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.
However, there was one time the Queen broke that royal rule and bowed her head to pay her respects to the late Princess Diana - an act she was only ever seen doing once during her reign.
Margaret had not forgiven Diana for her perceived betrayal even by the time of her funeral in 1997, with Morton writing in Town & Country, 'She never forgave Diana for what she saw as her betrayal of the royal family, not even in death.
Although she was the 'people's princess,' Diana was not a Royal at the time of her death and so she was not eligible to be buried in the Royal Vault. Instead of being laid to rest in the Royal Vault, it was decided that Diana would be buried at Althorp House, the Spencer family home in Northamptonshire.
Channel Four, quoting senior officials close to court circles, said the queen not only wanted the funeral held privately but initially insisted that Diana's coffin should not even be placed in one of London's royal palaces.
Camilla was not welcome at Princess Diana's Funeral
Although she did attend Diana's wedding, she was not able to attend the funeral. This decision was made at the request of the Queen, who insisted that then Prince Charles could not bring his paramour to the service, likely due to the affair the two had in 1986.
That evening, she gave an address live on television — another departure from protocol for the death of woman with no official role. The queen appeared nervous, and while paying tribute to the princess, she hinted at the public anger at her silence and stoicism.
It is understood that the Royal Family wanted the young Princes to walk behind their mother's coffin as a sign of tradition, expressing the continuity of the monarchy and the constitution.
"In a mark of respect to an ex-wife and a departed mother, Prince Charles wanted to walk behind the cortege with William and Harry beside him," Seward said.
King Charles III walked directly behind his mother's coffin, and he was accompanied by his siblings and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
As TIME pointed out, the royal family had been cool towards Diana even before her divorce from Charles, due to the attention she attracted from the tabloids. While the precise reasons for the coolness are “still ultimately a matter of speculation,” Lacey says, “there was no doubt it was there.
The Chin Tuck
She did it all the time—in her interviews when she was walking down the street, and even while looking at photographers. She was known for tucking her chin down and looking up through her eyelashes. What does this cue mean? The chin tuck is a protective cue.
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.
The reason why the Queen wasn't at Prince Charles' wedding
The Queen and Prince Philip were absent from Charles and Camilla's wedding because both the bride and groom had previously been divorced, according to The Telegraph.
After Princess Margaret passed away at the age of 71 on February 9, 2002, the Queen was seen crying at her funeral.
What were Princess Diana's last words? The firefighter on the scene of Princess Diana's accident revealed the last words she spoke before her death in an interview with The Independent. According to the firefighter, Xavier Gourmelon, the Princess of Wales asked: “My God, what has happened?”
Attending the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, Kate Middleton wore a necklace which was once borrowed by Princess Diana and worn by the Queen. The new Princess of Wales was seen wearing the four-strand pearl choker which also featured a diamond clasp, in what appeared to be a subtle tribute to the late monarch.
Prince Harry memoir: Harry reveals when he felt “ashamed” for crying at Princess Diana's funeral | Herald Sun.
Diana was buried later that day in a private ceremony in Althorp Park, the Spencer family estate. She was wearing a black woolen long-sleeved cocktail dress by Catherine Walker that she had ordered only weeks before she died, and holding a set of rosary beads that were a gift from Mother Theresa.
One notable royal who refused to bow at Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 was Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Philip was a close family friend to Diana and the two were known to have a close and complicated relationship.
They also worried that the local church and Brington would be overwhelmed by the number of visitors wanting to see the late Princess' grave. Whilst Diana did have a public funeral, it was a royal ceremonial funeral rather than a state funeral, and her burial was a private affair with family members only.
King Charles, William And Harry Walk Behind The Queen's Coffin At Her State Funeral.
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.
According to Seward in The Queen & Di, although Elizabeth was initially sympathetic to Diana, eventually the stoic monarch felt that the emotional Princess was simply too much to handle. “A footman said, 'The Princess cried three times in a half an hour while she was waiting to see you.
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.