to stare out of kitchen window with a dreamy look on my face and a lump in my throat

[Jasonthunderpants]

This Evening radio 2 played the top 100 million selling singles and the no 1 was Candle in the wind which was Elton Johns tribute to Princess Diane
I have not heard this song for 12 yrs and it brought back many strange memories of a strange week
I remember walking through the village to my mums on the day of her funeral and it was deserted (no cars,empty shops) and who still remembers Eltons twitching eyebrow as he played the song at her funeral

My friend got married on the day of Diana's funeral and some people didn't go because they wanted to stay at home and watch it . On a happier note she is the only person whose anniversary I always remember and get a card for, because all the papers always do an x years since Diana died pull out special to jog my memory...

Similar to fortyplus, for me it was a reminder of my own mortality - someone my age dying.

And it was a very weird week, couldn't quite believe the massive reaction.

Ex-P's sister got married the day of Dianas Funeral, was quite funny that the hotel staff were crowded round the tv in reception watching it instead of doing their jobs.

It was a memorable day. The roads were lovely and quiet, my friend and I went for a lovely long ride and saw hardly any cars. That evening I watched a video, I think it was an Indiana Jones one, so I could avoid all the endless TV coverage.

My boyfriend at the time and I were staying at his mothers, it was very early in the morning so I was providing some oral entertainment at the time.

His parents sleep with the radio on so she came strolling in to inform us that

"Lady Di is actually dead!"

At the moment so was my boyfriends erection.

I am another person who doesn't normally admit to where I was at the the time I found out, nor I imagine does his mother .

honeydragon rofl

We learnt trying to find Telly tubbies for DC1. I actually went to London for the signing the card bit, I think most young Mums (as I was then, aahhh) actually felt a bit guilty because she had been treated like a character in a soap. It was only in dying that we realised she was real. Also no one wants kids to lose their mother at such a young age.

However I do remember the press coming to interview the queue and trying to get some anti-monarchy/revolution story. There were also those in the queue who were there just to be "part of the event".

The other memorable thing was the very nice portaloos provided for the queue (I think it was the same company who do the garden parties).

It was a weird period of time.

I was a student and sharing a flat with a screaming queen who had a shrine to lady Di in his room. I woke up to him crying and screaming 'She's dead! Diana is dead!' ...and didn't have a clue who he was talking about.

I went back home to London that week and the 'outpouring of grief' was unbelievable. It was all anyone was talking about - neighbours, shopkeepers etc. So many people seemed to feel as if they'd lost a relative. I found it sickening at first. It just seemed so ridiculously OTT and melodramatic to be 'grieving' a complete stranger.

I changed my mind a bit later on. I drove past Kensington Palace one evening with my mum and we decided to get out and have a wander up to where the crowds were all 'keeping vigil'. It was dark and the lawns outside the palace were covered in candles and people huddled in groups weeping. It was deeply eery and completely overwhelming.

I live not far from a road that was on the route her funeral car took back to Althorp. The whole road (this is a main thoroughfare in London, going on for miles) was crowded with people waiting to see the car, yet eerily silent. Shops all closed, nobody speaking. As the car passed, people threw flowers on to the road and there was a sea of roses and carnations and lillies on that road for weeks afterwards.

A strange time, indeed.