LONDON | In both London and Paris, “Lady Di” admirers paid tribute to her on Wednesday, 25 years after her death that rocked the British monarchy, but her two sons, William and Harry, did not organize an official ceremony as relations were strained.
• Also read: Privately and separately, William and Harry are commemorating the anniversary of Princess Diana’s death
• Also read: Lady Diana’s last hours
Diana, whose fairytale wedding and subsequent harrowing divorce from Prince Charles had captivated the world, died in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997, followed by paparazzi.
His two sons, William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, moved millions as they walked side by side behind his coffin. In the cold, the two princes marked the event in private this time and thousands of miles apart.
Even without an official ceremony, a few dozen admirers of the princess gathered outside Kensington Palace in London on Wednesday to pay tribute to the Princess of Wales and decorate the palace gates with flags and photos.
“Whether you’re a king, a queen or a homeless person, nothing has changed for the princess,” said Julie Cein, a 59-year-old Englishwoman who had traveled from Newcastle in the north of the country, as every year does in England. “It was important to him to show empathy, kindness and consideration, regardless of social class. I think that’s why she won the hearts of a lot of people.”
“She was worshiped because she was both a princess and a normal person. We could identify with her,” adds Patrick O’Neill, 32, who has traveled all the way from Belfast, who cites Diana’s involvement in the fight against AIDS or anti-personnel landmines, humanitarian causes with which she is always associated.
“Goose flesh”
Also in Paris, admirers gathered near the tunnel where the princess died. “He was a world personality, an extraordinary person. She was classy, sporty, elegant,” says AFP Claude Gautier, a 79-year-old pensioner.
“I get goose bumps to think that she died right below us,” said Ulrike Plank, a 64-year-old German tourist. “I miss someone like her today.”
Five years ago, on the 20th anniversary of his death, William and Harry attended public memorial services. Nothing will happen this year.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the two brothers “have decided to draw a line under their public commemorations,” spokespeople for the two princes confirmed that they will each mark the event privately.
William, 40, lives with his wife Kate and their three children in Windsor, west of the capital, where Queen Elizabeth II resides. His younger brother Harry, 37, is in California with his wife Meghan and their two children after the couple decided to leave the royal family in 2020.
Despite the family estrangement, Diana’s legacy is visible in the less formal ways William and Harry are behaving today, which show “more emotion” than the rest of the royal family, says Majesty Magazine’s Joe Little.
In 2021, the two cold brothers met to unveil a statue of their mother in London, but they barely spoke.
And during celebrations of Elizabeth II’s 70th reign in June, Harry and William sat far apart during a church service.
Harry and Meghan have accused the royal family of racism and said they were asked about the color of their unborn child’s skin as Meghan is of mixed race. What William denied in front of the camera.
Any reconciliation over the contents of a confidentiality book Harry is due to publish by the end of the year, which is eagerly awaited by the press speculating about possible reckoning and revelations, is on hold.
Harry and Meghan are expected back in the UK in September. They are to remain in Windsor, on Queen Elizabeth II’s estate, near William’s new home. However, according to the British press, the two brothers have not planned to see each other.