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After service, procession to follow 77-mile route
September 3, 1997
Web posted at: 1:06 p.m. EDT (1706 GMT)LONDON (CNN) -- Amid fears the turnout at Princess Diana's funeral will swamp the capital, Buckingham Palace on Wednesday announced a 77-mile route the coffin will take to her family's stately home.
The palace also said giant TV screens would be set up in Hyde Park to help accommodate the throng of mourners. More than a million people are expected to descend on London Saturday to bid farewell to the beloved princess.
Lines of grieving admirers continued to swell into the thousands Wednesday, with some mourners waiting up to 12 hours for tribute prayers at St. James's Palace, where Diana's body is lying in the Chapel Royal for private viewing.
At Kensington Palace, Diana's residence, the sidewalk had become a waist-deep meadow of flowers.
The royal family, criticized by some for clinging to formality while the people pour out their grief over Princess Diana, said it was "deeply touched" by the nation's response.
"All the royal family, especially the Prince of Wales, Prince William and Prince Harry, are taking strength from the overwhelming support of the public, who are sharing their tremendous sense of loss and grief," a statement from Buckingham palace said.
Also Wednesday:
- The Sun newspaper reported that Prince William, 15, has insisted on walking behind his mother's coffin in the procession from St. James's to the service at Westminster Abbey.
A palace spokesman refused to comment, saying it will announce Thursday where William and prince Harry, 12, will be situated. Prince Charles and the princes are to arrive in London Friday from their vacation palace in Scotland to visit Diana's body at Chapel Royal.
- The palace will likely announce later Wednesday whether pop star Elton John will sing at the funeral.
The Times of London reported that palace officials have been hesitant to go along with the wishes of Diana's friends, who want the pop star, a close friend of the princess, to perform at the funeral.
- The Daily Telegraph quoted Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti, another of Diana's friends, as saying he turned down an invitation to sing at the funeral because he is too grief-stricken.
- Forty-square-yard (33-square-meter) TV screens will loom over Hyde Park and the procession route to lessen the throng expected on London's streets. The screens were last set up over Hong Kong harbor for the handover of the colony to China on July 1.
- The number of condolence books at St. James's has increased to 43, up from five in the beginning. As many as 600 people per hour were filing into the palace to sign the books.
Buckingham unveils cortege route
Buckingham Palace said Wednesday the body of Diana will be moved to Kensington Palace before her funeral on Saturday.
The princess's coffin will move from Chapel Royal at St James's Palace to her apartment Friday night.
The change of plan will extend the route of the funeral procession on Saturday. The coffin will leave Kensington Palace at 10 a.m. London time.
Following the Saturday service at the Abbey, Diana's coffin will follow a winding route by road back through central London, across the capital's northern suburbia, past a popular shopping center, and onto the MI, the six-lane highway linking the south with northern England.
The journey to Althorp, the Spencer family seat in northwest England where the princess will be interred privately in a vault with 20 generations of her forebears, reflected official attempts to let as many as possible share in the mourning.
The extent of the outpouring for Diana, 36, has caught the palace by surprise. Diana was killed in a car crash Sunday along with her companion, Dodi Fayed, 42, and their chauffeur, Henri Paul.
Mourners express condolences
Outside St. James's, thousands gathered to express their grief. Londoner Alison Evans, 36, a briefcase-wielding management consultant, headed back to work Wednesday morning, after a 12-hour wait to sign the condolence book.
"I think it's good to have some way of expressing how we feel. I came straight from work last night," said Evans, 36. "There's going to be a lot of black coffee today."
The palace ruled out extending the procession route from St. James's to the Abbey because the cortege will include about 500 people from Diana's favorite charities walking behind the coffin, many of whom are disabled. The charities include AIDS, cancer, leprosy and land mine victims.
When Diana and Charles married in 1981, a million-strong throng was spread along a route twice as long.
Correspondent Siobhan Darrow and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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