What Earl said and what he really meant
HIS EULOGY
WHAT HE SAID: ‘I don’t feel I said many pointed things. I believe every word I said was true … it was important for me to be honest.’ ANALYSIS: Earl Spencer’s speech contained implicit criticism of the royals for taking Diana’s HRH title after her divorce. He pledged to protect her sons William and Harry from ‘duty and tradition’ – a thinly veiled attack on royal protocol – and described the Spencers, and not the Windsors, as their ‘blood family’.
THE PRESS
WHAT HE SAID: ‘I wasn’t looking to make any jabs at anyone actually, I was trying to celebrate Diana – and if by doing that it showed up particularly the Press, I think, in a bad way, well, they had that coming.’ ANALYSIS: There is no doubt she was hounded by paparazzi, but Diana had an ambivalent relationship with the media and counted several journalists among her circle of trusted friends. She was not afraid to use the Press to promote her side in her bitter divorce battle with the Prince of Wales.
THE PRINCES WALKING BEHIND DIANA’S COFFIN
WHAT HE SAID: ‘I had been a passionate advocate for William and Harry not to have to walk behind their mother’s body – I thought it was a very bizarre and cruel thing for them to be asked to do.’ ANALYSIS: Several political insiders have suggested William wanted to be allowed to grieve in peace but was put under pressure to walk at his father’s side to deflect public anger.
THE QUEEN’S RESPONSE TO THE EULOGY
WHAT HE SAID: ‘Somebody I know very well said to her, “What do you think?” and she said, “He had every right to say whatever he felt, it was his sister’s funeral”. So that’s all. ANALYSIS: Although he does not spell it out, this appears to be a reference to his brother-in-law Robert Fellowes, married to his sister Jane who was the Queen’s private secretary at the time of the funeral. An unusual breach of protocol by the earl, certainly from someone who is the Queen’s godson.
REHEARSING HIS EULOGY IN THE ABBEY
WHAT HE SAID: ‘As I stood up, there was a rather strange moment … I noticed these people just come out of nowhere and suddenly I thought, “My goodness, they’re trying to hear what I’m going to say”. I didn’t know who they were, but I knew they probably weren’t entirely sympathetic.’ ANALYSIS: This may refer to Palace courtiers amid ongoing tensions between the Spencer family and the royals over the funeral arrange-
ments. Tight security at the Abbey would have prevented Press from going inside.
ON DIANA’S GRAVE
WHAT HE SAID: ‘Originally we were going to bury Diana in the family tombs nearby, but it wasn’t to be.’ ANALYSIS: Diana always wanted to be buried with her beloved father whose ashes were inside a family vault at St mary’s Church in Great brington, Northamptonshire but the Spencer family feared ghouls might try to steal her remains.
ALTHORP, WHERE HE WROTE THE EULOGY AND DIANA IS BURIED
WHAT HE SAID: ‘Diana loved it here actually so it was the right place to be writing it and it was the right place for her to be brought back to at the end of that day.’ ANALYSIS: Althorp is often described as Diana’s childhood home, but she was 13 when her father inherited the estate. She later said moving to Althorp was ‘a terrible wrench’ as it meant leaving the home she loved in Norfolk. She undoubtedly spent happy times at Althorp but as young children she and her brother are said to have found it gloomy and oppressive.