On 6 September 1997, Britain said farewell to Diana, Princess of Wales, in a funeral that became one of the most watched events in television history.
The funeral took place at Westminster Abbey, six days after her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August. More than one million people lined the procession route, while an estimated 2.5 billion people around the world watched the ceremony on television.
The scale of the public response reflected the extraordinary outpouring of grief that had followed Princess Diana’s sudden death at the age of 36.
London filled with mourners
Princess Diana’s coffin had been brought back to Britain on the evening of 31 August and was initially taken to the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace. On 5 September, it was moved to Kensington Palace ahead of the funeral the following morning.
On 6 September, enormous crowds gathered along the route as her coffin travelled through London to Westminster Abbey.
Members of charities Princess Diana had supported during her life were invited to walk behind the coffin alongside her family, recognising the humanitarian work that had become such a defining part of her public life.
Her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, then aged 15 and 12, walked behind their mother’s coffin alongside their father, then-Prince Charles, Diana’s brother Charles Spencer, and Prince Philip.
Elton John’s unforgettable performance
One of the defining moments of the funeral came when Elton John performed a specially rewritten version of “Candle in the Wind”.
The singer had been a friend of Princess Diana, and the performance became inseparable from the public memory of her funeral.
Originally released in 1973 with lyrics inspired by Marilyn Monroe, the song was rewritten in Princess Diana’s memory and subsequently released as “Candle in the Wind 1997”.
Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, also delivered a eulogy during the service, remembering his sister and reflecting on the intense public and media attention that had surrounded her life.
A global farewell
The funeral brought to a close an extraordinary week of public mourning following Princess Diana’s death.
Born Diana Frances Spencer on 1 July 1961, she married Charles, Prince of Wales, at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981 and became one of the world’s most recognisable public figures. The couple had two sons, William and Harry, before divorcing in 1996.
Princess Diana remained closely associated with humanitarian causes after the divorce. Among her most prominent work was her campaigning against landmines, including visits to Angola and Bosnia during the final year of her life.
Following the Westminster Abbey service, her coffin was taken to the Spencer family estate at Althorp, where she was buried privately on an island in an ornamental lake.
Nearly three decades later, the images of the crowds filling London and the solemn procession through the capital remain among the defining scenes of the extraordinary public reaction to Princess Diana’s death.
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