It was a sunny morning, and I was on holiday from school. In fact, I was staying at my Grandparents' house, curled up in an extremely comfortable bed and putting off the inevitable for as long as possible. I remember my mum shaking my shoulder, the usual tactic to make sure I was awake. Something was a bit different though. "Good morning" was followed by "oh, and Princess Diana's dead."
I think my initial reaction was "...and?", which on reflection was possibly a little heartless, but also sums up my feelings about that whole period when the nation reacted in such a surprising fashion. People went to London. They laid a massive carpet of flowers. They shed tears for a woman they had never even met. Why?
I went to see the film The Queen last night. It's a great film which looks in particular at the reaction of the Royal Family to Diana's death, and their struggle to disengage with royal protocol in order to show the British public that they cared. I don't think they did, on the whole, and neither did I really. Diana seemed a decent enough person, but I never knew her, so why should I grieve? Millions decided they needed to, though.
Helen Mirren deserved her Oscar gong, but I suspect she received the nomination in the first place more becuase the Americans love our royal family than because they actually enjoyed the film!
