Queen Largely Criticized After Diana's Death, But Many Missed Her Subtle Tribute at Funeral
The 21-year anniversary of the People’s Princess has just passed. People around the world are still affected by her story and her tragic passing, and she’s only grown more important and beautiful in the minds of her fans as the years have passed.
But it’s not just her fans who seem to have an increased appreciation for Diana. Even the Queen seems to have come around.
It was no secret that Queen Elizabeth wasn’t particularly a fan of Diana. She kept up appearances for the sake of her role, but according to one close friend, as mentioned by the Daily Mail, Princess Diana was a tough pill to swallow.
“(S)he felt the pretty girl was a misfit who didn’t quite contribute to the things they did and what they wanted her to do in the family,” the friend said, speaking of Queen Elizabeth’s feelings about Diana.
“There was no real compatibility,” the friend continued. “Initially she was sympathetic, but later on I don’t think she felt sorry for her, not really.”
The queen was in a tricky spot: A paragon of politeness, etiquette, and tradition — and then Diana came rushing in, and everyone adored her and her somewhat unorthodox behavior.
Now, all we can know about Diana is the string of reports from the people who used to know her. Ken Wharfe, Diana’s former bodyguard, said that Diana was nothing but calm confidence around the Queen, even when put on the spot and subtly criticized.
On one occasion, in response to Diana announcing her planned involvement with the AIDS crisis, the Queen quipped, “Can’t you do something nice?”
“The Princess wasn’t put off by the Queen’s reaction,” Wharfe said. “She told me she’d told Her Majesty that it was ‘important work.'”
“Believe me, Diana wasn’t the airhead she was sometimes portrayed as. She knew what she was talking about when it came to AIDS.”
But when Diana was whisked from this world, the people turned to the Queen to see how she would react. Many found her response insufficient.
In a typically subtle, poised way, though, the Queen did honor Diana on the day of her funeral. One photographer who was there remembers the scene.
The photographer, Mark Stewart, told People magazine that the Queen moved with the crowd — the masses of “commoners” who turned up to attend. He called the moment “completely unscripted.”
Stewart and those in the Queen’s immediate vicinity got to see a rare glimpse of their matriarch as she paid her respects.
“I pushed my way through the crowd, which was about 20 deep, and luckily the BBC had left a ladder against a tree,” Stewart said. “I managed to climb the ladder and I have the only shot of the Queen bowing her head at the coffin as it goes past.”
“It showed the Queen … The best of the Queen, really.”
In recent years it seems the Queen has moved to fond recollections of her daughter-in-law, as she told a friend when speaking of William and Harry, “Perhaps, after all, we have rather a lot to thank Diana for.”
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