Where exactly has the last quarter of a century gone, since the world was shocked into silence at the news of the death of the beautiful and captivating Princess Diana?
It seems like only yesterday that I wrote this:
They say everyone can remember where they were the exact time they found out the awful news about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. And yes, I know exactly where I was... Waiting for a ferry early in the morning from Roscoff in Brittany to Plymouth, there was a hastily scribbled A4 sheet of paper pinned to the information booth - "Lady Di dead".It still hurts, just looking at these joyful photos of an iconic woman.Not understanding the full implication of this, we went back to the car and my boyf at the time translated the local radio reports from French into English. It was true! Our Royal Princess, fashion icon and "friend" was indeed gone for ever - and ironically died in a car crash in the capital of this very country.
The journey home was peculiar. I felt the news had not yet sunk in - not just for me, but also for the hundreds of passengers on board, many of whom were obviously just learning the dreadful news from looking at the widescreen TVs in the breakfast lounge. The gradual stunned silence that fell over what would normally be a chaotic crowd of returning Brits and French back-packers was eerie.
It may be crass to say that Diana herself in any way changed our world, but her death certainly made the biggest emotional impact I have ever known upon the public in Britain and across the globe. International media had made her THE face of a generation, and in death Diana eclipsed any megastar status she could ever have dreamed about.
Many people can make accusations about a "conspiracy" surrounding her accidental death, or about "the real Diana", but in many many ways she continues to live on (in pictures) as the young, beautiful woman we want to remember - an ethereal spectre of a most unusual era in British history.
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer, 1st July 1961 – 31st August 1997)
RIP
[click any photo to embiggen]
I can't believe it was that long already. I was out for a night of clubbing that Saturday night when the news broke...and it brought the whole evening down to a close, quite literally. It was announced on the overheard by the dj, the lights came on, and that was it, once home and before cells, my phone rang, and I knew it was my good friends and sisters who were visiting another good friend in New York City. The clubs in NYC had shut down too, and we were all commiserating very drunkly and talked about living in black in moaning for a year, and what we planned on wearing to the funeral.
ReplyDeleteerrrr, we we're moaning and mourning.
DeleteHer impact and her loss in the gay world was massive - she was widely perceived as "our friend", ever since her groundbreaking trip to the AIDS hospice and holding hands with the patients there helped to annihilate the myths and taboos that the tabloids had built up about the "gay plague".
DeleteI am amazed to hear how big the reaction was Stateside, however! Jx
Nice to see these pictures of her, I'd been reading something horrific and they cheered me up
ReplyDeleteShe just dazzled, didn't she? Always made me smile. Such a loss. Jx
DeleteThe 31st August is a date that has significance in the Blue household. Managed to get through it this year without any tragic incidents.
ReplyDeleteRIP Diana, you'll never be forgotten.
Sx
Much like when a tragic incident occurs at Xmas, there will always be a reminder. Glad you got through it. Jx
Delete