20 years on, Britain mourns Diana’s shock death
People hit streets to remember Diana on 20th death anniversary
London: Fans and friends of Diana, princess of Wales, were marking 20 years since her death on Thursday as Britain looked back on the day when the shocking news broke that she had been killed in a Paris car crash.
She was just 36 at the time, with her death triggering an unprecedented outpouring of grief across Britain.
She died along with Dodi Fayed, her wealthy Egyptian boyfriend of two months, and his driver Henri Paul who was trying to shake off paparazzi photographers.
Two decades on, Britain has still not forgotten.
“20 years ago today, the world lost an angel,” pop star Elton John, a friend of Diana’s who worked with her to raise awareness about AIDS, said on Instagram next to a picture of the two of them.
Well wishers laid flowers and candles outside Kensington Palace, her London residence where her sons Princes William and Harry now live.
A couple in Union Jack clothing were the first to arrive on Thursday morning at the palace gates and hundreds filed past during the day.
A handful of people gathered in Paris to visit the Pont de l’Alma tunnel where her car smashed into a pillar at 12:23 am on August 31, 1997, ending the life of the world’s most famous woman. Diana was “revolutionary,” said Sian Croston, a student from London.