Royal fans and mourners paid respects to Princess Diana at the gates of Kensington Palace on Wednesday (August 31) on the 25th anniversary of her death.
People laid flowers at the gate which was adorned with pictures of Diana; some prayed and others sung Welsh hymns.
Jane Crook, a 64 year-old school worker, travelled from Wales especially to visit the memorial which, she said, transported her “back 25 years… it’s like yesterday”.
The Princess was just 36 when the limousine carrying her and her lover Dodi al-Fayed crashed in Paris as it sped away from photographers who were chasing it on motorbikes.
Millions globally mourned the “people’s princess,” as then British Prime Minister Tony Blair described Diana, in 1997.
She was one of the world’s most recognised and photographed women and a high-profile supporter of humanitarian causes – including children’s charities and land mine clearance – when she died.
Morgan Hindle, 23, travelled from Manchester to lay flowers for Diana who he described as an icon who “needs to be remembered, remembered forever”.
The mother of princes William and Harry, her death plunged the monarchy into crisis, coming after the disintegration of her marriage to heir to the throne Prince Charles with its revelations of feuding, adultery, and the misery she had felt in her royal role.
Prince Harry said he feared “history repeating itself” when he and his wife, Meghan, moved to California and stepped back as senior royals.
Carla Petersen, a visitor from Australia, said she understood the move by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and that Prince Harry “must have that fear in him forever”.
(Reuters)
