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Original poster

To ask if any of you went to London for Princess Diana's funeral?

479 replies

ewenice · 14/04/2019 13:34

Just watching a documentary about the week following Princess Diana's death and the overwhelming outpouring of grief that crossed the country. We were living overseas at the time so had no idea of the effect it had.

Did anyone on here go down to London during that week for the funeral or to sign the condolence books?

OP posts:
WithAllIntenseAndPurposes · 15/04/2019 16:53

Compassionate leave for Prince 😃😃😃😃😃

brizzlemint · 15/04/2019 17:33

A colleague of mine applied for compassionate leave when Prince died. I'm not joking.

And to think that people doubt that as a society there are a lot of precious little snowflakes who can't cope with life.

TheSandman · 15/04/2019 17:41

I was 8 and my nan took me. I don't remember a thing about it.

I hate the "outpouring of grief" after a celebrity death.

I remember when John Lennon was shot (yes, I'm that old) I heard some Radio One DJ muttering, as he finished playing Imagine for what must have been the hundredth time that week. "All I can say is, I hope I die before Cliff Richard does."

TheSandman · 15/04/2019 17:45

The Iraq war was a historic event
I didn't hop on a plane to spectate

Some people did - and they're having a lot of trouble getting back home again.

Leighhalfpennysthigh · 15/04/2019 17:46

My husband and I were in Paris the weekend that she died, celebrating our wedding anniversary. We passed through the tunnel where she died just before the accident, but had no idea what had happened until we were back in the UK the following week. We had the same feelings as anyone who had been near the site of an RTA just before it happened, thankful that we were ok, then went about our business.

Both republicans. Neither of us met her or cared about her. Why would we? Going back home that week was like setting foot into a different world.

TuftyBum · 15/04/2019 17:49

A colleague of mine applied for compassionate leave when Prince died. I'm not joking.

What's wrong with that? Prince was part of my life for nearly 35 years, I still have trouble listening to some of his songs as I get upset that he is gone and I'll never see him perform again.

No I didn't apply for leave and didn't need to take any but I appreciate that some people are mega fans and will have been devastated by his death.

JenniferJareau · 15/04/2019 17:54

On reflection I think her situation resonated with a lot of women. It was basically an arranged marriage which she was too young and naive to recognise as such - remember she was 19. She discovered the ongoing involvement with the other woman on her honeymoon. She had eating disorders and mental health problems. If she was here today, posting on MN she’d get nothing but sympathy.

Add to that her undeniable charisma - a quality lacking in most of the Royal family - her adoration of her children, the way the camera loved her and her obvious humanity - again unlike the rest of the family - and it’s easy to see why she was iconic.

So true.

MrsChollySawcutt · 15/04/2019 18:00

No. Mawkish mass hysteria is not my thing.

It was bad enough catching it on TV, those poor boys being made to walk for miles behind their mother's coffin while perfect strangers screamed and cried. What a barbaric way to treat bereaved children.

WithAllIntenseAndPurposes · 15/04/2019 18:20

I also loved prince. I also loved Jacko. I wasn't devastated though as he wasn't a friend or family member and my life was able to continue as before

wendywoopywoo222 · 15/04/2019 18:20

I didn't. I found the whole public outpouring of grief properly weird. We were asked as a department if we wanted to buy flowers for our boss to take. Ummmm that's a no from me thanks. I was upset for her family and children but no more so than when anyone else I don't know dies.

HopeOverAnythingElse · 15/04/2019 20:04

What's wrong with that???

I can't honesty believe anyone needs to ask that question.

BlackPrism · 15/04/2019 20:16

No I was 2, so I didn't

MillicentMargaretAmanda · 15/04/2019 22:21

My mum and I went shopping in Windsor in the week following her death. We wandered up to look at the flowers left there and even as a teen I was horrified by the sheer wastefulness of it. All that money that could have been donated to charities she loved. I contend that if she was half the woman people who idolised her claimed she was, she would have been horrified too.
I was in the USA just over a year later and was given condolences for my loss at least twice... was extremely confused as I didn't realise I'd had a loss. Turns out they meant Diana...!

MontStMichel · 15/04/2019 22:37

No, we didn’t because we were in the Dordogne the day she died. It was all over the French news!

We drove through Paris the next day on our way to DisneyLand Paris. We got lost and drove through the Alma tunnel - no way, I would have driven down there at that speed!

JenniferJareau · 16/04/2019 07:06

I can't honesty believe anyone needs to ask that question.

I can't honestly believe you can't comprehend that other people may not feel like you do.

ZaraW · 16/04/2019 07:12

I was living in London at the time. I remember meeting my friend from work at Harvey Nichols and the hearse drove past with the coffin a few days before the funeral. We lived near Hyde Park and saw the funeral on the big screen. There wasn't mass hysteria at HP.

HopeOverAnythingElse · 16/04/2019 07:57

Oh I understand that people feel differently about things.

It's more that...well, those feelings may not all be equally rational.

Compassionate leave is surely for people with sick and dying family members, family funerals to attend, etc. It's not so you can have a day at home with a bottle of wine howling along to Purple Rain.

Spudlet · 16/04/2019 08:15

I remember watching the funeral on tv and feeling heartbroken for William and Harry, walking all that way without any human comfort from their uncle or father. I am around the same age as them (I'm sort of in-between) and I thought it was terribly sad to see them at the time. Now I look back and think it's utterly inhuman, to make two young boys do such a thing. No wonder they've both taken an interest in mental health issues - I don't see how you could go through such an experience and not be left with some mental scars. I simply can't imagine either of them allowing their own children to be put in such a position, either.

Alsohuman · 16/04/2019 08:23

Times have changed. Judging the past by current standards is pointless. I have no doubt that things we do now will be harshly judged in the future.

Cuddlysnowleopard · 16/04/2019 08:29

I was living near London, but I grew up, and my family still live, near Althorp. I drove up to my parents' house earlier in the morning, they were just setting up security on the M1 bridges.

Then we all walked to the route of the funeral procession - pretty much the whole village came out. That was moving.

But I grew up seeing her Father out and about, at school fêtes etc. It just felt the right thing to do.

womandear · 16/04/2019 08:32

Yes because we were very near by at the time and friends wanted to go. Am not a royalist but i’m Glad we went, it was very moving.

womandear · 16/04/2019 08:33

Heard the service from outside abbey, saw procession etc.

Langrish · 16/04/2019 09:40

BoneyBackJefferson“

“Yes, It was very much the sainted diana. Led by the press that by that time was turning or had turned on her.”

Which I think explains a lot of the broo-ha-ha. They were scrabbling to outdo each other in the sycophancy stakes for fear of being implicated/prosecuted.
Baffled at how many people are mentioning on here how sad they were because such a pretty/beautiful etc. young woman had died. Completely fail to see how that would make any difference to someone’s value.

SlappingJoffrey · 16/04/2019 10:08

Prettiness should be irrelevant. I do understand the youth thing though, because at least when someone dies at 95 they've had a good innings. They also almost certainly dont have minor children.

Langrish · 16/04/2019 10:24

Agree, wasn’t meaning to emphasis the young but actually, didn’t realise I’d written that, just the “beauty” (which is subjective of course, I didn’t happen to agree).
95 would be cause for celebration. Hope I get there.