- Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.
- Her ex-husband Prince Charles decided to fly her corpse back to the UK on a royal aeroplane.
- This decision sparked a disagreement between The Prince of Wales and The Queen.
Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a vehicle accident in Paris on August 31, 1997, sending shockwaves throughout the globe. In the seven days between her death and burial, an estimated 60 million bouquets of flowers were left in her honour outside Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace.
Diana died from her injuries at Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, despite physicians’ best efforts to rescue her. After her death, The Prince of Wales and Diana’s two sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes travelled out to Paris to carry her corpse home. However, the decision to fly Prince William and Prince Harry’s mother home on a royal aeroplane apparently sparked a disagreement between Prince Charles and The Queen.
Within hours of Diana’s death, Prince Charles was in Paris, ensuring that his ex-corpse wife’s was sent to the UK as soon as possible.
However, Charles’ decision to utilise the royal jet for the mission was apparently greeted with a challenge from The Queen, who felt it was inappropriate.
Diana was good friends with journalist Richard Kay, who earlier recounted Prince Charles’ dispute with Her Majesty in the documentary Diana: 7 Days That Shook the Windsors.
He said, “This was a surprising and brave move. He was an ex-husband, he had no right to be there other than as the father of her sons. Charles wanted to take the royal flight to Paris but the Queen wouldn’t allow it. Charles fought harder for Diana than he had ever fought for her in her lifetime.”
Prince Charles ignored his mother’s concerns and flew to Paris with Diana’s two sisters to return her corpse to the United Kingdom.
After a brief stay at the hospital, the party exited with Diana’s coffin, covered in the Royal Standard at the prince’s request.
Diana was brought to a private morgue upon arrival at RAF Northolt before being transferred to St James’s Palace and subsequently Kensington Palace.
The jet took off again 20 minutes later, this time to return Prince Charles to Aberdeen so he could see his two young boys, who were still in Balmoral with their families.
Princes William and Harry have spoken out many times on the impact their mother’s death had on them. Harry appreciated his father’s reaction in the days after the incident.
In the documentary ‘Diana, 7 Days,’ released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her death, Harry stated of Prince Charles, “One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died. How you deal with that? I don’t know. But you know, he was there for us.”
“He was the one out of two left, and he tried to do his best and to make sure that we were protected and looked after. But you know, he was going through the same grieving process as well.”
He told, “His tragedy is whatever he does, whatever he says, however he behaves, he will be remembered for one thing: the fact that his fairy-tale marriage ended.”
“Just as Henry VIII is remembered for his six wives, Prince Charles is remembered for his first wife. It will always haunt him. His life has been defined by his marriage.”
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