer now." Burrell also condemned the move, telling the Daily Mirror that "It had more to do with his Spencer v Windsor war than doing what Diana would have wanted. It was inappropriate and disrespectful. I knew it was not what Diana would have wanted. With that act, her brother was depriving the Princess of her proper status in life – a status of which she was proud." Lord Spencer called Burrell's comments "hurtful lies" and said in a statement: "The Queen's standard was removed as part of the ceremony by her own officer in a dignified and pre-agreed manner".[46][47]

The original plan was for Diana to be buried in the Spencer family vault at the local church in nearby

public safety and security and the onslaught of visitors that might overwhelm Great Brington. He decided that Diana would be buried where her grave could be easily cared for and visited in privacy by William, Harry, and other Spencer relatives.[48]

The island is in an ornamental lake known as The Round Oval within Althorp Park's gardens.

Admiralty House, London, and now adapted to serve as a memorial to Diana.[50] An ancient arboretum stands nearby, which contains trees planted by the family.[48] The Spencer family's decision to bury the Princess in this secluded – and private – location has enabled them to visit her grave in private.[51]

The burial party was provided by the 2nd Battalion,

Colonel-in-Chief from 1992 to 1996.[52]

Services elsewhere

On the same day, services of commemoration and events honouring the Princess were held in various cities and towns across the United Kingdom and many streets remained deserted with the population watching the funeral broadcast at their homes.

Severn Bridges remained closed during the national minute's silence.[53] On Sunday, 7 September, an additional service for Diana was held at Westminster Abbey in response to popular demand.[54]

Outside of Britain

The Irish national flag was also flown at half-mast on all state buildings on the day of Diana's funeral.

John Kerr, the US ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, and chairman of The Washington Post Co. executive committee Katharine Graham.[56] In Tonga, a group of mourners organised a traditional wake, or pongipongi, after the funeral.[8]

Media coverage

David Dimbleby presented the coverage on the BBC while Trevor McDonald did at ITN and was joined by a team of correspondents, including John Suchet and Julia Somerville.[57]

Dimbleby began to follow the footsteps of his father, Richard, in leading the BBC during their coverage of big television events and state occasions.[58] By coincidence, the elder Dimbleby presented the previous great state occasion, the state funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965.[59]

The world-wide television audience for the event has been estimated between 2 and 2.5 billion people,

1966 FIFA World Cup Final).[61]

In North America, which is five to nine hours behind British Summer Time, the funeral occurred during the time usually taken up by network breakfast television programmes, but the networks in the United States and Canada sent their top presenters. The funeral took place in the early morning hours of a Saturday, a time that the networks air cartoons, but nevertheless, the main networks in the United States (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) and Canada (CBC, CTV, and Global) broadcast the funeral.[62] The funeral attracted 33.2 million viewers in United States.[63]

In Australia, which is eight to eleven hours ahead of British Summer Time, the funeral took place on a Saturday night their time, which meant Australians were at home watching television.[64] All four television networks (ABC, Seven Network, Nine Network, and Network 10) carried coverage of the funeral,[65] with Nine Network having the highest ratings, with 1.65 million viewers.[64]

BBC Radio broadcast the funeral in 44 languages around the world.[66]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Diana's Coffin Moved Amid Emotional Scenes". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  2. ^ Balz, Dan (5 September 1997). "Queen Orders Flags At Half-Staff At Palace". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Diana, Princess of Wales". Westminster Abbey. Archived from the original on 15 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  4. ^ Chang, Suna; Holmes, Anna (26 December 1997). "Take a look back at Princess Diana's impact on 1997". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Tracking 30 years of TV's most watched programmes" Archived 2015-01-18 at the Wayback Machine. BBC. Retrieved 20 January 2015
  6. ^
    OK! Magazine. Archived
    from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  7. ^ Urry, John (2003). Global complexity. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 134.
  8. ^ a b "World Remembers Diana". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Princess Diana's body comes home". CNN. 31 August 1997. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  10. ^ Knight, Sam (17 March 2017). "'London Bridge is down': the secret plan for the days after the Queen's death". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  11. ^ Avis, Paul D. L. (2003). A church drawing near: spirituality and mission in a post-Christian culture. Continuum International Publishing Group.
  12. ^ a b "Diana 1961–1997: The Cortege – A flower-strewn path leading to the Abbey" Archived 2015-09-25 at the Wayback Machine. The Independent. Retrieved 8 June 2012
  13. ^ "World watches as Britain bids farewell to Diana" Archived 2014-01-01 at the Wayback Machine. CNN. Retrieved 8 June 2012
  14. ^ "1997: Diana's funeral watched by millions". BBC News. 6 September 1997. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  15. ^ Duncan, Amy (31 August 2018). "Why was Princess Diana's coffin lined with lead?". Metro. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Why does the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II have a lead lining? - Technology Org". www.technology.org. 11 September 2022. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  17. ^ MacQueen, Ken (23 May 2012). "How Diana damaged William". MacLean's. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  18. ^ "The Final Journey – The Procession". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  19. ^ Watt, Nicholas (16 January 2011). "Alastair Campbell diaries: Diana's funeral prompted Charles safety fears". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  20. ^ Campbell, Alastair (16 January 2011). "Alastair Campbell diaries: Diana's funeral and Gordon Brown's 'psychological flaws'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  21. ^ Kindelan, Katie (17 April 2021). "Princes William, Harry walk together at Prince Philip's funeral". ABC News. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Prince Harry 'very glad' to walk behind Diana's coffin". BBC News. 23 August 2017. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  23. ^ a b c Sawer, Patrick; Ward, Victoria (7 January 2023). "Prince Harry reveals 'row' broke out over Diana's funeral cortege". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  24. ^ "The Last Journey Begins" Archived 2016-10-12 at the Wayback Machine. BBC. Retrieved 8 June 2012
  25. ^ "Diana: Sights and Sounds – The Funeral" Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine. BBC. Retrieved 8 June 2012
  26. ^ "Crowds Say Final Farewell to Diana". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  27. ^ "The death of Princess Diana: a week that rocked Britain". The Guardian. 31 August 2017. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  28. ^ a b "Special Report: Princess Diana, 1961–1997". Time. 6 September 1997. Archived from the original on 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  29. ^ "Celebrities attend Diana funeral". United Press International. 6 September 1997. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  30. ^ MacArthur, Brian (1998). Requiem: Diana, Princess of Wales 1961–1997 – Memories and Tributes. Arcade Publishing. p. 165.
  31. ^ Roberts, Roxanne (5 September 1997). "A Hot Ticket for a Sad Occasion". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Funeral Service of Diana, Princess Wales: Order of Service". BBC News. 6 September 1997. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  33. ^ "Which hymns were sung at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales?". classical music. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  34. ^ "Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales" (PDF). Westminster Abbey. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  35. ^
    ISBN 9780898795196. Archived
    from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2016. I thought it was very important to project it from a nation's standpoint. I wanted to make it sound like a country singing it. From the first couple of lines i wrote [which began "Goodbye England's Rose"], the rest sort of fell into place.
  36. ^ Barry Miles (2008). "Massive Music Moments" Archived 2014-07-10 at the Wayback Machine p. 207. Anova Books, 2008
  37. ^ The Advocate 14 Oct 1997 Archived 2017-04-19 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 25 December 2010
  38. Billboard Books
    , 1997
  39. ^ a b Berg, Sanchia (29 December 2021). "Princess Diana: Files reveal plea for Elton John to perform at funeral". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  40. ^ "Diana's Brother Pledges to Protect Royal Princes". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  41. ^ "Prince William's uncle Earl Spencer set to wed". BBC News. 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 30 November 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  42. ^ "Full text of Earl Spencer's Funeral Oration". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  43. ^ Morton, Andrew (1997). Diana, Her True Story. New York: Simon & Schuster.
  44. ^ "Diana Returns Home". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  45. ^ Arthur, Charles (6 September 1997). "Diana 1961-1997: Journey's end - At peace, at last, Diana comes home". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 December 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  46. ^ "Earl disputes butler 'lies'". BBC News. 8 November 2002. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  47. ^ Cobain, Ian (9 November 2002). "Earl disputes Burrell's story of Princess's funeral flag". The Times. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  48. ^ a b "Burial site offers princess a privacy elusive in life". Sarasota Herald Tribune. 6 September 1997. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  49. ^ "Top 10 Celebrity Grave Sites". Time. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  50. ^ "Althorp Park, Home of Princess Diana". Britain Express. Archived from the original on 20 December 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  51. ^ "Visiting Althorp". Althorp Estate. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  52. ^ "Diana, Princess of Wales". 31 August 1997. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  53. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Nation Falls Silent for Final Tribute". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  54. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1998.9715967
    .
  55. ^ "Tricolour at half mast on all State buildings for Prince Philip". Irish Examiner. 17 April 2021. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  56. ^ Hill, Retha (6 September 1997). "Washington Says Goodbye to Diana". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  57. ^ McCann, Paul (4 September 1997). "Biggest television event in history". The Independent. p. 6.
  58. ^ Purnell, Tony (6 September 1997). "United by the screen". The Mirror. p. 7. Richard Dimbleby used to set the scene for all the big TV occasions...Today his son David will anchor the BBC coverage.
  59. ^ McCann, Paul (2 September 1997). "Dimbleby is likely to lead BBC coverage". The Independent. p. 3. David Dimbleby looks set to follow in his late father's footsteps by leading BBC coverage of the funeral...of Diana, Princess of Wales...the biggest broadcasting event since Winston Churchill's state funeral in 1965, the last great occasion of state covered for the BBC by Richard Dimbleby.
  60. ^ "Some 2.5 billion TV viewers watch Princess Diana's funeral". History. A&E Television Networks, LLC. 21 February 2019. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  61. ^ Jones, Ian (6 September 2017). "Princess Diana's funeral is most-watched live TV event". The Sunday Post - DC Thomson Co Ltd. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  62. ^ McKay, John (9 September 1997). "TV views loyal to classy Canadian coverage of Di funeral". Canadian Press.
  63. ^ "Diana funeral topped royal wedding in U.S. Ratings". Reuters. May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  64. ^ a b Peters, Denis (7 September 1997). "Diana's Funeral Spreads Sombre Mood Over Saturday Night". Australian Associated Press. With the four major Australian television networks running live coverage of the funeral of Diana, the Princess of Wales, a sombre mood spread over the normally festive Saturday night across the country. Channel Nine claimed victory in the ratings...attracted a national audience of 1,647,000 viewers.
  65. ^ Oliver, Robin (8 September 1997). "Millions of Australians Tune in to Say Goodbye". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 4.
  66. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2003.tb02912.x
    .

Further reading

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Funeral_of_Diana,_Princess_of_Wales&oldid=1220051185"