Last Hours, Death, Transfer from France, Funeral and Interment


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William and Harry final goodbye the night before Diana's funeral!

So according to a documentary I saw recently Diana's sons paid there final 'private' farewell beside her coffin at Kensington palace the night before her funeral.

Do you think that's a bit inappropriate given the extent of her injuries since she died in a horrific card accident? Not too mention her body was already deteriorating in Paris since it was in the hospital. A bit unfair for her sons too see her in that physical state and surely they would want to remember her as she was when alive:ermm:
 
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Presumably the coffin was closed? And a last farewell at a coffin is perhaps better than no farewell at all?
 
I don't think so because they paid there respects by her coffin St the chapel royal before going to Kensington palace
 
Jamesy said:
I don't think so because they paid there respects by her coffin St the chapel royal before going to Kensington palace
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It's not traditional in the UK for coffins to be open - at least it never has been in my family or the families of any of my friends and acquaintances.
 
Paul Burrell put every single last detail of Diana's coming back to Britain, pre funeral arrangements and the visits to the coffin at the Chapel in St James's Palace by family and friends, into his book. I've just read it again to check. At no time does he say that the coffin was left open and I am absolutely sure that he would have done so if it had been.

Decades ago both my paternal grandparents died at home, of old age. On both occasions, in a very old fashioned custom, they were left with the coffin open in the front room of their house for the first day and evening after their deaths, while extended family and friends visited. Then the coffin was closed. That was in England, and I have never seen that repeated before or since, either in Britain or Australia, and have been to quite a few funerals in my lifetime.
 
When my father died, in Australia, I was given the option of seeing him in his coffin. This wasn't a public viewing but a private one. My brother chose not to come with me but that offer was certainly there. We were given the same option with out mother but as we saw her while still in her hospital bed none of us wished to do so.

As far as I am aware the idea of a private viewing, once in their coffin, is very much part of the Australian funeral offerings - but at the funeral directors, not in a private home anymore.
 
No close relatives of mine have died in Australia in the past couple of decades bar my very elderly mother in law, just work colleagues, close aquaintances etc, so that might very well be so, iluvbertie.

However, Jamesy's original post spoke of it being perhaps inappropriate that the young Princes' saw their mother's 'deteriorating' face and body while they were mourning beside her coffin as it lay at St James's Chapel. My view is that the coffin was almost certainly closed so that they wouldn't see anything.

I believe Diana was placed in a coffin in Paris that did have a small inlaid glass square so that the face of the dead person could be seen. It's not clear as to whether that small section was viewable by the day before the funeral or not. Perhaps flowers covered it, but I think the lid was on and the whole body wasn't visible.
 
As I recall the body was partially embalmed to prevent it from deteriorariting. I don't believe that the coffin was open, but it was surely up to the boys and their father whether they saw her. THey certainly had the right to go nad pay their respects and say goodbye, before the funeral.
 
I will never forget!

It was late and I was just getting ready for bed when my sister called me. She said her friend called her and told her to turn on the news. She said to me to turn on my tv to the news. The first reports coming through here in America were that Diana was in a car accident and only had a broken arm. Two others in her vehicle were seriously injured and one had died at the scene of the crash. My sister Paula and I stayed up all night on the phone watching the news to get reports on Diana when later in the early morning it was announced that Diana had died. We were both in disbelief. You see 2 yrs before Diana's death my only child, my 19 yr old daughter Lynne was killed by a drunk driver and my mind was still fresh with grief. Diana's death hit me like a ton of bricks and just when my grief for my daughter was becoming a bit lighter memories came rushing back in with the news of the loss of Diana. My sister and I didn't get a wink of sleep and we were both glued to the tv to grab any news that Diana was still alive but it wasn't meant to be. My sister had planned a garage sale that day and I planned to help her. Little did I know that she had also planned a surprise Birthday Party for me as my birthday is August 31. No one felt like celebrating and we continued to watch the news as the day went on. My daughter was killed on August 8th and Diana was killed on my birthday, Aug. 31 so as the years go by my husband always plans activities to keep me busy to take my mind off of things. There is no getting over the fact that our daughter was killed August 8th and Princess Diana a woman I highly respected was killed on my Birthday. Both young, both killed by drunk drivers. Somehow the world doesn't seem the same anymore. Diana's children William and Harry are now grown men one with a family of his own the other a world representative of matters that touched their mothers heart when she was alive. Many people are criticizing these young men for going public talking about their grief and how they have lived with it all these years but I say let them talk. They have lived the dark days and are just coming into the light which will make them stronger. Tomorrow, another August 8th comes around and this year we are in town instead of away. I will pop up to the cemetery, leave some balloons and carnations on my daughters grave and celebrate that I had her for 19 yrs. I may play a couple of her favorite songs on a boombox at her grave- I know, quirky but I am sure that's what Lynne would have wanted. Rest assured I won't forget Princess Diana's heaven birthday either. I will celebrate her life too and I will pray that her sons and all those who have been touched by her spirit have fond memories of her and share them with each other.
 
What a beautiful testimony to becoming a mother of an angel and how as the years pass, no matter what, we still hold our loved ones close to us and know that in some ways, they are still very much with us. Its never goodbye but just until we meet again.
 
I am sure they do, abbra, and thank you for sharing your heartbreaking story with us. When relatives die at any time it is a grevious blow (especially when they are very young like your beloved daughter) but when it happens near to an important anniversary like a birthday it somehow makes it all worse.

So many people all over the world were shocked and saddened by Diana's death and the fact that it was a drunk driver at the wheel makes it ten times sadder somehow. I loved, admired and respected Diana. The fact is, she is now where there is no more pain, no more hurt. That won't stop her family or strangers like me and you thinking about her on the twentieth anniversary of her death. Thankyou for posting your memories of that day.
 
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It's customary in my area (Atlantic Canada) to have the coffin open during the visitation for people to view when they pay their respects to the mourners. I heard a story about a man from Scotland, who went to one of these open-coffin visitations, looked at the deceased (embalmed and dressed in a suit) and thought to himself, "All dressed up and no place to go."?


VictoriaB said:
It's not traditional in the UK for coffins to be open - at least it never has been in my family or the families of any of my friends and acquaintances.
Click to expand...
 
I'm old enough to remember stories my grandmother told me about a true Irish wake where the body was laid out in the living room and mourners would keep vigil and should the menfolk decided to go off to the local pub for a drink or five, they'd take the dearly departed with them and prop him up at the bar with a stiff drink.

Now how true all this was is anyone's guess but my dear grandmother sure had a twinkle in her eye telling these stories. :lol:
 
Bodies were laid out in the bedroom or living room and vistiors could go in and see the body and say a prayer. I have never heard of anything like "taking him to the pub"....
 
If true, it was a long. long time ago. My grandfather was born in 1867 and my grandmother in 1880. :D
 
well I'm sure it was never true. I've been to wakes, and people had a few drinks but it was quiet and respectful...
although you're remidnign me of a bit in the Golden Girls comedy series where Rose, Betty White's character goes to a wake with Sophia, and says that everyone got drunk, and one of the mourners "slow danced with the corpse, but even that was oddly touching"...
 
I always said I wanted to grow up to be Sophia. :D I thought she was hilarious.

I seriously doubt it to be true also. The practice of the visitation at the funeral home with an open casket still is quite common then the funeral Mass and internment is what I've always experienced.
 
Indeed, I think it's time to move back to the main topic of the thread.
 
Reading through this information is hard, but it's even harder read that Diana was a bit aware of what happened.

It's incredibly sad and touching to read that Charles was very concerned about Diana and her condition. Also he always felt that Diana was going to come back to him and needing him to take care of her. I know he would've took care of her and would've nursed her back to health.

Minute-by-minute series of the week Diana died | Daily Mail Online
 
how would he "nurse her back to health?" It was apparently something he said, but whether it would have happened is anyone's guess. Wuold he have given up Camilla to look after Diana?
 
Why? Because most of the article seems to be based on fact. he may well have said it, exactly how it would have worked out in practice is another matter.
 
Its impossible to really put words into a person's mouth at the time of hearing the news of a tragic accident and that his ex-wife may have been seriously hurt. I'm sure that if needed, Charles would have seen that Diana had the very best in medical care but that doesn't mean that he would have been by her bedside 24/7 as a devoted ex-husband.

Its all moot anyways because Diana died.
 
I think he may have said this, but then again Mark Bolland is the person he said it ot, and he's a PR man. Still as you say, its a bit off to "put words into the mouth" of someone in such a tragic situation.
I'm sure he would have, if needed, been there to ensure she had the best medical care...just as he wnt to Paris on the boys' behalf to bring her home
 
Folks, what I'm saying is that I'm sure Charles would've made sure Diana received the best care possible, if she had survived the whole ordeal. He was arranging to be at her bedside, before he got the news of her death. In the end, he brought her back home.
 
Dman said:
Folks, what I'm saying is that I'm sure Charles would've made sure Diana received the best care possible, if she had survived the whole ordeal. He was arranging to be at her bedside, before he got the news of her death. In the end, he brought her back home.
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Very true !
 
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