Burial of Diana, Princess of Wales

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The funeral procession passes Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner

The public burial of Diana, Princess of Wales began on Saturday, September 6, 1997 at 9:08 am BST in London with the ringing of the death knell, signaling the start of the funeral procession from Kensington Palace . From there, the coffin was initially on a gun carriage to Hyde Park along the St James's Palace brought where, among other things Diana's family joined the funeral procession. Diana had been laid out at St James's Palace for five days before she was taken to Kensington Palace. The Union Flag over Buckingham Palace was hoisted at half mast. The funeral service took place at Westminster Abbey in London and the funeral ended with Diana's funeral in Althorp , the ancestral home of the Spencer family .

Two thousand people attended the service at Westminster Abbey and the audience on British television was up to 32.1 million viewers. It was one of the highest viewership figures ever recorded in the United Kingdom . Two billion people watched the event worldwide; making it one of the most watched television events in history.

background

On August 31, 1997, Charles, Prince of Wales , her ex-husband and her two sisters had transferred Diana from the Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière via the Villacoublay military airfield in Paris to London. For this purpose, an official protocol from the 1980s was set in motion, which regulates the transfer of a member of the royal family who died abroad back to London. After Diana's coffin was brought to a private mortuary that followed lying in state in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace . On Friday evening he was taken to Kensington Palace, as two million people were expected for the funeral service and the distance should be longer.

Funeral service

Diana's coffin on his way to Westminster Abbey

Diana's funeral was not an official state funeral , but a funeral service after a royal ceremony, which included a traditional funeral procession and a service following the Anglican funeral liturgy. The gates of Kensington and Buckingham Palace were lavishly decorated with flowers. Twelve members of the Welsh Guards escorted Diana's coffin through the streets of London. The coffin was covered with an ermine- trimmed Royal Standard and adorned with three white-flowered funeral wreaths from her brother, Count Spencer , and Diana's sons, Prince William and Prince Harry . At St. James's Palace, Prince Philip , Charles, the Prince of Wales, their sons, and their brother joined the funeral procession. Behind were five hundred representatives from various charities Diana had been involved with; among them was the actor Andrew Lincoln , in his capacity as representative of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , of which the Princess was a patron . The coffin passed Buckingham Palace , where members of the royal family were waiting. Queen Elizabeth II bowed as the coffin was carried past. More than a million people lined the streets of London, and flowers from spectators rained down on the funeral procession.

The west portal of Westminster Abbey, the site of the funeral service

The ceremony at Westminster Abbey began at 11:00 BST and lasted an hour and ten minutes. The Royal Family laid funeral wreaths on Diana's coffin in the presence of former British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher , James Callaghan and Edward Heath . Among the guests were Cliff Richard , Hillary Clinton , Henry Kissinger , William J. Crowe , Bernadette Chirac , Nūr von Jordan , Tom Hanks , Steven Spielberg , Elton John , George Michael , Chris de Burgh , Michael Barrymore , Mariah Carey , Richard Branson , Luciano Pavarotti , Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman . Prime Minister Tony Blair read an excerpt from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians : “But now there remains faith, hope, love, these three; but love is the greatest of them. ”Among those invited were Juan Carlos I , Margriet of Orange-Nassau , Constantine II , Naruhito with Masako , and Nelson Mandela .

The Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and the Dean of Westminster Wesley Carr also attended the Anglican service, which opened with the traditional singing of God Save the Queen . Pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach ( BWV 546), Antonín Dvořák , Camille Saint-Saëns , Gustav Holst and other composers were played.

During the service, Elton John sang the song Candle in the Wind , rewritten as Goodbye, England's Rose, which was rewritten by his songwriter Bernie Taupin in memory of Diana.

Diana's brother Charles gave a funeral speech in which he reprimanded the royal family and the press for their dealings with his sister.

When the coffin moved out of the church, the Westminster Abbey Choir under the direction of Martin Neary sang the Song for Athene by the British composer John Tavener with a text by the Orthodox nun Mother Thekla ; the piece comes from the Orthodox liturgy and Shakespeare's Hamlet . In response to multiple requests, an additional service for Diana was held at Westminster Abbey on Sunday, September 7th.

burial

The funeral took place on the same day in a private setting. Diana's ex-husband, her two sons, her mother, Diana's siblings, her best friend, and a clergyman were present. Diana wore a black long-sleeved dress by fashion designer Catherine Walker that she had chosen a few weeks earlier. A rosary had been placed in her hands , a gift from Mother Teresa , who had died the day before Diana's funeral. The grave is on a small island on the Althorp Park estate, ancestral home of the Spencer family for decades. The Bishop of Peterborough had previously consecrated the ground . The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment's 2nd Battalion carried the princess' coffin to her grave; Diana had been the regiment's honorary colonel from 1992 to 1996 . Prior to the funeral, the Royal Standard was replaced by the flag of the Spencer family with the consent of Prince Charles, Williams and Harry.

  • Diana Memorial in Althorp on the Spencer family home

  • Aerial view of Althorp. Diana is buried on the island

  • Lady Diana was buried on this island (center)

  • The Diana memorial

The island - sometimes called the "Island of Tears" - is located in an artificial lake known as the "Round Oval" in the gardens of Althorp Park. A path leads to the lake, which is lined with 36 oaks , each symbolizing one of Diana's years of life. Four mourning swans swim in the lake, which also has water lilies , alongside white roses Diana's favorite flowers. On the south bank is Diana's Memorial , one of two former summer houses in the gardens of Admiralty House in London, bought by 5th Earl Spencer , who was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1892 . The second summer house is in the gardens of Buckingham Palace . There is also an old arboretum that contains trees planted by the family. The Spencer family's decision to bury Diana in this secluded and private location also allows them to make private visits to the grave.

Diana was originally supposed to have been buried in the Spencer family crypt in Great Brington's village church , but Earl Spencer was concerned about public safety as Great Brington could be crowded. He decided that Diana would be buried where her grave could be tended easily and that privacy would be guaranteed for visits from William, Harry and other members of the Spencer family.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Princess Diana Entertainment Weekly
  2. ↑ Tracking 30 years of TV's most watched programs . BBC. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  3. ^ John Urry: Global complexity , Wiley-Blackwell, 2003, p. 134.
  4. ↑ a b Princess Diana's body comes home . In: CNN , August 31, 1997. Retrieved July 23, 2013. 
  5. ↑ Funeral procession for Princess Diana about six kilometers long , accessed on September 16, 2017.
  6. ^ Paul DL Avis: A church drawing near: spirituality and mission in a post-Christian culture , Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003
  7. ↑ a b Diana 1961-1997: The Cortege - A flower-strewn path leading to the Abbey . The Independent . Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ World watches as Britain bids farewell to Diana . CNN . Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  9. ^ Ken MacQueen: How Diana damaged William . In: MacLean's , May 23, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2013. 
  10. ↑ a b The Last Journey Begins . BBC. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  11. ^ Diana: Sights and Sounds - The Funeral . BBC . Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  12. ^ A b Special Report: Princess Diana, 1961–1997 TIME
  13. ↑ Joal Ryan: Farewell, "Mummy": Princess Diana's Funeral E! Online , September 6, 1997
  14. ^ Brian MacArthur: Requiem: Diana, Princess of Wales 1961-1997 - Memories and Tributes , Arcade Publishing, 1998, p. 165
  15. ^ A Hot Ticket for a Sad Occasion Washington Post
  16. ↑ Barry Miles: Massive Music Moments , Anova Books, 2008, p. 207.
  17. ↑ Prince William's uncle Earl Spencer set to wed , BBC. February 15, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2013. 
  18. ^ Margaret Evans: The Diana Phenomenon: Reaction in the East Midlands . In: Folklore . 109, No. 1-2, 1998, pp. 101-103. doi : 10.1080 / 0015587X.1998.9715967 .
  19. ^ Diana Returns Home . In: BBC . Retrieved October 13, 2008. 
  20. ^ Charles Arthur: Diana 1961-1997: Journey's end - At peace, at last, Diana comes home . In: The Independent , September 6, 1997. Retrieved August 29, 2017. 
  21. ^ Diana, Princess of Wales. Obituary. In: Telegraph website . August 31, 1997, archived from the original on October 4, 2015 ; Retrieved February 25, 2016 .
  22. ↑ Top 10 Celebrity Grave Sites . In: Time , September 3, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2013. 
  23. ^ The Admiralty Board Room. On: CS Forester Society website
  24. ^ Althorp Park, Home of Princess Diana . In: Britain Express . Retrieved October 13, 2008. 
  25. ↑ a b Burial site offers princess a privacy elusive in life . In: Sarasota Herald-Tribune , September 6, 1997. Retrieved June 1, 2013. 
  26. ↑ Visiting Althorp. In: spencerofalthorp.com. 2015, accessed September 26, 2015 .

literature

  • Nigel Dacre: The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales . Court Historian, 8: 1 (2003), pp. 85-90.
  • Adrian Kear, Deborah Lynn Steinberg: Mourning Diana: nation, culture, and the performance of grief , Routledge, 1999
  • Tony Walter: The mourning for Diana , Berg Publishers, 1999

Web links

Commons : Burial of Diana, Princess of Wales  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

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