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

[ewenice]

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?

No. And I live in London.

Yes. Went with step mother.
Before we went I kind of thought -what was the point? It seemed bizarre

But once there I got it. The flowers were everywhere. It was eerily quiet with everyone deep in thought. It was before social media and the Kardashians and many people aligned themselves to a woman ostracised by their in laws, betrayed by their partners, sympathised with William and Harry etc
It was intense and I’m glad I went.

No, I was 17 at the time and found the whole outpouring of public grief weird and unsettling. I went for a cycle round my local major city during the funeral, it was empty. Shops shut, no one around.

I felt sad for her family, and sad she died but could not get my head around the wailing and crying public and hundreds of flowers at the palace.

No.

Am curious what the reaction to the Queens death will be though, I don't consider myself a royalist but she has been Queen my (and most of the country's!) entire life. I will be sad when she goes.

You could smell the lilies about a mile from Buckingham Palace - there were that many. They started to decay - that's a sweet and sickly smell. At the palace itself the smell was overpowering. I didn't go to Kensington Palace but there were many more flowers there.

The run up to the funeral was strange. I'm a journalist and we were covering it but thankfully I didn't have to run the gauntlet of Diana nuts on the streets. People were unhinged. Journalists were abused and assaulted like we'd killed Bambi's mum.

There was an irreverent atmosphere in our office which our desk secretary, a Diana nut, couldn't take. She frequently burst into tears and flounced off. I said I was thinking of taking my mum, who loved Diana but wasn't a nut, to see some of it, and our secretary angrily told me I shouldn't because I had the wrong attitude. I ignored the soppy cow. I was in no way going to abuse people or laugh at them. My mum wanted to pay her respects and I loved my mum.

On the day we watched it on telly and went out afterwards. People were strange. We were at Westminster Abbey and a German photographer politely asked two punk girls who were laying flowers if he could take their picture. He couldn't have been a professional - news photographers don't ask permission. He was obviously a keen amateur with manners. The abuse this man got from them was shameful.

Grief tourists.

I was moving house that day and was also 38 weeks pregnant.

I thought the same redglitter.

I did not!
I was in the USA for the whole summer and arrived back in the UK on the day of the funeral.
Although, of course, Diana's death had been given a lot of coverage on US television, it was no doubt much less than in the UK.
The first inkling of the extent of the UK's reaction was when we were in the luggage reclaims hall at Gatwick Airport. I can't remember exactly what time it was, but I think it might have coincided with the start of the funeral procession, when suddenly all the luggage carousels stopped and an announcement came over the loudspeaker that there would now be a two minute silence for Princess Diana. It was strange to see everyone standing still, in complete silence. You could have heard a pin drop.
I found out the true extent of the nation's hysteria when I bought the Sunday newspaper and I was quite astonished.
Personally, I had never been particularly keen on Diana; I felt she was a bit of a manipulator. But I was very sorry that she had died so young.

We went to Alton Towers for the day because we knew that the queues would be tiny compared to a normal day.

It was lovely and peaceful and we got on the rides without having to queue at all

I forgot. My husband worked in a shop fairly near the route. Most shops were closed out of 'respect'. His remained open. Not his choice, though he didn't care one way or the other as long as he got paid. People who'd come up for the day came in to abuse him and the other staff. It was obviously part of the experience for them. Fucking weirdos.

Watched it on tv. The whole thing was ridiculous. Grown men and women sobbing as if they'd lost their nearest and dearest. Having lost a parent the year before it just completely baffled me.

I also, being the same age as William, hate how he and Harry were made to dress up in their suits in the days before and go out to look at the flowers. They'd just lost their mum for heaven's sake! I knew how they would be feeling.

We went to Alton Towers for the day because we knew that the queues would be tiny compared to a normal day.

You should have gone to Thorpe Park. It's what she would have wanted. She went there so much with William and Harry for staged photo calls that Anne Robinson used to call her The Thorpe Park Goddess in her column in the Daily Mirror.

Christ no. I didn’t know her. She was someone’s mum, the grief belonged to them. I wasn’t about to parasite off that!

I was a student and moving into a bedsit with my boyfriend in West London. His mum drove us up in her fiesta and the roads were not busy. She was super posh and had been to Diana’s wedding as had my boyfriend. I remember her shedding a few tears in the car but I think she thought the public spectacle was vulgar. A day I won’t ever forget.

Iv a feeling though now so much time has past a lot of people wouldn't want to admit they were a part of it tbh.

Really? Why?

My husband wanted us to go, so I went along. Bizarre, as both he and I are republicans, and never particularly liked Diana. He left flowers at KP, I think in honour of his dead mum who had been a real royalist. Very strange atmosphere, and in London generally that week.

I think it was one of the first manifestations of mass outpourings of grief/grief tourism, where people sob over people they never knew. I think things have got worse since.

I did cry privately when Avicii died, even though I had never known him of course, beyond a couple of concerts. I think it was the loss of talent, and knowledge that he had been depressed for a long time.

No.

I took my dd to watch the trains at our local station, (she absolutely loved to watch trains) it was quite eerie though-everywhere was deserted and we pretty much had the station to ourselves.

GabrielleNeslon - that is what part of the documentary said - the press turned on the royal family to take the heat off themselves as they were getting assaulted and spat at by the general public who blamed them for her death.

It was an eye opener to watch the huge numbers of people wailing and sobbing. Will be interesting to see what happens when the queen dies.

No, i found it all rather nauseating all these people crying over someone they never knew, so bizzare, i felt sorry for William and Harry having to go and talk to the crowds that shouldn't have happened, couldn't go into town as everything was shut due to the funeral, i felt the country had to get a grip we didn't know her

I lived in Kensington then, i didn't go to the funeral but the streets were curiously quiet whilst it was on.

Yes, slept overnight on a grassy embankment along Whitehall. I was absolutely frozen over night and exhausted the next day and had to go to work later that day. I suppose I got caught up in all the hysteria but I was, and still am, a royal fan and admired Diana so I'm glad I went.

You should have gone to Thorpe Park. It's what she would have wanted.

Haha I'm a Northerner so too far. I think she went to Alton Towers once - my husband was always moaning that she'd made the queues longer by doing that and making it aspirational. I vaguely remember a photo opportunity of her on the log flume

I was a similar age to Diana and I had followed her since she first hit the headlines aged 19. I remember her death as being a huge shock and although not the same as loosing a family member, it felt similar to someone I knew in real life dying, I watched on TV as I had young children then. I think it surprised many people that they felt a personal feeling of genuine grief and the week between her death and funeral was a very odd time, I signed a condolance book at our local town hall. I think many people felt the need to acknowledge their feelings somehow hence the flowers and books.I can't imagine it ever happening again with anyone else.

I was working in Pall Mall at the time and didn’t even walk around the corner to see the flowers. I found the whole thing bizarre and distasteful.

No. And I lived in London.
As for " the peoples' princess"....