Statesmen and stars gathered to celebrate the ‘People’s Princess’
It was early on Saturday morning, Aug.31,1997, Princess Diana’s funeral cortege started from her home of Kensington Palace. Surrounding the palace, thousands of mourners gathered and tens of thousands of flowers were laid. In total, more than 1 million mourners lined the route for one last glance of the people’s princess.
The procession route, originally intended to start at St. James Palace, was extended in anticipation of the crowds. From its new starting point at Kensington Palace, the procession wound past Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, past the Royal Albert Hall and later down the tree-lined Constitution Hill past Buckingham Palace to St. James’s Palace where her ex-father-in-law, the Duke of Edinburgh, her ex-husband, the Prince of Wales, her sons and her brother joined to walk behind the coffin until the cortege arrived at Westminster Cathedral.
Atop of the coffin was a card addressed to “Mummy” from her sons, Prince William, 15 and Prince Harry, 12. In an interview for British GQ, William described that walk as “one of the hardest things I have ever done.” Recently, in an interview with Newsweek, Prince Harry shared, “My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television. I don’ t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’ t think it would happen today.”
The public funeral was attended by the royal family, world leaders, and celebrities, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, first lady Hillary Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Elton John, George Michael, Luciano Pavarotti, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
Both Diana’s sisters read tributes to her at the funeral service. Tony Blair did a reading and was followed by Elton John, who performed Goodbye England’s Rose, a new version of his and Bernie Taupin’s classic Candle in the Wind, re-worked in tribute to the late princess. Only a month earlier, Diana had comforted the singer at the funeral of their friend Gianni Versace.
Immediately after John’s performance, Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer eulogized his sister. “Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty” and promised that “on behalf of your mother and sisters, I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men.” He would also famously blamed the media for her death, calling her the “most hunted person of the modern age.”
After prayers, a blessing and hymn and the commendation for Diana were given, the public funeral service for the princess was ended. Diana’s cortege departed Westminster Abbey.
Later that day, Diana was laid to rest after a private service at Althorp Estate, the Spencer family home. She was buried on an island in the estate’s gardens. And while the Althorp House opens to the public for tours several months a year, Diana’s gravesite has been off-limits to the public.
