The Memorial Service: 31 August 2007

[wlb825]

hey sorry I missed the memorial... I'm in usa is there a link where i can see it

[ZandraRae]

Just now having had the chance to watch the whole service, I was really impressed with Harry's speech. It came from the bottom of his heart, and it showed again, how much he misses his Mum. When he was speaking and he kind of choked up, all I wanted to do was give him a big hug.

I was expecting something more from William, but I guess Clarence House did not think he should have given a speech like Harry. Beautiful service!

[btsnyder]

Originally Posted by smgaries

arent the SPENCER girls looking beautiful

Lady Eliza and Lady Amelia are just gorgeous - I don't think I've ever seen them before. What do we know about them? Where are they going to school, etc.?

[pinkie40]

Isn't there also a Lady Kitty? (purrr purr)

[btsnyder]

Yes, she's lovely, too, but E&A are really striking. I know Earl Spencer has another daughter named Lara, too.

[pinkie40]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

True but I think most people in the UK feel out of place in anything other than black.

The British are so delightfully predictable. No wonder American are so deliciously rebellious and creative! Hat's off to the ladies, including Her Majesty, who wore a vibrant and regal purple, who were celebratory of Diana's life rather than be "safe" in somber black... Even the gentlemen were in navy blue suits.

I believe Dame Barbara came close to what is called a "green burial". Very popular in UK and getting more popular in USA.

I can't believe Raine doesn't carry her Harrod's wicker picnic hamp for a handbag. She used to hawk these on "QVC" which is a home shopping channel back in Aug. 1997...literally days before Diana's death...She was cashing in on Diana's tabloid frenzy to promote her affliation with Harrod's.

[BeatrixFan]

Raine was working as a Harrods Ambassador until very recently if not still. She gets a salary from it, as well as a chauffer and car and London apartment. Being a lowly staff member I managed to have a good chat with her chauffeur in the servant's hall and he said that she was always flying off to some country or other promoting her and I believe two or three forum users at one time said they'd seen her or met her at airports so I think she still must be working for the firm.

Pink is right, Dame B chose a green burial. The coffin is a cardbox box with a lid and handles and a bio-degradable lining so the whole thing breaks down over time and the body decomposes with it.

The black outfits issue was one of confusion I think. The British don't really do memorial services on a grand scale and it seems there's confusion over what one wears. Some like Princess Alexandra took it as funeral number 2 and wore full black whereas the Queen and Princess Michael got it on spot on and took it as a celebration of a life meaning their outfits could be reasonably gay. I think there's only one colour that's a no-no and that's red. Raine seemed to go for a black hat, blue dress and white shoes - very odd but she looked ok.

[Empress]

Well, I am certainly happy to retrain my opinion of Ms Raine, if indeed she does not deserve the moniker. However it seems that so few people who have met her have much to say about her that is good.

However that could be put down to her real friends not feeling the need to speak about her and her enemies wishing to trash her..... haven't we seen that elsewhere recently?

[COUNTESS]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

Raine was working as a Harrods Ambassador until very recently if not still. She gets a salary from it, as well as a chauffer and car and London apartment. Being a lowly staff member I managed to have a good chat with her chauffeur in the servant's hall and he said that she was always flying off to some country or other promoting her and I believe two or three forum users at one time said they'd seen her or met her at airports so I think she still must be working for the firm.

Pink is right, Dame B chose a green burial. The coffin is a cardbox box with a lid and handles and a bio-degradable lining so the whole thing breaks down over time and the body decomposes with it.

The black outfits issue was one of confusion I think. The British don't really do memorial services on a grand scale and it seems there's confusion over what one wears. Some like Princess Alexandra took it as funeral number 2 and wore full black whereas the Queen and Princess Michael got it on spot on and took it as a celebration of a life meaning their outfits could be reasonably gay. I think there's only one colour that's a no-no and that's red. Raine seemed to go for a black hat, blue dress and white shoes - very odd but she looked ok.

Purple is sometimes a mourning color.

[smgaries]

Originally Posted by CasiraghiTrio

Maybe smgaries can help ID other Spencer family members, such as here?

http://i17.tinypic.com/5zleg0l.jpg

in this pic are KITTY SPENCER and LOUIS SPENCER with theri father and auntie SARAH SPENCER MCCORQUODALE and those two from the back im not sure who they are

[CasiraghiTrio]

Originally Posted by smgaries

http://i17.tinypic.com/5zleg0l.jpg

in this pic are KITTY SPENCER and LOUIS SPENCER with theri father and auntie SARAH SPENCER MCCORQUODALE and those two from the back im not sure who they are

I was thinking the one in back with her head turned away might be Laura Fellowes, and the other mystery one does not look at all like any Spencer, but I hoped you might know. Could be a granddaughter of Peter Shand Kydd or even Raine, or more likely one of Diana's goddaughters. Thanks for answering the question, though.

[CasiraghiTrio]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

And true! She was buried by a tree that she said had been planted by Elizabeth I and Barbara insisted on a cardboard coffin because she believed in protecting the environment. Well, apart from the hairspray of course. I dont think Diana and Barbara could ever have patched things up. The Dame's response when asked about the divorce? "Well, no Englishman likes to eat alone my darling and if you leave your man to eat alone, he'll go and eat with someone else. And that's not all he'll do". And phrases in that mould. Didn't go down well.

Didn't Dame Babs publicly criticize Diana in the early 90s, about the separation and how Diana was conducting herself?
I suppose they never had a too friendly relationship, given that Babs was scratched off the wedding list, supposedly by Diana. Diana seemed to like her novels, though apparently not enough to forgive the grande dame for the public criticism. All the same, I guess it boils down to a trivial matter, as they were never close and the "loss" was small for both concerned.

[BeatrixFan]

Dame BC was extremely proud of Diana catching the Prince of Wales and went around saying decadently, "I shall be related to the Queen now". I think the thought terrified the Queen and generally it was felt that she was a bit gauche for the likes of the Royal Family. When Babs didn't get her way, she took comfort in becoming ever so slightly bitter and when the divorce came along she blamed Diana for not performing a certain act on Charles often enough as well as saying that she not of Charles's class. The rule, "Never crap on your own doorstep", might well have been embroidered on a pink tea-towel and given to the old Queen of Romance because it brought her nothing but grief. Raine (keen to keep her hand in) went a bit cold on her, Diana never spoke to her again and the relationship she'd enjoyed with members of the Royal Family dissapeared entirely. She was quite jolly towards the end and in the late 80s was never seen without Margaret, Duchess of Argyll by her side - two peas in a pod if ever a pod could be twin-pea'd. If you never saw the documentary on her, watch Little Britain - the Dame Sally Markham sketches are actually Dame Barbara and her typist Miss Grace. BC would lay on a chez with a poodle in one hand and a box of Black Magic in the other, churning out a novel per week - trouble is, not one of them was any good! RIP Babs.

[CasiraghiTrio]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

She was quite jolly towards the end and in the late 80s was never seen without Margaret, Duchess of Argyll by her side - two peas in a pod if ever a pod could be twin-pea'd.

So that is why Lady Colin Campbell has so much gossip on Babs?
Isn't Margaret, Duchess of Argyll LCC's mother-in-law?

[angela]

I agree with Beatrixfan regarding the tone of the occasion. Looking at the way the guests were dressed there does seem to have been some confusion as to whether the emphasis was on "memorial" or "thanksgiving". None of the Royals came in black so they clearly understood it to be a day of thanksgiving and dressed accordingly. Thus I also don't see a problem with Princess Michael's outfit as it was entirley appropriate for such an occasion as was, for example, Lady Helen Taylor's who also chose a summery outfit and flower bedecked hat.

[CasiraghiTrio]

Originally Posted by angela

None of the Royals came in black so they clearly understood it to be a day of thanksgiving and dressed accordingly. .

Princess Alexandra went dressed in black.

[CasiraghiTrio]

Royal side
First row: HRH Prince William, Her Majesty the Queen, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, HRH the Prince of Wales

Second row: HRH Princess Beatrice, HRH Princess Eugenie, TRH the Earl and Countess of Wessex, HRH the Princess Royal, Vice Admiral Laurence, Peter Phillips, TRH the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester

Third row: TRH the Duke and Duchess of Kent, the Earl and Countess of St Andrews, Baron Downpatrick**, Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor

Fourth row: Lady Helen Taylor*, Timothy Taylor, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Lord Frederick and Lady Gabriella Windsor, Princess Alexandra the Hon Lady Ogilvy

Fifth row: Gordon Brown*, Sarah Brown, Tony Blair, Cherie Blair, John Major, Norma Major, Viscount and Viscountess Linley, Lady Sarah and Daniel Chatto, the Earl of Snowdon

*It appeared in some videos and pictures that Lady Helen Taylor and Gordon Brown were seated beside each other (oddly) because the Prime Minister was directly behind her.
**Baron Downpatrick was one of the twelve (of a total of seventeen) godchildren of Diana who attended the service.


Spencer side
First row: Prince Harry, Lady Sarah and Neil McCorquodale, the Earl Spencer, Lady Jane Fellowes, Baron Fellowes

Second row: Hon. Laura Fellowes, Hon. Alexander Fellowes, Hon. Eleanor Fellowes, Emily McCorquodale, George McCorquodale, Celia McCorquodale, Lady Kitty Spencer, Lady Eliza Spencer, Lady Amelia Spencer, Viscount Althorp

The rest I don't know.... I wonder where Raine was seated.