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had been respected in the past, but somehow was not satisfactory now, and the people had no
trouble criticising the Royal
Family for their actions, even though they did everything the same way
they had done before in the case of a death in the Royal Family (Seward, 2000, pp. 20-22).
According to Junor (2014), it was on Thursday 4 September, two days before the funeral, that the
Royal Family decided to end their seclusion by leaving Balmoral for the first time since Prince Charles
had come back from Paris. This decision was brought on when the boys, Princes William and Harry,
said that they would like to go to church again. The press was already waiting for them beyond the
gates as their cars ventured out. Inside the cars were the Queen, Prince Philip, Peter Phillips, Prince
Charles, and the boys. Outside the gates the whole group got out of the cars to take a closer look at
all the flowers and other memorabilia that had been left there to honour the passing of Diana. The
press was quiet as they took photos of the group that was visibly touched by the scene (pp. 94-96).
Bradford (2007) writes that on the next day, Friday 5 September, the eve of the funeral, the Royal
Family flew to London. It was only then that the Royal Family were able to fully experience first-
hand what Diana’s death had meant not only to the people close to her, but also to the people at
large. On the same evening, the Queen delivered a heartfelt speech addressing Diana’s death, which
was televised. In her speech she talked about Diana and the meaning of her life. She opened the
speech by, in her own way, apologizing for their absence saying that they have all been trying in
their own ways to cope and that it is not easy to express a sense of loss because a mixture of other
feelings often follows the initial shock. She also made it clear that she was not only speaking as the
Queen, but that she was also speaking as a grandmother and what she was saying, she was saying
from her heart. While delivering the speech she was dressed in black and sitting at a window through
which the crowds of grieving people gathered outside Buckingham Palace could be seen. The
speech, despite being delivered firmly and solemnly, was also delivered movingly and was perhaps
the most personal statement she had ever given to the public. The speech itself had been written
by
Sir Robert Fellowes, Diana’s brother in law (pp. 382-383). In addition to the Queen’s speech, the
Royal Family showed that they too shared in the grief of the people by walking out of the palace
gates to socialise with the people gathered outside and to look at all the flowers, candles and
messages that people had left outside the palaces in remembrance of Diana: The Queen and Prince