 |
Britain will grind to halt for 'unique' funeral
Ceremony set for Saturday in Westminster Abbey
Latest developments:
September 1, 1997
- Usual dignitaries will not attend
- Elements of a royal funeral
- Private burial 'only just'
- Related stories and sites
Web posted at: 11:54 p.m. EDT (0354 GMT)LONDON (CNN) -- Britain will come to a halt Saturday to honor Diana, Princess of Wales, with a somber yet splendid ceremony that has been termed "a unique funeral for a unique person."
With her casket borne in procession through London's silent streets, stores, banks and shops shuttered, sporting grounds closed, the woman cold-shouldered by the royal family after her divorce from Prince Charles will be reconciled with the royal family in death.
The funeral will be a state event, but will not have all the pomp and ceremony of a full state funeral, according to a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair. It will, instead, reflect the princess' "modernity," he said.
The princess, her companion Dodi Fayed and their driver were killed in a crash early Sunday in a tunnel in Paris near the Seine River. Fayed was buried in Britain late Sunday after a service at a London mosque.
Buckingham Palace said the "people's princess," as Blair called her, would be honored at a funeral service Saturday at 11 a.m. (6 a.m. EDT) in Westminster Abbey, the church used for 1,000 years by the monarchy in times of joy and sorrow.
She will be buried in the family chapel at Saint Mary the Virgin Church in the village of Brington, 60 miles north of London. Twenty generations of her Spencer ancestors lie there in a plot overlooking the family estate and the village of Althorp.
Clinton, usual dignitaries will not attend
Buckingham Palace said invitations to the Westminster Abbey funeral would go out to about 2,000 people. But the usual turnout of ambassadors, dignitaries and diplomats at state events is not expected.
Some leaders, such as French President Jacques Chirac, have expressed an interest in attending. But the White House said Monday that U.S. President Bill Clinton would not attend, although White House aides said there has been talk that first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton would attend.
Diana's casket will remain in the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace until the funeral. Thousands of mourners have stood in line for hours waiting to enter an adjoining room and sign one of four books of condolence.
Neither the royal family nor the Spencers wanted Diana's body to lie in state, which would have allowed public mourners to file past her casket to pay their respects. But flags will be flown at half-staff through the day of the funeral.
The funeral negotiations involved the royal family, the Spencers, the government and, reportedly, Prince William, the princess' older son.
It was agreed that the funeral should not be just a gathering of the "great and the good," Blair's spokesman said on the condition of anonymity.
Elements of a royal funeral
She was "the people's princess," he said, and "there should be people there who represented the causes she touched and the people that she touched."
The mother of a future king and a greatly admired figure around the world, Diana was divorced from Prince Charles a year ago and lost her status as Her Royal Highness. Although she remained Princess of Wales, she resented losing her HRH and some of her most ardent admirers were outraged.
Now, as Buckingham Palace clearly knows, the world will watch the official farewell to Diana with an eye for any slights to her memory or echoes of the past rancor within the royal family.
"The funeral will contain the usual elements of a royal funeral, and in particular elements to reflect the affection with which the princess was held," a palace spokeswoman said Monday, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We are taking into account the wishes of the family and the need to allow people to express publicly their grief and their affection for the princess."
Private burial 'only just'
Millions are expected to line the short route through central London between St. James's Palace and Westminster Abbey. The funeral within the abbey's venerable walls will be long remembered by generations of Britons and television viewers worldwide. Much of British life will come to a standstill; even London's airports will suspend flights.
Diana's brother Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, said the family "wholeheartedly" agreed that a public funeral was appropriate.
"It is right and proper that the people of Britain have their chance to pay their respects to Diana," he said.
But he said the brief burial ceremony would be entirely private for immediate family members, conducted by a priest who is a family friend.
"Respect for the family's privacy at this stage is thought to be only just, in view of the public nature of the earlier part of the day," Spencer said.
Correspondent Margaret Lowrie, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related Stories and Sites
|
Sound off on our message boards
You said it... |
|
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.