Princess Diana’s Death ‘Affected Everybody’ Says Royal Biographer: ‘Very Few Moments Like Those in History’
Exactly 25 years ago, the world learned of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The tragic circumstances of her death stunned those whose lives she touched and the followers who felt a connection to the royal. However, unlike other celebrity deaths, a royal biographer claims Princess Diana’s death “affected everybody” and claimed there were “very few moments like those in history.”
Princess Diana’s cause of death was twofold
Paparazzi were reportedly to blame for the car crash that would ultimately take the princess’s life. However, Time Magazine reported a French judge cleared photographers on the scene of wrongdoing in 1999.
Diana and Dodi al-Fayed’s driver, Henri Paul, had a blood alcohol level three times above the country’s legal limit. Scotland Yard determined the crash was a “tragic accident.” However, in April 2008, a British jury ruled that both Paul and the paparazzi were to blame for negligent driving, reported Time.
Diana subsequently died from injuries sustained in the accident. Both Fayed and Paul were pronounced dead at the scene. Trevor Rees-Jones was the only survivor of the accident.
Princess Diana’s death “affected everybody,” says royal biographer
The tragedy, which unfolded in the early morning of Aug. 31, 1997, “affected everybody,” said Royal Biographer Ingrid Seward to People Magazine.
“There are very few moments like those in history. I remember where I was in every tiny detail when I heard about Diana,” said Seward. But, she added, “It affected everybody.”
Back in the pre-social media age, television news reported Diana’s death. Millions of viewers were glued to their sets after the tragedy was first reported minutes before 1 a.m. Paris time. The royal was subsequently rushed to Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital and died there.
Over 2.5 billion people around the globe watched Diana’s funeral on television on Sept. 6, 1997, reported History. England experienced an outpouring of public grief over Diana’s death. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London to watch the princess’s coffin being transported to Westminster Abbey for a mass in her honor.
How the royal family reacted to the tragedy
The royal family reacted to the tragedy differently. For example, Queen Elizabeth took five days to share a public statement regarding Diana’s death. However, the monarch reportedly considered the well-being of her grandsons, William and Harry, allowing them to remain out of the public eye at her Balmoral estate as they grieved in the first days after learning the news.
“The queen can now see Diana’s legacy is a huge force for good,” said Seward to People regarding the affection millions have for the royal family member, 25 years after her death.
However, in 2017, Prince William told an interviewer that he was “determined” not to let the death of Princess Diana “break” him. He reportedly did not want his mother’s legacy to be that he and his brother, Prince Harry, were left “devastated” after her death.
In an interview with Newsweek, Prince Harry recalled walking behind his mother’s coffin alongside his older brother Prince William, his father, Prince Charles, his grandfather Prince Philip and his uncle Charles Spencer.
“My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television,” he said. But, “I don’t think any child should be asked to do that under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”
