Will you be watching the harry interview tonight at 9pm?

[Orangefir]

Or will it be Happy Valley 😃 ?

There were vast number of people outside Kensington Palace and many of them were interviewed on news reports. The anger of some of them was visceral. It was an incredible time - much of the country went quite mad.

When Diana died I think some of the anger was about the fact Diana had gone - and that the royal family and press had contributed to her demise. The sentiment "was do you care." Then the queen came back to London and I remember being shocked that they brought the boys out to greet the crowds and had them walk behind her coffin. We all said there was no need for that.

The public were baying for the Queen’s blood when she stayed at balmoral for some days to comfort the boys. They were also demanding to see the boys to check they were alright. The mood was one of mass hysteria and extremely hostile. The boys were brought out to appease the crowds and prevent social disorder.

That's my recollection. I remember the headlines asking where was the Queen or similar & there was anger towards the royals. I also remember the hostility around Camilla for years later with press saying she could never be Queen etc so of course there had to be a PR campaign to boost her popularity.

I've never really understood how this worked regarding the press opinion v public opinion. At the time of Diana's death there was no social media so "the public" could only really express their opinion to people IRL or by writing a letter to a newspaper.

Like another pp upthread I was on another time zone and a long long way from the UK when this went on.

In the days following the death it did seem the national (non English language) TV stations and the international broadcasters such as CNN were able to find plenty of people in crowds various claiming the Queen/Royal family had to "do something" or "think of the boys"...

Whether that was representative of the whole crowd, or the UK population in general??

I'm pretty sure quite a few of the papers ran front page headlines saying "Where are you, Ma'am?"

The Royals seem to read the daily papers, so probably thought they better listen to "public opinion" and do some walkabouts, similar to when she stayed away too long from Aberfan.

I guess so but were they indicative of the whole mood of the country?

When a member of the RF is close to their due date you get hordes of batshit enthusiastic supporters outside the hospital - some camp out for days but they are not representative of everyone?

I just can’t see how this ends for Harry, had he gone for the press he wouldn’t of split peoples opinions. Going for the royal family is obviously going to increase what he earns but he is going to need some seriously money to cover not only him but his children. Their education and maybe even a lifetime of security with high profile names he probably hasn’t even covered that yet. The death of Diana began with Charles and then Diana battling each other to win the PR campaign it’s just so sad.

I always think today that it would’ve been far better for William and Harry if Diana‘s funeral had been a private one which is what the Queen first suggested. The Queen actually seem to be the only one who kept her head at this time when everyone else was going mad but of course the public goaded on by the press were demanding a public funeral and all the royal family on display. Now of course we have Harry using the press to exact what he sees as his ‘revenge’ for the loss of his mother. The fact was of course that she was sadly killed by an accident with a driver who had too much to drink speeding through an underpass when she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Yes the press were partly responsible but they were not responsible for her not wearing a seatbelt or her driver being over the limit

I remember the period post Diana’s death fairly well, and I remember the ”Where are you Ma’am?” headlines and the national mood turning darker and more angry. The public definitely bayed for the Queen.

I also remember collective shock that the boys were sent out on walkabout. I don’t recall a single voice crying for that and I DO remember a lot of “bloody hell why have they brought them out?” type reactions.

I'd 100 x rather we kept our free press in this country rather than anyone "took them on" and "did something about it."

I don't think I suggested getting rid of a free press. I would prefer that so much power did not reside with a tiny number of press barons that public figures, politicians and organisations have to tiptoe around and suck up to though.

There were so many people outside the palaces & everyone seemed in shock. I remember my mum (big Di fan) & neighbours crying as if it was someone they knew who died.

There are also lots of talk of Charles & whether he should abdicate as the public wouldn't accept him. I thought that was deeply unfair to William, who wants that burden earlier?

It was definitely a combination of the media and the public. I remember those headlines and people being interviewed on tv. The flowers. The Queen also was brow beaten into flying the royal standard at half mast because of the outrage that the people expressed that it was flying high and disrespectful to Diana. This never happened before . The royal standard flies above the monarch to indicate they’re there. It is never lowered to half mast. The Union Jack is raised, lowered or flown at half mast.

I agree with this. He's clearly troubled and went through an awful trauma at a young age, but this just isn't the way to deal with it. If the press is the root of all evil, stop feeding them.

Let’s not forget that when Diana had the accident & subsequently died the Sunday newspapers had to be pulled as they weren’t complimentary about her.

Yes I remember the anger that the flag wasn't at half mask - and the excuse being that Diana had no title.

The fact was of course that she was sadly killed by an accident with a driver who had too much to drink speeding through an underpass when she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Yes the press were partly responsible but they were not responsible for her not wearing a seatbelt or her driver being over the limit

I think the chain way he described it made sense. Plus the driver & Diana died, paying the price for their part of the chain. You have to remember he would have had his own experiences with the paps & of course if you see photos from a loved ones crash with lots of paps around you are going to be angry at them.

The flag saga was ridiculous.

They didn’t fly the standard at half mast though. They changed/broke protocol and flew the Union Jack at half mast. Previously the only flag that flew was the standard and that only flew when the monarch was present. A flag when the Queen wasn’t in residence was unheard of.

People lost their minds in the aftermath of Diana's death. They almost seemed to think they were 'looking after her boys'. There was a lot of subsequent indulgence by the public, especially of Harry being a bit wild, because of what they'd been through. There was also a press ban on reporting about them which the royal family negotiated. I think until they were 18?
The Queen very definitely wanted to stay with the children in Balmoral and let her family organise everything but Tony Blair and his office pushed for the royal family to engage more and react to the 'public mood' (whipped up by the press).

Is that true? I don’t remember that at all. The papers would have been distributed across the country by the time the news broke. I do remember the huge shock on that Sunday morning. My mum loved Di and I visited her and we watched the TV coverage with sadness and disbelief.

I think the other thing that often gets forgotten is why the press happily stoked the public anger toward the royals.

In the first couple of days it was them in the firing line of public anger. It was photographers and editors especially that were being viewed as culpable.

The shift of blame diverted the attention from them.

I'm enjoying this chat. Time for a new thread?

It did demonstrate the power of the press & the public in that if the RF want to survive (not many around the world have in the same way) they need to "play ball". I think that's what Harry has an issue with. But equally I can see it from the RF side that they have little choice.

A few had made it through as they’d already been distributed. The papers were complaining about the land mines IIRC. Also her fling with Dodi.

I did support M&H and his escape from the worlds most dysfunctional family but I think really he should just slip off quietly and enjoy a private life with his family, something it always seemed he craved. I think given the choice he would rather this but I think Megan like the fame but he has had it his whole life and would rather not have it. It’s sad to see him at war with his family . Hopefully the RF stay quiet and that’s the end to it now he has said his bit.

The story about not believing his mum was really dead and talking about the wall that came down, the memories that are gone, was all incredibly sad and 100% believable.

And I absolutely believe the negative briefings happen a lot and he's been scapegoated at times, the RF have been doing that for years. He's right to speak up about that IMO.

I just didn't like his attitude in this interview, despite being overall supportive of Harry I thought you could see clearly how he might behave if challenged even mildly and can imagine that makes him really difficult to deal with. Honestly not surprising given the emotional neglect and privilege he grew up in though.