20th Anniversary of the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales: August 31, 2017

[Nico]

Originally Posted by Curryong

If Charles had died suddenly in the summer of 1984 his record of charity work and causes may well not have been quite so admirable, though. Diana died at 36. Who knows what she might have accomplished at 56.

Charles funded the Prince's Trust back in 1976. He was 28. The Prince's trust is one of the biggest charity in the UK. As far i know, it's quite admirable too.

[Curryong]

I was making a point about Diana being gone too soon, and she may well have accomplished so much in the years since, in the areas of AIDS/HIV, anti-Landmines, homelessness and a great deal more.

[Nico]

For me one of the most poignant moment was the flag covered cofin exiting the Pitié de la Salpetriere, surrounded by the Republican guard, with the Prince of Wales, Jane, Sarah, President and Mrs Chirac looking on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIgn8v3MWas

She left Paris as a true Princess.

[Dman]

Originally Posted by Nico

For me one of the most poignant moment was the flag covered cofin exiting the Pitié de la Salpetriere, surrounded by the Republican guard, with the Prince of Wales, Jane, Sarah, President and Mrs Chirac looking on.

She left Paris as a true Princess.

It was a very dignified departure from Paris and she was welcomed back home in a dignified way too. Very royal!

[ladongas]

Originally Posted by ROYAL NORWAY

Agree! But did she do it for the homeless or herself? That's the difficulty with admiring Diana for something, because she was very manipulative. And if we compare her charity work with that of Charles, then there's not much for us to brag about....

Who are we to judge the reasons Diana performed her duties? Perhaps Charles is only doing his duties to make himself look better? And she had only a decade to do what she did, while the PoW has had 40+ years to make his mark.

[Moonmaiden23]

Originally Posted by Dman

It was a very dignified departure from Paris and she was welcomed back home in a dignified way too. Very royal!

Yes, I agree. I was too upset to watch live but I saw photos later. It was poignant and dignified as it should have been.

In Christopher Anderson's " Diana's Boys" he wrote that the trip back across the Channel with Diana's coffin was a nightmare for all involved. Diana's sisters Lady Jane and Lady Sarah were weeping and continually crying out for "Duch, Duch, Duch!", and poor Charles was so undone he sat in the back of the plane drinking and talking on the phone to the Prime Minister for much of the voyage.

Honestly Dman, I know you said it's more about celebrating her life than grieving and I agree 100% but I find all of this incredibly painful to remember. I miss the late princess but will be glad when this week is over.

[sesa]

I have watched some of the stuff that is on tv when I come across it. And after seeing all of it 20 yrs on, I have come to the conclusion that I admire Charles. He handled her death in a very dignified way and made sure that it was not turned into a circus. I can also see that he actually loved her in a way that no one but Charles will ever understand. It obviously was not the way Diana needed and/or wanted to be loved, but he did love her none the less.
He did not have to go to Paris to get her. They were already divorced and had moved on. He could have left it to her family to go to her. Or he could have sent his aides. But he did it because he wanted to. He did it for him and for the boys. Because of Charles, she really did leave Paris as a Princess. Not as a celebrity.
It's amazing the things you notice when you re-watch things years later.

[Moonmaiden23]

Perfectly stated.

If I ever had any doubts about Charles' true feelings for Diana they were resolved by the way he handled the trauma of her tragic death. Even though there was no time during that hellish week when he lost his composure in public his face and overall demeanor said it all.

The Prince of Wales is many things but he is not an actor, imo.

I feel very very sad for both of them, but at least Charles got a second chance. And I for one am happy that he did.

[Denville]

why would he lose his composure??? he was still fond of Diana, and I think it is obvous that he was grieved, but he wasn't broken hearted. And I find it hard to believe that he was drinking on the flight home.

[Moonmaiden23]

With all due respect Denville how do you know how the Prince of Wales felt deep in his heart about the unhappy young woman who was the mother of his children? He wore a suit she favored to her funeral, he continued to wear his wedding ring even though he was in a relationship with another woman, and even his principal shill/biographer Penny Junor has written about his intense depression in the weeks that followed the tragedy.

And why is it hard to believe that he had a drink of two on the plane home? The author never suggested that he was intoxicated.

[wyevale]

he wasn't broken hearted.

Not broken hearted for himself, perhaps, but devastated for his Sons.

[Moonmaiden23]

Exactly. As any good parent who loves his/her children and sees them suffering would be.

Also, just because Charles was not in love with his ex-wife doesn't mean he didn't care for her, and was not as shocked as the rest of the world was by the sudden violence of her death.

[Denville]

I said that he cared for her and it was obvious that he was grieved, but I can't imagine he would be broken hearted over a woman he had been at odds with for years... when he was Living with another woman who had been his lover and close friend for a longer time. And he's not likely to lose his composure nor IMO to be drinking.

[HereditaryPrincess]

I don't know if it's been mentioned here already but there was a programme on British TV called Diana: The Day Britain Cried and at first I wasn't going to watch it because I thought it wouldn't be very good; but I'm glad I watched it because there was some good footage of the funeral and events leading up to it (none that we haven't seen before; but still worth watching again). If you're not from the UK it also gives you a good idea of the mood of the country at the time of Diana's death, so it's worth a watch for that reason - although many know about the UK's mood in 1997 now, I would still recommend it. It was also nice to hear tidbits from those who were involved in the funeral.

It was lovely to see the Cambridges and Prince Harry visit the memorial, and it was really nice that they read all the individual messages of sympathy. I particularly liked the clip were they were looking at photos people had put up at the memorial of them with their mother as young children. Those would be nice memories to share with Catherine, who never got to experience Diana on a personal level (or at least, not that I know of); and also George and Charlotte (and any future children of Harry).

[Moonmaiden23]

Originally Posted by Denville

I said that he cared for her and it was obvious that he was grieved, but I can't imagine he would be broken hearted over a woman he had been at odds with for years... when he was Living with another woman who had been his lover and close friend for a longer time. And he's not likely to lose his composure nor IMO to be drinking.

By most accounts they(Charles and Diana) were no longer at odds at the time of her death. She had written him a lovely letter on the death of his godfather, he called her and even stopped by for tea at Kensington Palace on occasion. In videotape of the two of them arriving for William's Confirmation they greet one another with an affectionate kiss.

There are a couple of ways to interpret author Anderson's description of the PoW "drinking" on the flight home. One is that he was drunk and stumbling and forgetting names, another is that he simply requested a drink from the stewards to steady his nerves from the harrowing experiences he had just gone through and would face ahead.

I am pretty certain it was the latter.

I have no problem believing that at all, unless Prince Charles is well known as a non drinker.

[Osipi]

Sitting in the back and drinking and on his phone, to me, mostly signifies that he was phoning ahead and perhaps working on the funeral arrangements, the pick up at the airport in the UK and getting things in order.

Drinking could mean anything. It could be tea, coffee, a Pepsi or a stiff bourbon. I would opt for caffeine as he'd been through a harrowing night, then the flight to Paris to retrieve the body and that experience had to have been nerve jangling to say the least. Charles has the kind of personality that doesn't stop when he's set his mind to doing something.

He most certainly did not look soused at arriving at the airport in the UK.

[Denville]

They were being polite. Diana knew that she would look bad to the public if she kept on the war of the Waleses, so she acted politely, and she also was keeping up a polite front for the children's sake.. but I think she was still unhappy and angry at being replaced by Camilla and while Charles had problaby stopped being furiously angry with her, by then, I don't think he was likely to be heart broken at her death.
Sad yes, but hardly upset to the point where he was likely to break down in public.
He has never done that.
And he's not, as far as I know, much of a drinker..
I dotn know what Chirstopher Andersen is likely as a royal biographer but I am not sure if he's always accurate.

[Iluvbertie]

As Charles is a virtual teetotaller I doubt he drunk that much on the plane. Maybe he had one drink - or maybe he was drinking water and the author left out that word to make people believe it was alcohol - to paint him in a bad light.

[Denville]

Originally Posted by Osipi

Drinking could mean anything. It could be tea, coffee, a Pepsi or a stiff bourbon. I would opt for caffeine as he'd been through a harrowing night, then the flight to Paris to retrieve the body and that experience had to have been nerve jangling to say the least. Charles has the kind of personality that doesn't stop when he's set his mind to doing something.

He most certainly did not look soused at arriving at the airport in the UK.

drinking means drinking alcohol. Of course he wasn't likely to be drinking to any kind of point where he might appear drunk in public.

[Moonmaiden23]

He was obviously not intoxicated at any point during that week, but why would he have been if he had had an alcoholic drink or two on the way back to London to steady his nerves after what he had been through?