Just for the memories- where were you / what were you doing when you heard Diana had died?

[MarchionessVonSausage]

The thread about Earl Spencer's book made me think of this.

I'm Australian, the news came through early on a weekend morning, a Sunday I think. I was 22 and driving to pick up a girlfriend who'd had a disastrous night and ended at some random guy's house in the city. When she got in the car she was exhausted and still half pissed. I told her the news and she passed out. I took her home to bed.

She called me later saying "I dreamt Princess Diana died" and I told her to turn on the tv. Ah, memories of youth.

In a supermarket in the New Forest with a friend. No tv in our caravan so we didn't realise until we went to get breakfast and they were playing sombre music.

My dad told me after he woke me up for breakfast. I'd just turned 10.

I do remember him telling me off for asking 'but wasn't she a bad person?' as I didn't understand why the news coverage was so dramatic, given the press had spent the whole summer basically tearing her apart 😢.

We arrived at church and I was wondering why all the votives were alight when the vicar began the service, with the words that she had died and we would remember and pray.

In bed! I had a radio alarm (remember those), and instead of waking up to 90s chart music, they were talking about what had happened. It was a very WTF moment.

In bed! I had a radio alarm (remember those), and instead of waking up to 90s chart music, they were talking about what had happened. It was a very WTF moment.

It was a Sunday morning - I know this because I was the cleaner in my parents pub only on a Sunday morning. One of the tv’s was on and I was vacuuming (I can remember exactly where in the bar too) when I saw it come up. It definitely didn’t feel very real. I was 17 at the time.

At the time I worked for a live TV programme. My housemate woke me up on the Sunday morning by running up the stairs calling my name saying ‘Princess Diana has died’. I was confused for a minute and I remember saying, ‘what??’ followed by ‘I’ll have to go into work’. My phone rang shortly after confirming yep, everyone was being called in.

We worked really hard all day completely unpicking the show for Monday. I remember going into professional mode but the endless feed all day of press releases arriving and people pouring over live footage from the tunnel - it was just awful. I just kept thinking what her poor little boys must be feeling.

I finished up late at work and a friend and I then drove to Kensington Palace where there was a candlelit vigil taking place. Loads of flowers, people were quietly sobbing and even though I had no connection to her at all, I felt the weight of sadness that someone so young had died.

I felt exactly the same way. Reminded me of the opening of Evita. I thought it was sad for her family, especially her kids, but absolutely ridiculous and a little bit scary how mass hysteria can spread with a little media manipulation.

Getting into the shower I had managed to cut my ankle on a piece of badly cut trim and was stemming the flow with loo paper. My then boyfriend came in and told me she had died.

I was in bed, been on a night out, fell asleep with the TV on, woke at some point to a newsflash that Princess Diana had been in an accident in Paris, turned TV off.

Woke up and thought I'd dreamt it, turned TV on to find that it wasn't a dream and she'd died, horrendous day.

I was living in my home country, staying with my parents for a few days to see friends and family before leaving to study in the UK. I’d been clubbing till late the night before, and was deeply unimpressed when my mother actually came into my bedroom to tell me. I had a friend called Diane and at first I thought she meant her! Then I moved to England a couple of days later while everyone was still losing their minds.

I had been on a night out on Saturday and my flat mate was away so as I had the place to myself, I had a long soak in the bath with a book- no radio or tv.

in the afternoon I put the tv on to watch something and there was a programme with someone saying 'of course the Americans loved her' - I had no idea who they were talking about so switched to good old ceefax to see the headline 'Charles to fly to Paris to bring back Diana's body'

I had no idea what had happened

My fairly new boyfriend rang to tell me. Now my DH.

I was on holiday in Canada, so heard about it on the evening news, I left messages for a few friends to turn on the TV as soon as they got up.

In my flat, my mum rang me with the news and I still remember what the curtains I was staring at looked like as I listened.

Somewhere in my loft I have a whole box of newspapers from the days immediately afterwards and a video of the funeral. I kept them because I was sure facts would be changed overtime. I should probably dig them out!

I remember being really angry at the pressure put on the royal family to grieve in public and bring the boys to London and admiring the Queen for resisting for a week. I also remember the ridiculous public grieving and the way the papers weaponised attacks on the royal family in the hope that the public wouldn't remember how negative they had been about Diana before her death.

Urgh, it made me embarrassed to be British.

Urgh, it made me embarrassed to be British.

I was a teenager. I remember being in my parents' bedroom and my dad came in and said could I have a look at ceefax to find out why the Archers wasn't on the radio. Then loading it up and they'd accompanied the headline with a bright yellow graphic of the pearly gates! My other memory is that my dad was far more upset about missing the Archers than Diana's death!

My mother came and woke me to tell me. I can remember trying to hide how bemused I was at why she thought i'd care. I was 11 and less than bothered that some stranger on TV had died.

We used to have the radio on early in the morning and we couldn’t understand why Virgin was playing an endless loop of very sombre music. Was kneeling on the floor changing DS’s nappy when they said that Diana had died. It’s a really clear memory, the yellow changing mat, the sun coming in the window, baby DS wriggling about and such a shocking bit of news. It was my Mum’s birthday and it certainly muted our celebrations with her that day, in spite of none of us being particularly royalist.

I had just got home from a wedding reception. I cried so much that weekend . It was unreal.

Watching kids TV when it came on - I ran upstairs to tell my parents and they didn’t believe me 😂

I was mid-20s. Turned on the news on the Sunday morning to see Tony Blair speaking about someone who died and I thought it was the Queen Mother. Was shocked it was Diana - I called my mum to tell her.
We went to a friend’s house that day (dh and i(, driving through London with all flags at half-mast and sad music on the radio.
Loads of my colleagues went to lay flowers that week but I didn’t.
Watched the funeral - was so sad seeing the young princes walk in front of the coffin. Whatever your feelings about the RF that was so sad - can’t believe they made them do that.

Getting ready to fly to London. It was on CNN. Then on the plane, the pilot announced her passing and quite a few people broke down in tears.

Watching the lunchtime news where I am, with my husband. I suspected there was a horrible announcement going to be made after the confusion earlier when it said she’d survived. We both cried when it was confirmed she’d passed away. I was surprised by my husbands tears and even more surprised when he said it was because we were very alike physically and it made him think of me. He also said it hit home to him just how young she was. We were both just very sad. It was a terrible shock.