DRUGS 45
5-3n Tribute, funeral, and burial
The sudden and unexpected death of an extraordinarily popular royal figure brought statements from senior
figures worldwide and many tributes by members of the public. People left public offerings of flowers,
candles, cards, and personal messages outside Kensington Palace for many months. Her coffin, draped
with the royal flag, was brought to London from Paris by Prince Charles and Diana’s two sisters on
31 August 1997. After being taken to a private mortuary it was placed in the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace.
Diana’s funeral took place in Westminster Abbey on 6 September. The previous day Queen Elizabeth II
had paid tribute to her in a live television broadcast. Her sons walked in the funeral procession behind her
coffin, along with the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, Diana’s brother Lord Spencer, and
representatives of some of her charities. Lord Spencer said of his sister, “She proved in the last year that
she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.” Re-written in tribute to Diana,
“Candle in the Wind” was performed by Elton John at the funeral service (the only occasion the song has been
performed live). Released as a single in 1997, the global proceeds from the song have gone to Diana’s
charities.
The burial occurred privately later the same day. Diana’s former husband, sons, mother, siblings, a close friend,
and a clergyman were present. Diana’s body was clothed in a black long-sleeved dress designed by Catherine
Walker, which she had chosen some weeks before. A set of rosary beads was placed in her hands, a gift she
had received from Mother Teresa, who died the same week as Diana. Her grave is on an island (52.283082°N
1.000278°W) within the grounds of Althorp Park, the Spencer family home for centuries.
The burial party was provided by the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, who were given
the honour of carrying the Princess across to the island and laying her to rest. Diana was the Regiment’s
Colonel-in-Chief from 1992 to 1996. The original plan was for Diana to be buried in the Spencer family vault at
the local church in nearby Great Brington, but Lord Spencer said that he was concerned about public safety and
security and the onslaught of visitors that might overwhelm Great Brington. He decided that Diana would be
buried where her grave could be easily cared for and visited in privacy by William, Harry, and other Spencer
relatives.
5-3o Later events
Following Diana’s death, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was granted intellectual property rights
over her image. In 1998, the fund sued the Franklin Mint, accusing it of illegally selling Diana dolls, plates, and
jewellery after having been refused a license to do so. In California, where the initial case was tried, a suit to
preserve the right of publicity may be filed on behalf of a dead person, but only if that person is a Californian.
The Memorial Fund therefore filed the lawsuit on behalf of the estate and, upon losing the case, was required
to pay the Franklin Mint’s legal costs of £3 million which, combined with other fees, caused the Memorial Fund
to freeze its grants to charities. In 2003, the Franklin Mint counter-sued. In November 2004, the case was settled
out of court with the Memorial Fund agreeing to pay £13.5 million (US$21.5 million) to charitable causes on
which both sides agreed. In addition to this, the Memorial Fund had spent a total of close to £4 million
(US$6.5 million) in costs and fees relating to this litigation, and as a result froze grants allocated to a number
of charities.
On 13 July 2006, Italian magazine Chi published photographs showing Diana amid the wreckage of the car
crash, despite an unofficial blackout on such photographs being published. The editor of Chi defended his
decision by saying he published the photographs simply because they had not been previously seen, and he
felt the images are not disrespectful to the memory of Diana.
The Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium was held on 1 July 2007. The event, organised by the Princes
William and Harry, celebrated the 46th anniversary of their mother’s birth and occurred a few weeks before the
10th anniversary of her death on 31 August. The proceeds that were earned from this event were donated to
Diana’s charities. On 31 August 2007, a memorial service for Diana took place in the Guards Chapel. Guests
included members of the royal family and their relatives, members of the Spencer family, members of Diana’s
wedding party, Diana’s close friends and aides, representatives from many of her charities, British politicians
Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, and John Major, and friends from the entertainment world such as David Frost,
Elton John, and Cliff Richard.
In 2013, a previously unseen photograph of the then already officially engaged Diana was put up for auction.
The picture belonged to the Daily Mirror newspaper, and has “Not to be published” written on it. In it, a young
Diana has her head in the lap of an unidentified man.
On 19 March 2013, ten of Diana’s dresses, including a midnight blue velvet gown she wore to a 1985 state
dinner at the White House when she famously danced with John Travolta (which became known as the
Travolta dress), raised over £800,000 at auction in London.]
5-3p Legacy
From her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in 1997, Diana was a major presence
on the world stage, often described as the “world’s most photographed woman”. She was noted for her
compassion, style, charisma, and high-profile charity work, as well as her difficult marriage to the Prince of
Wales. Her peak popularity rate in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 2012 was 47%.
She was a fashion icon whose style was emulated by women around the world. Iain Hollingshead of The
Telegraph writes: “Diana had an ability to sell clothes just by looking at them.” An early example of the effect
occurred during her courtship with Charles in 1980 when sales of Hunters Wellington boots skyrocketed after
she was pictured wearing a pair on the Balmoral estate.
In 1999, Time magazine named Diana one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. In 2002,
Diana was ranked third on the BBC’s poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, outranking the Queen and other
British monarchs. In 2004, People cited her as one of the all-time most beautiful women.
5-3q Memorials
Immediately after her death, many sites around the world became briefly ad hoc memorials to Diana where
the public left flowers and other tributes. The largest was outside the gates of Kensington Palace, where
people continue to leave flowers and tributes. Permanent memorials include:
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Gardens
in Regent Centre Gardens Kirkintilloch
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain
in Hyde Park, London, opened by Elizabeth II
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground
in Kensington Gardens, London
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, a circular
path between Kensington Gardens, Green Park,
Hyde Park, and St. James’s Park, London
The Flame of Liberty, erected in 1989 on the Place de l’Alma in Paris above the entrance to the tunnel in
which the fatal crash occurred, has become an unofficial memorial to Diana. In addition, there are two
memorials inside Harrods department store, commissioned by Dodi Fayed’s father, who owned the store
from 1985 to 2010. The first memorial is a pyramid-shaped display containing photos of the princess and
al-Fayed’s son, a wine glass said to be from their last dinner, and a ring purchased by Dodi the day prior
to the crash. The second, Innocent Victims, unveiled in 2005, is a bronze statue of Fayed dancing with Diana
on a beach beneath the wings of an albatross.
In 1998, Azermarka issued postage stamps commemorating Diana in Azerbaijan. The English text on
souvenir sheets issued reads “DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES The Princess that captured people’s hearts
(1961–1997)”. Several other countries issued commemorative stamps that year, including Great Britain,
Somalia, and Congo. HayPost also issued a postage stamp commemorating Diana in Armenia at the same
year.
In February 2013, OCAD University in Toronto, Canada, announced that its new 25,000 square foot arts centre
would be named the Princess of Wales Visual Arts Centre. Princess Diana Drive was named in her memory
in Trenton, New Jersey. Diana’s granddaughter, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, born in 2015, is named after her.
5-3r My comment
We have just read the ironed story from Wikipedia and it shows how they lie to us. We should believe it.
There was much concealed and smoothed and hence all the show that we see from the elite angle.
We are now going to read a completely different story, which is totally the opposite of their lies. I just make a
note that this story is not my way of writing and reporting events, but it reflects a completely opposite view.
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