Who walked behind Diana's coffin? The funeral procession included William and Harry,Prince Charles andPrince Philip, as well as hundreds of representatives of the charities Diana had been involved with.
King Charles 'deeply regrets' this about Princess Diana's funeral: 'Haunts him'
King Charles III's reaction to the death of his former wife Princess Diana in 1997 reportedly shocked royal aides, with an expert claiming that he 'collapsed' and cried uncontrollably despite his differences with Diana.
Above all we give thanks for the life of a woman I am so proud to be able to call my sister, the unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds.
After Princess Diana died in 1997, Charles, then the Prince of Wales, wore a navy suit to her funeral. At the time, royal watchers read his outfit choice as a tribute to the late princess; Diana was said to have preferred men in navy.
"According to sources, when Diana passed away in 1997, Margaret didn't even bow her head in respect. "Apparently she gave a lazy salute to the casket that has been compared to shooing away a fly." According to TheTalko, Margaret felt as though "Diana had turned her back on the Royal Family".
Camilla may have been at Diana's wedding but she was not welcome at her funeral, which was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people around the world. Still, to many her absence echoed around the ancient hall. The Queen made it clear to Charles that he could not take his paramour to the service.
She's spotted crying at Heathrow airport upon his departure—not because she is sad, but because before he left, he had taken a phone call with Camilla Parker Bowles. “It just broke my heart,” she later recalled, according to Diana: In Her Own Words.
Speaking publicly for the first time about Diana's death in a car crash on August 31th, Charles praised the courage of Prince William and Prince Harry. He added that the warmth of people's support had been 'remarkable' and in many ways 'overwhelming.
Prince Harry memoir: Harry reveals when he felt “ashamed” for crying at Princess Diana's funeral | Herald Sun.
“Palace staff rushed over to Charles' room and found him collapsed in an armchair, weeping uncontrollably,” the royal author also shared. Andersen went on to state: “I don't think people realize how really stricken he was by her death.
He told me he was terrified the first night he stayed in Kensington Palace, relieved at least that Charles and Diana had separate bedrooms. Apparently, she had 30 childhood cuddly toys lining the end of her bed."
The queen's public words about Diana were sincere, as a private letter—made public in 2017—that she wrote after the funeral to her aide Lady Henriette Abel Smith seems to confirm. "It was indeed dreadfully sad, and she is a huge loss to the country," the queen wrote.
The Queen bowed her head as a sign of respect to her late daughter-in-law, Princess Diana. As the Head of State, Her Majesty was under no obligation to bow to anyone, making the gesture even more poignant.
Prince Harry Reveals He "Only Cried Once" At His Mother Diana's Funeral, Opens Up on "Guilt"
The queen stood with her family, and as Diana's funeral cortege passed by, she bowed her head. It was not a quick bow, nor a shallow one. The woman accustomed to being bowed by the world now lowered her head and humbly honored the princess.
Shortly before her passing, the former couple began to reconcile their relationship, with Charles stopping in at her Kensington Palace residence occasionally. In 2005, Prince Charles went on to wed Camilla Parker Bowles, now known as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
"My God, what's happened," Diana then asked him, in what proved to be her final words. "I massaged her heart and a few seconds later she started breathing again. It was a relief of course because, as a first responder, you want to save lives - and that's what I thought I had done.
On July 29, 1981, Charles and Diana got married. Camilla attended their wedding.
On 22 February, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen would not attend the wedding ceremony, but would attend the church blessing and host the reception afterwards. The reason stated by the palace was the couple wanted to keep the occasion low key.
According to Camilla: From Outcast To Future Queen Consort author Angela Levin, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Diana's grandmother, Lady Fermoy, had a huge part to play in it, as did the fact that Princess Diana was much younger than Camilla and therefore, in theory, more likely to give birth to the heir to the ...
“For her part, Diana was upset by the disproportionate interest in her, especially when she realized that it was disturbing Charles. She collapsed under the strain, weeping to her lady-in-waiting and secretly succumbing to bulimia.” The Princess of Wales at the Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, 28th March 1983.
Reports in the British press say Camilla had little desire to attend the ceremony from the very start, but was persuaded by her husband that, as his wife and stepmother to his sons, she should be at his side. But a negative public backlash changed her mind, some British newspapers reported.
King Charles III stood nearby, wearing his military uniform as a sign of respect for his mother. The funeral service began at 11 a.m. U.K. time and was attended by the queen's surviving family members, as well as royals from other countries and world leaders.
Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer joined the British royals in honoring Queen Elizabeth II at her state funeral.