If I should die before the rest of you,
Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone.
Nor, when I'm gone, speak in a Sunday voice,
But be the usual selves that I have known.
Weep if you must,
Parting is hell.
But life goes on,
So........ sing as well.
(Joyce Grenfell)
This is what we were doing the day Princess Diana died, twenty years ago today. Staying with friends in Cambridgeshire for the weekend, we wanted to make the most of the good weather and go out for the day. I recall coming down to find the youngest son of the house on the settee reading (I think Harry Potter) with the TV on in the background, and totally oblivious to what the newsreader was saying.
After the initial shock (and breakfast), we went off to a huge 'car boot’ sale/fair and (probably) had a pub lunch. I recall we bought a glass-fronted bookcase that saw service in several homes, including our daughter's student lodgings and first (and possibly subsequent) flat. My friendnand I bought very nice blue check shirts for 50 pence each (Mark and Spencers seconds I think)- mine lasted for years.
These pictures were taken somewhere picturesque. I don’t think any of us suffered any trauma or sense of personal loss, any more than when any other celebrity dies (if you exclude Freddie Mercury, which I still haven’t got over).
After that came the surprising reactions of the crowds who had gathered to watch the funeral procession; and so began an extraordinary period of public sentimentality and a kind of mass hysteria. This eventually faded and things returned to some sort of normality. Unfortunately the legacy is that all too often we still see similar mawkish displays of ‘emotion’ over reported deaths, whether the deceased is known to us or not.
When a stranger dies it is of course a sad event for family and friends, but doesn’t require any further comment from us. No need for the ‘R.I.P.s on Facebook, and the ‘our thoughts are with the family and friends etc’ - are they? Really? Time for the stiff upper lip again perhaps. Car Boot Sale anyone?
Linking to Sepia Saturday with memories and photos of the past.
I sort of remember seeing the headlines in the Sunday paper here and being totally surprised.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what I was doing. I could look at the date and figure it out. I do remember when she got married I was in the basement of the dorm of the summer school in Norway doing laundry while in the next room people were watching it on tv.
ReplyDeleteI remember coming across the sight in Kensington Gardens. I've never seen anything like it, either before or since. I took a roll of film of it, (which shows how long ago it was) but nothing could really convey the extraordinary atmosphere. I wondered what it meant then, and to be honest I still wonder.
ReplyDeleteThis resonates with my experience as a child when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I recall the same quiet streets as everyone sat glued to the television trying to make sense of it all.
ReplyDeleteIt was the first time I heard that "Paparazzi" were such a force in famous people's lives. The news media changed in my mind about then, and continues to do so. Hearing all week about Houston, without any mention of the many people drowning from monsoons...for instance. That's in America anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe circles of ordinary lives do not usually intersect those larger orbits of celebrities like Diana. She was the fairy tale princess made real and I suppose the media likes to repeat her story because it still resonates with a public that reveres mythical figures like Elvis or JFK who seem to die before their time. I agree with you about the meaningless expressions of sympathy. It is senseless noise without value to those that truly mourn.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you Marilyn. I still see the events (the public reaction, that is) of twenty years ago as an exercise in consumer emotionalism. The odd thing was, however, it caught a public mood that must have been building up over time. Strange mood - I prefer the car boot myself.
ReplyDeleteI used to know what I was doing but I'm not sure now. The reaction of the British public was quite amazing. There has been a lot in the Australian media about the 20 year anniversary.
ReplyDeleteWe were visiting friends in Alaska the day Princess Diana died. And strangely, twenty years later, we were just returning from two weeks in Alaska on the 20th anniversary of her passing. How odd it that?
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