Diana’s legacy shining on still
Tributes flow and Princes mourn their mum 20 years on
CANDLES and flowers built up at the gates of Princess Diana’s former London residence to mark 20 years since her death, which unleashed an unprecedented outpouring of grief in Britain.
“She was this ray of light in a fairly grey world,” Prince William said of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, whose death two decades ago today shocked the world.
“I still feel that love, I still feel that warmth 20 years on,” her eldest son said in a new documentary marking the anniversary. “If I can be even a fraction of what she was, I’ll be proud.”
The life of Diana – a shy, teenage aristocrat who suddenly became the world’s most famous woman – and her tragic death at 36 still captivate millions worldwide.
Two decades on, her sons William and Prince Harry only now feel able to talk publicly about her death, a seismic event which continues to resonate in the monarchy and British society.
Diana died in a car crash in Paris in the early hours of August 31, 1997, along with Dodi Fayed, her wealthy Egyptian film producer boyfriend of two months, and a drink-impaired, speeding driver Henri Paul, who was trying to evade paparazzi. The 10th anniversary of her death was marked with a memorial service and a charity concert at Wembley Stadium in London.
This anniversary has been more reflective, marked by William, 35, and Harry, 32, opening up about their mother’s life, and death.
No public events were planned, but the brothers were to walk around the garden which has been especially created in her memory at Kensington Palace, her London home. They were to also meet with representatives from charities she supported.
Candles, bouquets of flowers and pictures from wellwishers built up at the palace gates. But the scene was nothing like the sea of flowers laid in the week between her death and her funeral.
William and Harry have spoken of struggling to comprehend the “alien” tide of public mourning from people who did not know their mother, at a time when they, aged 15 and 12, could not process their loss.
Diana married Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, in 1981, but their marriage collapsed.
William has said he tells his children, Prince George, four, and Princess Charlotte, two, about the Granny Diana they will never meet.