Princess Diana: Ed Perkins on public’s reaction to funeral

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The late Princess of Wales was only 36 when she tragically died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. This week, a new documentary film, titled The Princess, is being released. The film, directed by Ed Perkins, takes a fresh approach to the story of Diana’s life and tragic death through archived footage. Ahead of the release, Mr Perkins discussed the film on Lorraine and spoke of Diana’s “unBritish” funeral.

Host Lorraine Kelly said: “[And] after she died, the outpouring of grief, there’s never been anything like that”.

The host, who remembers reporting on the 1997 funeral, said when Diana’s coffin came into view, people were “sobbing and crying” and described the experience as “medieval”.

Mr Perkins said: “As an 11-year-old, I spent the week after she died watching the TV and I just remember, as you say, watching hundreds and thousands of men and women, grown men and women, take to the streets of London and crying.

“It was very unBritish in a sense, this, sort of, the extraordinary unprecedented outpouring of grief”.

He added: I guess as an 11-year-old, I didn’t feel emotionally invested enough in the story to feel sad, I just remember feeling, kind of, confused.

“Maybe that confusion has, sort of, stuck with me throughout my life a bit and I am sort of returning to that now and thinking what was it specifically about Diana, or what she represented for people that meant that so many people reacted in the way that [they] did after she died”.

Princess Diana passed away on August 31, 1997.

She died from the injuries she sustained in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, France.

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Her death caused an unprecedented outpouring of public grief in the United Kingdom and worldwide.

Her funeral, which took place on September 6, 1997, was televised and watched by more than 2.5 billion people worldwide.

Following her death, the Royal Family were criticised in the press for their reaction to Diana death.

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Princess Diana was Prince Charles’ first wife and the couple got married in 1981 when Diana was just 20 years old.

In the next few years, following their marriage, the pair were plagued with rumours of marital problems.

In 1992, Charles and Diana’s separation was announced by Prime Minister John Major. 

The pair divorced in 1996, just one year before the tragic death of the princess.

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