International guests included Sir Cliff Richard, US First Lady Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, William J. The royal family placed wreaths alongside Diana's coffin in the presence of Britain's living former prime ministers – John Major, Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan and Edward Heath – and former Conservative MP Winston Churchill, the grandson of World War II-era Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. The ceremony at Westminster Abbey opened at 11:00 BST and lasted one hour and ten minutes. The west door of Westminster Abbey, venue of the funeral Two screens were erected to relay the Westminster Abbey service in Hyde Park. More than one million people lined the streets of London, and flowers rained down onto the cortège from bystanders. Queen Elizabeth II bowed her head as it went by. The coffin then passed Buckingham Palace where members of the Royal Family were waiting outside. Nevertheless, William saw the act as a necessity to maintain 'balance between duty and family' and Harry said that he was 'very glad' that he took part in the procession.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who opposed the idea of William and Harry taking part in the funeral procession, decided to walk besides them, telling his grandsons 'I'll walk if you walk.' William later described the experience as 'one of the hardest things I've ever done', and Harry mentioned no child 'should be asked to do' what they did. Alastair Campbell later revealed in his diaries that the government and the royal household feared for the security of Prince Charles, believing that he would possibly get attacked by the crowd, thus they ensured that he would be accompanied by his sons. Five hundred representatives of various charities the Princess had been involved with joined behind them in the funeral cortège. At St James's Palace, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, her sons, and her brother joined to walk behind. There was also a letter from Prince Harry on her coffin addressed to 'Mummy'. On top of the coffin were three wreaths of white flowers from her brother, the Earl Spencer, and her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Eight members of the Welsh Guards accompanied Diana's coffin, draped in the royal standard with an ermine border, on the one-hour-forty-seven-minute ride through London streets. A large display of flowers was installed at the gates of Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace. However, the event was not a state funeral instead, it was a royal ceremonial funeral that included royal pageantry and Anglican funeral liturgy.

The funeral plan for the Queen Mother, codenamed Operation Tay Bridge, had been rehearsed for 22 years and was used as the basis for Diana's funeral. After being taken to a private mortuary it was placed at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, and later taken to Kensington Palace the night before the funeral.

the Other Members' standard), was brought to London from the Salpêtrière Hospital, via Vélizy – Villacoublay Air Base, Paris, by Diana's former husband Charles, Prince of Wales, and her two sisters on 31 August 1997. An estimated 2 to 2.5 billion people watched the event worldwide, making it one of the biggest televised events in history.ĭiana's coffin, draped with the royal standard with an ermine border (i.e. Two thousand people attended the ceremony in Westminster Abbey while the British television audience peaked at 32.10 million, one of the United Kingdom's highest viewing figures ever. The official ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey in London and finished at the resting place in Althorp. The Union Flag on top of the palace was lowered to half mast. The coffin was carried from the palace on a gun carriage by riders of the King's Troop and escorted by mounted police along Hyde Park to St James's Palace, where Diana's body had remained for five days before being taken to Kensington Palace. The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, started on Saturday 6 September 1997 at 9:08 am in London, when the tenor bell of Westminster Abbey started tolling to signal the departure of the cortège from Kensington Palace.

The funeral cortège passing the Wellington Arch on Hyde Park Corner

Day of the dead flower arch