Diana, 7 days and the walk behind the coffin

You could be right annie, but whatever it was it was the height of stupidity.

I think they were on a high playing "catch us if you can" she had spent the whole summer doing it

What is really strange is the fact that these two were in the car in the first place? Whatever possessed them to get into a car late at night against her bodyguards advice, knowing the paparazzi were waiting for them, driven by a chauffeur who had had too much to drink, driving like the bats out of hell, no seat belts, through an underpass incredibly dangerously, when they could have stayed where they were, spent the night in the luxury suite owned by the Fayed family as was the hotel, travelled in the morning arriving safely at their destination. Clearly this will forever remain a mystery, but what were they thinking of?!!

As Merlotgran says..... those who accuse the Queen of being cold and uncaring should read Timothy Knatchbull excellent book on the IRA killing of his grandfather (Lord Mountbatten) his paternal grandmother and his twin brother. In the aftermath of the horror, with his parents in hospital , he and his young siblings were whisked up to Balmoral arriving in the early hours to be met by the Queen in the hallway with hugs, hot drinks and sandwiches.
Forever living her life in the public eye, she has had to cope with situations that would have driven many of us to therapy.... or drink! '

She obviously did it well. 20 years and she is still making headlines. Lets face it, she was far more interesting than the rest of them.

Golly, I feel like I reaped a whirlwind by starting this thread.

I have sort of missed half of August in TV terms because of holidays and haven't seen any other programmes, but keep seeing adverts for the forthcoming documentary about '7 days'.

As others have said, it will be good to get past the anniversary and all the hype, speculation and counter accusations.

I wasn't ome who cried or felt the need to lay flowers at Diana's sad passing - tragic though it was, I was bemused at the time by the scenes in London and just felt the boys needed to be protected.

Twenty years on, perhaps their own need to reflect and process grief afresh as adults now has been somewhat overtaken and exploited by palace and media alike - who knows where the boundaries are?!

Some here have expressed discomfort about the princes vocalising their grief - I hope this has / will help them longer-term.

The royal family need to have some privacy. Like any family, especially at an unhappy time, such as that was. They have human weaknesses too.
But it's part of their job.
The media make it worse for them.

x posted with you there norose, very similar sentiments.

I came to accepting the monarchy is probably better than the alternatives late in life.
I am puzzled by people who express anger, resentment and disdain towards Diana. The marriage was a disaster for both of them. It's said they met 13 times before the wedding, she was 19 and he was in his early 30's. Both immature and both grew up with childhoods most of us would see as lacking in the provision of secure attachments or emotional stability. If she could have got out of it it seems likely she would have but as her sisters told her your 'face is on the tea towels you can't back out now.'
Her death was an absolute tragedy and it was not her fault as some suggest here. Not wearing a seat belt and having to form some kind of relationship with the press don't mean she somehow deserved to die.
Her sons were left motherless at a crucial time in their emotional development. They were already coping with an acrimonious divorce and all that goes with it. The public felt that Diana had been let down. by the firm and expected some display of grief from the royal family. For what its worth, I believe the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles were right to keep William and Harry away from London in the immediate aftermath. I believe they were wrong to take the boys to Church within a couple of hours of them learning their mother had died. I couldn't criticise them for that, they were doing their best to keep calm and carry on.
I agree, it was plain wrong to have those young boys walk behind the coffin but again - what would have been the right thing in those emotionally charged days.
I do wish folks wouldn't take up positions in which one side or the other is all good or all bad. If Diana had been my daughter, I'd have advised her against the marriage. No doubt she'd have ignored me as most 19 year old daughters ignore their mothers best meant advice. In RL I wore my Don't do it Di badge but can't find it in my heart to be dismissive of any of the family at the heart of this tragedy. I'm so relieved that despite the travails my own family has faced, we've done so without the4 full glare of publicity and without the judgements so easily passed on the Windsor.

The road less traveled comes to mind i.e. Dammed if you do dammed if you don't & absolutely pointless to judge yesterdays actions by today's thinking. Everything in life is in context to the the time & attitudes at that time . How many of us would do things differently now than that which we may have done in the past.And the only people who it actually truly matters to is Diana's family. We the public are guilty of presuming to know so much about the Royal family,their feelings &their behaviour & often confuse fact with fiction, if it's fairy tales we want then we should stick to reading books. Only the people involved know the truth,anything else is pure conjecture & fantasy! Sadly many,many people face the choice of whether or not to attended the funeral of a loved one & may at a latter date either be glad or saddened by their choice. Do not judge yesterday's decision on to days circumstances.

Anyone who has read Timothy Knatchbull's heartbreaking account of the day his grandfather Lord Mountbatten was murdered by the IRA along with his fourteen year old twin brother, Nicholas, grandmother Lady Brabourne and local boy Paul Maxwell will know that he writes movingly of the Queen inviting him to Balmoral to help him recover and come to terms with the atrocity.

Far from being cold and uncaring, the Queen and the rest of the Royal family have always preferred to keep their feelings private.

Seeing the emotional incontinence taking place in London that week must have made them want to pull up the drawbridge and stay put.

Not sure who's crazy idea the walking behind the coffin was but it was just plain wrong.

Was astonished how her two young boys were made to be on display during the periods after their mother died, no grieving human being should have to display themselves during such times.

Well Like most of us, I only knew of Diana what I learned from the media niggly .

It seems her sons are following her with use of the media

Yes I agree with all nigglynellie has said. Prince Charles has maintained a dignified silence throughout this emotionfest, the Princes should have done the same.

Diana was indiscreet, she played the media and public opinion, she made sure we all knew her!!

Okay niggly I will correct my statement to:

I make no apologies for my dislike of everything I know about the royal family, together with everything they stand for

We can only know what we hear/read/see via the media.

Nobody here actually knew Diana. Is that not the same thing?

I can't quite understand how anyone can dislike a whole family that they have never met, and on a personal level know absolutely nothing about. I can understand disapproving of royalty as an institution, but to dislike people because of who they are seems a bit sweeping and smacks of prejudice!

I'm so disappointed in Princes William and Harry. I thought they were better than this. Can't they see that it was Diana's obsession with the media that led to her tragic death. They now seem to be following in her footsteps.

It would have made no difference to me (personally) whatever she did Annie as I make no apologies for my dislike of the whole royal family and everything they stand for.

honestly I'm sick to death hearing about Diana,she'sall over the news and FB and her sons are using her in the same way she herself used the media ..its shocking.She died because she didn't wear a seatbelt ..end of story..sall this rubbish blaming evryone else BUT her has to stop.In fact stop reporting it all as if its news..she died 20 years ago..even if her sons are still grieving and I'm sure they are,then please let them do it in private and not whip up thois mass mourning nonsense again.People lose parents ..its hardly unusual whatever you thought of her ,they need to come to terms with it like the rest of us do when we lose a mother or father and stop blaming the press/paparrazi ...remember SHE encouraged the photographers when it suited her.Just like her sons do

Agree Merlot and Alima, after the anniversary we should draw a line under and leave the sons to remember their mother in private and in peace. Nobody really knows what happened except those involved anyway.

But Gilly, what difference would it have made to you if she had raced back to London and been tucked away in Buck .House. What many seem to forget is the feelings of queening, she knew Diana from birth, regardless of the troubles in latter years queenie must have been saddened . She put her family before the demands of being queen,