Diana, 7 days and the walk behind the coffin

As acceptable as Charles' affair with Camilla, I would say, which supposedly was with the full blessings of the rest of the royals.

her affairs with married men is acceptable ?

My daughter has done some far worse things. A mothers love is unconditional, regardless of whether you agree with what they do.
Actually, I don't believe Diana did anything terrible. I would be more ashamed of Charles, if I was his mother.

can I just ask a question of all you Diana "supporters" IF she had been YOUR daughter would you have been happy and proud of the way she behaved? The manipulation,the loading her problems onto her teenage son,the men ,the courting publicity etc etc..if she's been mine I'd have locked her up until she sorted her head out and behaved like the mother her children SHOULD have had ,not the one she inflicted on them.Then she might still have been around for those gc everyone says she would have been a wonderful granny to.

"The French were upset at the time; they quite liked 'Lady Dee' but after a week or so they moved on to other things."

Not sure that is quite true Miepl. Paris Match over the last weeks has covered the Diana story both inside the magazine and on the front cover. The French are still obsessed with her memory.

She transcended class, race, religion, that is why her appeal was timeless and universal.

Good grief, the Beeb have a play next Monday, something about the effect of her death on four people ,

I agree lemongrove that those two, then children, shouldn't have walked behind the coffin but met the cortege at the beginning of the ceremony. But twenty years ago, I don't think anyone thought that there was anything wrong with them doing this, after all, at JFK's funeral, both his very young children attended with John John aged 3 saluting his father's coffin! Now that was a tear jerker! Apparently, neither of these siblings ever spoke of it or how they felt. Probably for the best!!
Yes, I think most of us have suffered chronic grief, some at an early age, which we have all coped with in our own way with, or in my case without camomile tea, and anniversaries can make you feel down decades later, but you just have to keep on top of grief, hard though it is, else grief will get on top of you, and you'll emotionally drown.

I have no respect for the royal family and never have had,I think the monarchy is an out of date concept for the 21st century and I believe these young men ,Dianas sons are using her death in an effort to gain publicity again and keep them in the positions they have .Lets face it they're not really hard workers or qualified to do much else ..they may protest they dont like the media attention but their mother did the same and yet it was she who often contacted them with details of where and when she 'd be somewhere and who with...speaks volumes .Time we got rid of them all.A president would be elected,and could be got rid of if he didn't do his job well ..he wouldn't have the money thats thrown at the royals ever willing hands or the number of homes etc .There are presidents in countries who are our neighbours Ireland for instance who do a damn good job without all the fawning and idolatry the royals expect

I agree Azie09 - and of course, like you I'm sure, have sadly had to suffer grief.

^What paddyann said.^^

And you Azie are judging posters who you know nothing of, I suggest a cup of camomile tea for you and a quiet room . Most on this forum have suffered grief , doubt that orcurred to you when you gave your lecture on it

I agree with all your very good balanced posts nigglynellie and I must add, that I don't think the two boys should have had to walk the streets following the gun carriage pulling their Mother's coffin.It would have been enough for them to simply arrive for the ceremony.
I don't think that reviving it all 20 years on has done the Royals any favours.

I probably shouldn't have returned to this thread but was drawn by the fact that it was still running with so many posts. Honestly people, those of you posting the nastiest things, venting over matters of which you cannot have more knowledge than that gained through the media, which you have so much disdain for otherwise. You really need to shut yourselves away in a room for an afternoon with a cup of camomile tea and just think why it is that you feel you can pronounce on the lives and behaviour of others. And if, as I imagine many of you live under a Christian umbrella, maybe just ask yourselves 'what would Jesus say' because he wasn't big on condemnation along with most of the world religions. Once upon a time, toleration was an important British value but it seems to have disappeared. Dealing with grief is one of the hardest tasks we face as humans and lashing out at others who do it differently really helps no one, neither does it help you deal with your own pain.

Miep1 I agree with all you say,lets hope this is the last we hear of her,her family SHOULD mourn but in private like the rest of the world mourns losing a mother..not whipping up all this nonsense again

She didn't wear a seat belt because she was watching the photographers through the rear window of her car ,

As for her sons - I wish they were still not being referred to as her boys- they are certaintly following their mother with the let me share my pain with you and I feel your pain

All this talk about the succession! As has been said, it's not a decision by popular vote, its a done deal and unless he dies or abdicates ( extremely unlikely!!) It will be P.C, thank goodness. The thought of reluctant disloyal P.W, is a bit grim!
Yes I'm sick of the Diana mania being dragged up again, and I find it sad and distasteful that her sons have allowed this to happen, even to the detriment of their own father, which I find shameful! Whatever the problems were, he doesn't deserve public condemnation all over again, which these two knew perfectly well would be the outcome of this 'memorial'; manipulation from the grave?!! I agree she was an extremely foolish young woman not least of all for a) leaving that hotel in the first place, with the paparazzi baying at the door and b) for not wearing a seat belt which was mandatory even in those far off days.

Miepl Actually, you are not in the minority on here, but your post probably takes prime position with regard to its nastiness.

I will probably be in the minority, but I am heartily sick of Diana mania and frankly, couldn't stand her. She was an over-privileged, thick (as in education, not manipulation - had several degrees in that!) Sloane, who saw her chance and grabbed it with both hands. From the first picture of her in the see-through dress, the demure look used to make me heave. I did not think her publicity stunts disguised as fund raising were in any way laudable and I wonder how many poor sods were killed emptying that minefield so she could trot daintily along it? I doubt she missed one single chance for publicity, though was always made up/dolled up to the nines at other's expense. Maybe she was a good mother, maybe not - she was certainly off on enough holidays 'alone' after her divorce; even before it if I remember correctly (I'm sure someone will jump in here). I was living in France when the news of her death came through and just thought 'Thank God, maybe the newspapers will find somebody more interesting to write about now'. I lost my mother at age 11 and had to step up to the plate, learning how to run a house for my busy father in a foreign country, luckily enough with no siblings to worry about too. I definitely did not have all the advantages the young princes had - ok, they lost their mother, so did I, but she died of cancer in Africa, where there was fuck all medical care, not because she was too stupid to wear a seat belt and I had to suck it up and carry on. I didn't even really know my father up until that point, he worked very hard and was frequently home after my bedtime, so had that to cope with too. The French were upset at the time; they quite liked 'Lady Dee' but after a week or so they moved on to other things. Now, 20 years on, we have all this crap again. Enough is enough.

Interesting how this post has meandered and evidence to the breadth and depth of sympathy and antipathy about the royal family. I'm not a royalist, but am not anti either and I feel that there is a lot of good charitable work done by the royals.

The only thing that puzzles me is why / how people think they can have any say in who the next king might be. I think the 'machine' that is tradition will just wind on and it will be PC. I suspect the apparent 'argument' about this is simply more media speculation and manipulation.

I started the thread at a poignant time for me - this past week has coincided with the anniversary of losing my DD2 and I am interested to learn about how others process grief. I didn't see any other documentaries, but did watch the '7 days' programme. I think its tone was respectful and not anti- PC. It did highlight the 'odd' out-pouring of grief and - not surprisingly - it would seem that this was difficult for the young princes to encounter and subsequently process.

What the programme brought home to me was how selfishly and inappropriately a lot of people behaved - screaming as the coffin passed, crying over those two boys and trying to grab them for their own comfort. Very sad.

When I lost my DD, I was very affected by some people coming to see me who barely knew her, but who broke down and sobbed upon me - the full works, holding me, shaking, wiping their tears on my shoulder ... I found that I had to comfort them. These things stay with you - they can add to the trauma.

I have concluded that grief does strange things to people. And an unknown grief can trigger other griefs that are not dealt with. Grief can also sadly bring out misplaced anger and uncover all sorts of neediness. It is often a subsequent, more 'minor' grief that triggers the grieving of someone significant.

I think it was a good thing that the queen protected the children at Balmoral.

Good point whitewave and it's still happening today. The mail has published photographs of PC, the queen and DofE holidaying at balmoral with very negative connotations - I'm sure other papers have done the same so I'm not singling the mail out - and it makes me angry. Why have William and Harry chosen to separate themselves in this way? Surely they could have shown their respects to their mother in a different way. They either hate the rest of their family or they're not at all media savvy.

And I'm finding the growing hysteria at Kensington Palace even more strange now.

I am comparatively late to this thread but just wanted to throw in my tuppence-worth. My father was killed in a car smash when I was 15. I attended his funeral but my mother sent my younger sister to stay with relatives. Many years later sister attended the funeral of his brother and told me she finally felt she'd said goodbye to our father. IMO the only difference between our experience and that of W & H is that their 'walk behind the coffin' had the eyes of the world on them, as they experienced for the first time the full might of 'Pomp and Circumstance' on the death of their mother. Nothing prepares you for the death of a parent at such a young age.

Exactly, Deedaa.

The British Public were vehemently blaming the media for Diana's death, but who was buying the magazines and newspapers and watching the television programmes? If there was no market for this sort of intrusion it wouldn't happen.

What struck me from all the various programmes is how at the time of her death the British public were blaming and extremely angry at the media. As the week wore on it was fascinating to see how the media succeeded to influence the public so that they ensured the blame was gradually directed to the Royal family by their headlines

It is astounding the power the media has.

We just have to really listen to her claims without predjudice , so much cannot be true