Queen's actions following Diana's death caused massive outrage 25 years ago
The Queen's actions following Princess Diana's shocking death caused massive outrage 25 years ago.
Today, August 31, marks a quarter of a century since the 'Queen of People's Hearts' was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris.
As the tributes continue to pour in, some people are looking back to the events of the incident and the days that followed, focusing on the Queen's reaction to her daughter-in-law's death.
As the entire UK came together in grief, with the gates of Buckingham Palace covered in a sea of flowers, the royal matriarch was on holiday with the rest of the family at the time.
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Rather than rush back to London, they continued their trip as Prince Charles broke the news to their sons Prince William and Harry.
According to The Mirror, anger started to grow among the public about the fact that the royal family didn't come back immediately and the Queen wasn't publicly mourning the tragedy.
It was also pointed out they didn't fly the union flag at half-mast at the palace, further fuelling people's outrage.
Eventually, the Queen returned from the holiday a day early to pay her respects, with Tina Brown, author of The Diana Chronicles, claiming that she did it all for the benefit of her grandsons.
She said: "The Queen was adamant that her place was at Balmoral with her grieving grandsons. Everyone rallied around the young princes.
"This was the first time in a long reign that the Queen was thinking about her family before her people.
"We should admire her for that. Her thoughts were with her grandchildren and she wasn't thinking about how this would be played out in the media."
But that hasn't stopped theorists from speculating as to whether Diana had been the victim of an organised killing, something which Diana herself preempted in a note.
In October 1995, two years before the accident, the princess told her lawyer Lord Mishcon that she thought she would be the victim of ‘some accident in her car, such as a pre-prepared brake failure’.
She wrote in the note: “I am sitting here at my desk today in October, longing for someone to hug me and encourage me to keep strong and hold my head high. This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous.
"My husband is planning an accident in my car. Brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry Tiggy [Legge-Bourke, a nanny with whom Charles was falsely rumoured to be having an affair].
"Camilla is nothing but a decoy so we are being used by the man in every sense of the word."
Mishcon handed over the written account to Metropolitan Police officers after Diana died, but it took six years before the letter was given to Scotland Yard chiefs.
Now, Diana’s worrying note has been looked at once again during the Channel 4 documentary Investigating Diana: Death In Paris, which first aired on 20 August and commemorated 25 years since the tragedy occurred.
Diana’s family only came to find out about her terrifying note 10 years after she died, while her sons also had no idea about it for years.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677
Topics: Royal Family, The Queen, UK News, London
Daisy Phillipson