I was just back from Bumbershoot, Seattle's big Labor Day music festival, where I had watched Beck, Foo Fighters, and L7. I was lying in my bed reading and my ex-BF came down and told me. Then he kissed my stomach and left.
I felt unreasonably sad about someone I didn't know dying.
I was working for MI5 at the time. I got a call from the guy in the white Fiat Uno, then phoned the Duke of Edinburgh to say everything had gone as planned.
I was a freshman in uni. My friends and I were watching Carrie on TNT, when a girl came in and said Princess Diana had been killed in a car accident. Nobody believed her until we turned it to the news after the movie. We were all shocked. One year to the day, TNT showed Carrie again. I wonder if it was intentional or a coincidence.
I was still living in Germany. My grandmother phoned us to wake us up to tell us. Was a bit weird because at the time I didn't really know who she was.
I guess people like my nan loved a bit of royal scandal.
I was fixin' to watch Saturday Night Live with the hubs and some friends in from out of town. NBC News broke in with the story, and we thought at first that it was the opening SNL skit. It was that surreal. It took us a few minutes to realize that it actually happened.
I was working at a restaurant in Pompano Beach Florida - I was doing server checkouts in the back when the phone rang and my then-girlfriend was in tears and told me. I walked out to the bar area TV and changed the channel - the entire bar area went quiet and started watching.
I was at home. Just finished grocery shopping (late night shopping is always the best!) and I plopped down on the couch with my scandal rag (gossip magazine ;>) and was reading an article about Princess Diana when the news came on. I was also in London while the one year anniversary of her death passed.
I was living in London at the time, so it was quite the big deal. I was working in a really tacky souvenir shop and only days after, we started unpacking all these hideous Diana mugs and plates to sell to tourists. The day of the funeral the whole city shut down.
i don't remember where i was exactly, but i remember the death hitting me hard because it was just a few months after my mom passed away, also too young/too soon (she was ten years older than princess di), also leaving two young kids--just two girls instead of two boys. my heart really went out to wills and harry that day and i've had a soft spot for them ever since as a result.
Went to a movie that night with a friend. We heard them talking about it on the radio and the DJ was laughing about it!!! So we thought it was a joke until we switched stations and then got home and saw it on the TV. I called the radio station to complain and they profusely apologized and said they had had lots of complaints and sent the guy home. I couldn't believe someone would make fun of this beautiful young mother with young children dying such a horrific and untimely death.
It felt surreal and heartbreaking and although shocking, not surprising. I felt in my heart the paparazzi madness surrounding her would eventually harm her. I felt the same way when Michael Jackson died. Shocked but not surprised, if that makes any sense.
Oh....and this was the one and only time I cried when someone I didn't know had died.
I was having dinner with my parents in at Zig's Woodland Hills, CA. I could see the TV showing pictures of Princess Di and then cutting to a car wreck but couldn't hear the reports. Then they flashed the birth-death dates under her name and I understood what was going on. I told my parents that the report had to be wrong - she had drivers and such - how could she die in a car accident?
I was visiting my parents at their campsite overnight. I heard the news the next morning in the chatter around the campground. It was cold, miserable and dreary. Much like the rest of the day. Very sad.
I was on the beach in Egypt. Mohammed El_Fayed owned a property on the next street from ours. People assumed I was English, and were very kind to me. Egyptians took the whole ting very much to heart-they had been thrilled that the King of England's stepfather would be Egyptian.
I'm not at the beach this year. If I were, I am sure that people are still leaving flowers in front of El_Fayed's villa.
I had worked a 60 hour week that week and was exhausted - I went to bed around 830pm. The next morning I walked out to get the newspaper from the driveway, opened it and saw the news. Was glued to the TV after that.
I also remember whatever the music was that was played/sung as her coffin left the church was the most moving, sad music I have ever heard. Anyone know what it was?
I woke up early and it was all over the news. I admit I was a bit shocked and just sat in front of the TV for what seemed like hours. They kept showing her last moments in the hotel prior to the last car ride over and over. I sobbed watching her funeral - I couldn't take watching her sons walk behind her casket.
I was at home and remember just feeling overwhelming sadness. I had stayed up all night to watch her wedding and for some reason felt that it was only right to witness her funeral as well. I started crying when her casket first passed by with the smaller boquet of white (tulips, I think) with the card stuck in it that simply said, "Mummy".
I think she would have loved all of the people lining the streets and raining down flowers on the hearse.
I think I told this story awhile back on the Your Turn for worst drinking story.
It was the night I smoked weed for the first time and drank a very large amount of alcohol. I was 15 and stumbled into the house thinking everyone would be asleep. My stepmother was sitting on the couch boo hoo crying. She said "Oh it's so horrible Princess Di just died in a car crash." I asked her if she was related to us or something. Then I managed to pass out in the bathtub.
Ironically, today is my 10th year wedding anniversary too.
I was on vacation in New England. Had the TV on in the hotel room when they broke the news. First It was just the accident news and then later that she died. I couldn't sleep a wink all night. I remember that celebrities were calling in to the news station complaining about paparazzi. I specifically remember Tom Cruise calling in. Weird and surreal night.
Then, maybe a week later, the sad and somber funeral on TV. And Elton Johns tribute song to Diana. So so sad.
Put the kids to bed, sat down and turned on the TV at 8:50 pm. Dr Quinn Medicine Women was just finishing when there was a news scroll along the bottom that she was in a car accident. Switched to CNN (that was the only cable news station we had at that time) and watched the rest of the night. I was on NBC when Brian Williams announced she died. I was rather sad the next day and got up early the following Saturday to watch the funera.
I was in 6th grade. The teacher told us first thing and we had a somber day of stuff relating to England, people would tell their stories and memories. I cried, thinking about if I lost my mom the same way. She was such a beautiful woman.
I was with my family on a houseboat in Lake Powell. We didn't hear until the next day on the tiny little handheld radio when we were able to get some reception on it.
I was 12, so I didn't have much feeling about it at all.
We were up at our cottage, my sister-in-law came and told us, I didn't believe it so I went and got a paper. I was devastated, thought really highly of her, love her children and will always wish them the best.
I was a huge, huge fan of Diana, and her death hit me very hard, for some reason.
I was on vacation at the time, visiting friends and family in LA. My cousins and I were just about to go out when the news bulletin came on. We ordered Chinese and sat on the couch watching CNN instead.
I was 11, but I remember all of the media coverage. No celeb death has been such a big deal since her, not even Michael I think. It was everywhere. My grandma took it really hard. That one and JFK Jr's death.
I was at my friend's dad's house. We were on AOL, which was where we saw the news. We were immediately obsessed with the situation and followed it until the very early hours of the morning.
I was a preteen up at I believe it was 2 a.m. waiting for my sister to get home from partying so that I could open the door for her (this was before everyone had cell phones) when whatever I was watching was interrupted by the news of her crash and death. Didn't know much about her then but I certainly keep up with my gossip on the royals today
The only thing I remember of the funeral is the letter with the word "mummy" cause I had no clue that was the british word for mom and how little harry and william were
I was a teenager working at Sweet Factory in the mall. I first heard from another mall employee who was about to start work and heard on his drive over. I had to wait until I got out at 9:30 before I could see any news coverage.
I saw it on tv right when they announced it because I had gone to a Dave Matthews show the night before and stayed overnight at my boyfriend at the time's place. It still feels like yesterday.
Random fact the oldest woman in the world named bessie mae was alive for the birth and death of diana and literally everyone on this planet. She has seen the world evolve from cobblestone streets and men wearing top hats to the electronic world we have today. She's seen it all. I wish she would write a book. All the stories she could tell could school all of us.
Something seemed strange about the first news reports of her being in an accident, so I went out (it was night) and picked up a Washington Post, which had the next day's edition with a side headline about the accident. It wasn't reported anywhere as a death at that point.
By morning the Washington Post had come out with a later edition with the news.
My God -- that might well have been one of the last times I got two print editions, one early one later, of the same newspaper.
I was driving through the west and was leaving New Mexico, somewhere near the Colorado border. There weren't any radio stations available, so when we heard one little blurb about the accident we spent the next three hours trying to find actual news. It was maddening--nobody on air was even mentioning it. We didn't get any more details until we stopped for the night.
I was week before giving birth. I loved Diana, watched her wedding all day long, bought the photo books of her on her honeymoon in Scotland while Charles wore a kilt, squirmed when Charles said "whatever love means" in their interview and remember the picture of her falling asleep in that dress at a dinner because she was pregnant with William. I stayed up all night hoping to she would be okay and then they started using the word "grave injuries". Her funeral happened while I was in the hospital with my son. Those pictures of William and Harry in the procession were so sad and I've never liked Camilla.
Living in England and had just come in from a nightclub. It was around 3am and I turned the radio on while getting ready for bed. They announced the crash and that Dodi had died. I woke my mum up (I was 18, still living at home) to tell her and we had a chat in which we wondered whether Diana would need reconstructive surgery or anything like that.My Dad woke me later that morning to tell me Diana had died.
I've never before or since seen such an outpouring of grief as there was for Diana. It really kickstarted the monarchy into becoming modern.
RIP Diana. Prayers for her boys today - Wills and Harry.
I was dating my police officer at the time and we were hanging out at this classy VFW bar with a lot of old timers. The ex was former military. (not) fun times.
My neighbor told me Diana was in an accident and my first thought was "Oh she'll be fine, the media is blowing this all out of proportion" (Back then the poor woman couldn't go & workout in a gym without being photographed in unflattering positions thru the windows by the paps).
When she was pronounced dead all I could think of was her 2 little Princes...I was incredibly sad because my children where around the same age as her's at the time.
I too was such a huge huge fan of Diana. She resonated with me because she proved that money & fame don't make you happy. Like a lot of you, I remember every step of her evolution from a mousy girl to being a terrific loving mother, her charities & being the most famous woman in the world. It seemed she died at her absolute peak; she finally seemed content, centered, and more beautiful than ever.
I bawled for the funeral too. The flowers thrown at the casket, SO many openly weeping in the street. The card 'Mummy' and the little boys (so brave & poised) following the casket got me too. They really did that funeral right with the WORLD watching, and despite the royals' disdain for her.
Thanks everyone for sharing the stories, I enjoyed them. I got a little teary remembering it all. I found out on the news, eventually it became obvious that she must be gone, and the waiting was so that the boys could be told. Still I lost my breath when the official word came. As someone else said, I too will always have a soft spot for her sons.
I was living in Westwood and my husband and I had just pulled into a Sav-On drugstore on Sepulveda Blvd. The radio station interrupted music to announce that Diana had been in a horrific car crash in Paris. A few minutes later, they announced she and Dodi were dead.
We just sat in the car, totally stunned. I started crying. It was awful.
I'll never forget when Diana's casket was passing by the Queen and as her casket was going away from the palace there was a woman who wailed Diana's name in the crowd with such anguish I just lost it, it was just gut wrenching to watch Prince William and Harry walking behind their mother's casket.
I was with my mother at her Vermont house, when my ex-husband came in telling us he just heard that Princess Diana was killed in a car crash. For some reason I remember it as being afternoon and I do know that when we turned on the TV she was in fact still alive at the time.
Truth be told, my ex was coming back from one of his "secret" dope drives (holyoke, ma to vt, and secret b/c junkies never think anyone knows what they're up to) and we (my mom and I) assumed at first that he was just high. So, it was a sad reality check when we found out that she was in fact in a terrible accident as was when we found out that she had, passed on to the otherside.
It was my first day at a new store; my best friend woke me up after I ignored the alarm clock. She said, "Princess Diana died." I liked her after she dumped Prince Charles. I'm glad that her kids have turned out to be *normal.* Yes, even partying it up in Vegas is normal!
I was shocked by both Princess Di's and JFK, Jr's deaths. They're my age or near. I miss seeing current photos of JFK out and about, looking as fine as fine can be! And, it helped that he seemed to be a decent guy, too.
It was Sunday morning, and I had just gotten out of bed and went and picked up my L.A. Times to read with breakfast. I opened the paper, and there was a beautiful photo of Diana. I assumed she was coming to Los Angeles for some charity event. Then I saw the headlines: Princess Diana Dead. I screamed (to no one), "Turn on CNN!" I watched the news reports for the rest of the day.
Oh and I was a huge Diana fan. I remember how my music theory teacher was so enamored of her. We were the same age almost and I watched her weddding. That was the only time I ever thought about being a princess. She was so universally loved. It always happens to the best ones..An early exit tragically.
I was sitting on the floor reading the paper back to front. After seeing the second half of the article covering the accident, that was the last time I did that.
I was dozing on the couch with SNL on. I woke to see an anchor I didn't recognize announcing her death. Groggy as I was, I kept waiting for the punchline, as I was sure it was some sort of SNL skit. Then I woke up more and realized that it wasn't a skit, that it had actually happened. My first coherent thought was "damn, they got her".
I had just gotten married and returned from the weirdest honeymoon ever. Was married to a military history professor, so we went to Germany and visited scenic battlegrounds and even Dachau. I still say if I ever write a memoir, I'll have a chapter called Honeymoon in Dachau. (Yes, it was horrible and nauseating, and heartbreaking. And on a honeymoon!) Anyway, we returned home and I was up at 4:00 am due to jet lag and turned on the tv. I was stunned. I wept for her and her boys. I agree with someone else here that I have never cried so much for someone I didn't know, except for Casey Anthony. Such a weird time...
If any of you were watching the television coverage between the time of her accident and the time they announced her death, you would have heard Tom Cruise calling in. He was complaining about how aggressive the paps were and that it should be against the law to be chased like that.
Which is why I found it odd that he did the whole MI5 display picking up Suri and zooming away for all to see. At that time, Tom Cruise was likeable, not crazy (that we knew of).
This is the story I always tell about the incident. Still makes me laugh. My son had been sleeping all day (typical teenager on summer break) and missed the continuous TV coverage. He came down to dinner, the TV was on, and he heard the news. He looked at us and said, OMG, Princess Diana died? and his little sister looked at him and with all sincerity said, Yes. She died while being chased by Pavarotti on a motorcycle.
Woke up early Sunday morning, the clock radio went off, to the news; when I heard it. I ran downstairs to watch it on tv, because I wanted it confirmed. Now to date myself; I remember sitting in the classroom, when we were told Princess Grace died.
I don't recall where I was when I found out, but I recall her funeral the following weekend. I was working for a news gathering organization and was paid to watch certain news programs at home and basically regurgitate what was on into their software and upload it. They advised us that they were not interested in the funeral at all but to document it and they would still pay us. So I got paid to type the news show beginning and end time and "Lady Diana's Funeral" and that was it. It was the easiest job I ever did but was also the most depressing as I had to watch broadcast after broadcast of the funeral.
I woke up the next morning and went to fetch the NYT from outside my apartment door. That's how I heard about it. I screamed "Jesus!!!" and ran to connect to AOL even as I was reading the Times.
It was the first time I realized that the Internet had replaced print media. I needed more up-to-date info than a dead tree could provide.
It's tragic that she died so young, and just when she'd finally found a haircut that flattered her.
I called in sick to work so I could watch her wedding. When I showed up the next day, my male boss dourly informed me that 90% of the women in the office had done the same thing.
I remember the news ticker on one of the 24/7 news channels my dad used to watch, reading: "Lady Diana has been killed in Paris car crash." I was 16 or 17, so I was at home at the time. She seemed like a woman who never figured out how to really be happy and enjoy her life, and for that I felt a surprising amount of sadness towards her death, and also my heart broke for her kids. She seemed as though she was finally growing into who she was, and her life might have vastly improved (for her emotional state) if she had lived.
I woke up to it at 4:30 am on the news. Back then I always went to sleep w the tv on(I live alone).I had.it on CBS and the first thing i saw was the live video of the crumpled car, and the caption saying "Princess Diana Dead"
Ok I hardly ever post but have to on this one....came home after a night out (in high school at the time) was high on special K cuz yes that was a thing and literally turned on the tv took like an hour to comprehend what was going on and called my friend (also high) to ask if this was really happening
Ok I hardly ever post but have to on this one....came home after a night out (in high school at the time) was high on special K cuz yes that was a thing and literally turned on the tv took like an hour to comprehend what was going on and called my friend (also high) to ask if this was really happening
@reecespieces. in Re: to JFK jr.....I am a HUGE carolyn bessette fan....HUGE (in fact here's a funny little tidbit, CBK and my older brother went to the same catholic hs, and get this, the headmaster was busted for getting child porn in the mail. Nice, huh? and no, he was not a priest. a young "fam" man).....anyway, I too remember when that plane went down. My heart sank. She was such a class act, CBK. Still to this day, no one even comes close to her.
//I like to believe what my ex-husband said about that, that they found some homeless ppl, one with a broken leg, etc, to be stand ins for their bodies and that the three of them jfk, CBK and her sister are on some far off place living a "normal" life, far from prying eyes. It's a far fetched fantasy which I like to believe :)
I was bartending in a country club, and had worked the night she got injured, and the morning after she died. I thought it was tragic, but it didn't affect me.
One thing that I thought was really sweet, though- One of the cooks I worked with was this quintessential Harley Dude. Big guy, longer hair, big handlebar mustache, tattoos on both arms. Not exactly a stranger to the occasional night in jail. He wasn't totally bad news or anything; he was rough around the edges, but really nice.
I was closing up the morning shift and he came in to work for the evening shift. His eyes were all puffy, his face was red, he'd obviously been crying. He went straight to his station, set up a candle and lit it, and propped a picture of Princess Di up on it. Wouldn't talk to anyone all night.
I had just given birth about a month previously, and I was watching something on TV, feeding my baby, when the news about Princess Diana's accident came on.
I started crying, as I had always been an admirer of hers. I was thinking about her sons also, and how lucky I was to have had mine pull through his difficulties.
Diana would have been so proud of her sons. She would have loved Kate.
@Omama...I like to indulge in a fantasy like that, too...they're with Jim Morrison! ;)
@Alex...I started working midnights when this happened and my co-worker was a heroin addict. Her lovely friends set up a shrine to Princess Di; had that thing up for months and would toast to Princess Diana. These were pretty scummy guys and it was actually endearing to see.
I sad snorting a massive amount of coke --- & when I saw it on "breaking news", I instantly thought: Prince Charles had something to do with it......it Camilla. bye
I was in the midst of moving back to Boston after 8.5 years in GA; apparently I was flying US Air over the east coast w/my cat Jezebel in a teeny carrier under the seat in front of me when everything was happening. One of my new roommates met us at the airport, and we got back to the house just before my friends Julia & Cassie arrived w/the U-Haul w/all my worldly possessions. It was late, and we were exhausted, so we all just passed out on couches around the living room, until about 9 AM the next morning, when the phone rang--it was one of Julia's friends calling: "Did you hear about Princess Diana?" So we ran over, turned on the TV, and I spent the rest of the day watching it, when we weren't hauling my stuff into the house.
On a purely trivial level, I remember being very aggravated that I was still off-line at that point, since I knew the whole thing would be blowing up online, esp. on alt.showbiz.gossip (yes, kids, I remember Usenet...). And then Mother Theresa died a few days later, and things got even weirder. (I've always wondered if the shock of Diana's death was what put Mother Theresa over the edge; the latter had been ill for some time, and they did know each other.)
I don't recall actually crying myself, but I do remember being terribly sad for Wills and Harry, and also for Elton John--Gianni Versace had been murdered almost exactly 6 weeks before (on my birthday), and there had been a picture on the front page of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution of Elton and Diana together at the funeral, with him looking totally devastated and her upset but trying to comfort him...and there he was, 7 weeks after that, trying to keep it together during his performance at her funeral. *sigh* (I honestly didn't think he'd be able to make it all the way through the song without falling apart; it must have taken every ounce of willpower he ever possessed to keep going.)
I was a project manager on a highway project. Had driven down to observe the night shift while they paved. Had started driving back home, and heard the breaking news that she had been seriously injured in a car accident. I remember later hearing that she had died.
From that night on I have always worn a seat belt. She'd be alive now if she'd been wearing one.
@ Ramone Love: Thank you for posting that. ITA. In fact, I remember a heated discussion about the papparazi on AOL, and I posted something like, "Wear your seat belt and don't get into a car with a driver who is drunk."
It's still valid advice 15 years later. Wear the darned seat belt, folks.
I was working overnights, and for the first time at that job, I had overslept. I don't know what happened with my alarm clock, and when my phone rang repeatedly I was dreaming I was answering it but I was still sleeping. Eventually, I realized the phone was real and not a dream and I answered it all groggy. My co-worker informed me I was late for work, and I was trying to get my head together as to how I overslept and whether I was awake enough to get up and ready. My co-worker then told me princess Diana had been killed in a car accident and that woke me up in a hurry! When I got to work, they were just announcing her death, so he may have told me the news before it was confirmed. I turned on CNN and heard Tom Cruise call in about the paparatzi; I don't even know if I knew the word before then.
That co-worker died in a traffic accident about ten years later.
I was in Mexico city and struggling to understand what was going on with my limited grasp of Spanish. It was all very Surreal, and very sad. One of my most vivid childhood memories was watching her wedding. It was as if i were watching a fairy tail come to life, and for it to turn into such an unhappy ending is heartbreaking.
I remember it so well. Recently divorced-I was out drinking and dancing with friends Dan, Chris and Lori. Lori was a huge diana fan and we saw it on the tv's in the bar. Eventually the music stopped and everyone watched. We left and Lori and i went to my apt, and sat on my couch wrapped in blankets the whole night/morning watching the coverage and crying. Her boyfriend ended up giving her a diana replica ring (real) as her engagement ring too a few years later.
I was shopping for tv's in an electronic store, I was riveted to the constant news and hoping she was alive and not really dead...I believed that for hours!
I loved her and stayed up to watch her and Charles get married.
I was in Old Orchard Beach Maine.... The guy I was seeing was the love of my life (at the time! LOL)... I was 19, bout ready to start school up again, and had flown from Michigan to Boston and did the mini vacation.. We were in a souvenier shop and saw the blip on the little 6" b&w TV in the store... Went to the hotel to see it on TV..
I still have a pic outside the British consulate in Boston of all the flowers.
my bff and i were pregnant. VERY hormonal. she was living about 700 miles away, and called to tell me that princess di had been in a moped accident. we were laughing at the dorky-ness. then she called and said it was serious. we stayed on the phone talking and worrying and when the tv said she was dead we were both so amped up we were about hysterical, ctying through snot bubbles and trying to talk. our husbands thought we were nuts.
I said at the time that the one person in the limo who survived was the one person wearing a seatbelt, and people thought I was somehow being "disrepectful to her memory" and it was "too soon" to say things like that. The truth is the truth. If she had been wearing a seatbelt, she may have survived (because head trauma killed her after she initially survived the accident). And if the conspiracists are right and it was "murder," if she had been wearing a seatbelt and survived, the people after her would have had to have done something more overt, and there would be no lingering doubt as to whether or not it was "planned that way."
It was a Sunday morning - I went out to get the Sunday paper off the sidewalk and there was a huge picture of Diana on the front cover and I don't remember the large headline but it did mention she was dead. I literally thought I was looking at a joke. I was stunned - absolutely stunned.
I was in college. I watched the coverage for hours. I for some reason chose to write an English paper about the paparazzi who caused the accident. Still makes me sad thinking about her.
I was just back from Bumbershoot, Seattle's big Labor Day music festival, where I had watched Beck, Foo Fighters, and L7. I was lying in my bed reading and my ex-BF came down and told me. Then he kissed my stomach and left.
ReplyDeleteI felt unreasonably sad about someone I didn't know dying.
I remember that day very well.
I was driving to my job and heard it on the radio. Stopped at the convenience store to buy a newspaper-I guess to verify it was true.
ReplyDeleteI remember being at a friends house snorting coke and feeling very weird about her passing. True honest story. Not my finest moment I should add.
ReplyDeleteLol too funny
DeleteWow, I had just gotten home from a night out to celebrate my birthday, and it was all over the news. We stayed up late to hear if she was ok :(
ReplyDeleteI was working for MI5 at the time. I got a call from the guy in the white Fiat Uno, then phoned the Duke of Edinburgh to say everything had gone as planned.
ReplyDeleteLol, awesome.
DeleteI was a freshman in uni. My friends and I were watching Carrie on TNT, when a girl came in and said Princess Diana had been killed in a car accident. Nobody believed her until we turned it to the news after the movie. We were all shocked. One year to the day, TNT showed Carrie again. I wonder if it was intentional or a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteI was still living in Germany. My grandmother phoned us to wake us up to tell us. Was a bit weird because at the time I didn't really know who she was.
ReplyDeleteI guess people like my nan loved a bit of royal scandal.
I was fixin' to watch Saturday Night Live with the hubs and some friends in from out of town. NBC News broke in with the story, and we thought at first that it was the opening SNL skit. It was that surreal. It took us a few minutes to realize that it actually happened.
ReplyDeleteI was working at a restaurant in Pompano Beach Florida - I was doing server checkouts in the back when the phone rang and my then-girlfriend was in tears and told me. I walked out to the bar area TV and changed the channel - the entire bar area went quiet and started watching.
ReplyDeleteHahaha @Garbanzo. Wait...you are joking right?
ReplyDeleteI was on vacation in Sarasota, FL and from the moment I heard she was injured I knew she was dead. Awful.
ReplyDeleteI was at home. Just finished grocery shopping (late night shopping is always the best!) and I plopped down on the couch with my scandal rag (gossip magazine ;>) and was reading an article about Princess Diana when the news came on. I was also in London while the one year anniversary of her death passed.
ReplyDeleteI was in Washington, D.C. for a family trip. I was in 8th grade. Saw it on the tv at the hotel at breakfast.
ReplyDeleteI knew who she was but didn't really have that connection to her - I guess I was maybe still too young.
I was living in London at the time, so it was quite the big deal. I was working in a really tacky souvenir shop and only days after, we started unpacking all these hideous Diana mugs and plates to sell to tourists. The day of the funeral the whole city shut down.
ReplyDeletei don't remember where i was exactly, but i remember the death hitting me hard because it was just a few months after my mom passed away, also too young/too soon (she was ten years older than princess di), also leaving two young kids--just two girls instead of two boys. my heart really went out to wills and harry that day and i've had a soft spot for them ever since as a result.
ReplyDeleteGarbanzo..and I was right behind you..
ReplyDeleteWent to a movie that night with a friend. We heard them talking about it on the radio and the DJ was laughing about it!!! So we thought it was a joke until we switched stations and then got home and saw it on the TV. I called the radio station to complain and they profusely apologized and said they had had lots of complaints and sent the guy home. I couldn't believe someone would make fun of this beautiful young mother with young children dying such a horrific and untimely death.
ReplyDeleteIt felt surreal and heartbreaking and although shocking, not surprising. I felt in my heart the paparazzi madness surrounding her would eventually harm her. I felt the same way when Michael Jackson died. Shocked but not surprised, if that makes any sense.
Oh....and this was the one and only time I cried when someone I didn't know had died.
I was having dinner with my parents in at Zig's Woodland Hills, CA. I could see the TV showing pictures of Princess Di and then cutting to a car wreck but couldn't hear the reports. Then they flashed the birth-death dates under her name and I understood what was going on. I told my parents that the report had to be wrong - she had drivers and such - how could she die in a car accident?
ReplyDeleteI was on the interwebs and saw that she had been in a serious accident. I just knew that she was already gone.
ReplyDeleteI was driving home from a wedding (worked as a wedding videographer) and heard it on the radio. I cried.
ReplyDeleteI was visiting my parents at their campsite overnight. I heard the news the next morning in the chatter around the campground. It was cold, miserable and dreary. Much like the rest of the day. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteI was on the beach in Egypt. Mohammed El_Fayed owned a property on the next street from ours. People assumed I was English, and were very kind to me. Egyptians took the whole ting very much to heart-they had been thrilled that the King of England's stepfather would be Egyptian.
ReplyDeleteI'm not at the beach this year. If I were, I am sure that people are still leaving flowers in front of El_Fayed's villa.
I had worked a 60 hour week that week and was exhausted - I went to bed around 830pm. The next morning I walked out to get the newspaper from the driveway, opened it and saw the news. Was glued to the TV after that.
ReplyDeleteI also remember whatever the music was that was played/sung as her coffin left the church was the most moving, sad music I have ever heard. Anyone know what it was?
I woke up early and it was all over the news. I admit I was a bit shocked and just sat in front of the TV for what seemed like hours. They kept showing her last moments in the hotel prior to the last car ride over and over. I sobbed watching her funeral - I couldn't take watching her sons walk behind her casket.
ReplyDeleteI was at a friend's house playing computer games, I think. Went home and called my boyfriend about it. He thought I was joking.
ReplyDeleteI really should turn on a light when I type.
ReplyDeleteI was at home and remember just feeling overwhelming sadness. I had stayed up all night to watch her wedding and for some reason felt that it was only right to witness her funeral as well. I started crying when her casket first passed by with the smaller boquet of white (tulips, I think) with the card stuck in it that simply said, "Mummy".
ReplyDeleteI think she would have loved all of the people lining the streets and raining down flowers on the hearse.
I think I told this story awhile back on the Your Turn for worst drinking story.
ReplyDeleteIt was the night I smoked weed for the first time and drank a very large amount of alcohol. I was 15 and stumbled into the house thinking everyone would be asleep. My stepmother was sitting on the couch boo hoo crying. She said "Oh it's so horrible Princess Di just died in a car crash." I asked her if she was related to us or something. Then I managed to pass out in the bathtub.
Ironically, today is my 10th year wedding anniversary too.
I don't remember where I was or what I was doing(hangs my head in shame).
ReplyDeleteI was on vacation in New England. Had the TV on in the hotel room when they broke the news. First It was just the accident news and then later that she died. I couldn't sleep a wink all night. I remember that celebrities were calling in to the news station complaining about paparazzi. I specifically remember Tom Cruise calling in. Weird and surreal night.
ReplyDeleteThen, maybe a week later, the sad and somber funeral on TV. And Elton Johns tribute song to Diana. So so sad.
Put the kids to bed, sat down and turned on the TV at 8:50 pm. Dr Quinn Medicine Women was just finishing when there was a news scroll along the bottom that she was in a car accident. Switched to CNN (that was the only cable news station we had at that time) and watched the rest of the night. I was on NBC when Brian Williams announced she died. I was rather sad the next day and got up early the following Saturday to watch the funera.
ReplyDeleteI heard about the accident at my wedding reception.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary @bobbi!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I'm on my way to orlano for a 3 day vacay and no kids. Woo-hoo!!!
DeleteI had just finished watching Lost Highway with my best friend when his mother came in and told us Diana. Two random mindfucks in a row.
ReplyDeletei was 12 and making strawberry pancakes.. it was what... 9pm in California..? I was so very sad, i cried.. Such a huge loss.
ReplyDeleteI was in 6th grade. The teacher told us first thing and we had a somber day of stuff relating to England, people would tell their stories and memories. I cried, thinking about if I lost my mom the same way. She was such a beautiful woman.
ReplyDeleteI was with my family on a houseboat in Lake Powell. We didn't hear until the next day on the tiny little handheld radio when we were able to get some reception on it.
ReplyDeleteI was 12, so I didn't have much feeling about it at all.
ER...my daughter was having an asthma attack. The nurse came in and told me. (so sad)
ReplyDeleteWe were up at our cottage, my sister-in-law came and told us, I didn't believe it so I went and got a paper. I was devastated, thought really highly of her, love her children and will always wish them the best.
ReplyDeleteI was a huge, huge fan of Diana, and her death hit me very hard, for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI was on vacation at the time, visiting friends and family in LA. My cousins and I were just about to go out when the news bulletin came on. We ordered Chinese and sat on the couch watching CNN instead.
I cried like a huge baby watching her funeral.
Dumped by the girl i was in love with
ReplyDeleteI always remeber this bc I was watching snl and thought it was a skit!
ReplyDeleteI was 11, but I remember all of the media coverage. No celeb death has been such a big deal since her, not even Michael I think. It was everywhere. My grandma took it really hard. That one and JFK Jr's death.
ReplyDeleteI was at my friend's dad's house. We were on AOL, which was where we saw the news. We were immediately obsessed with the situation and followed it until the very early hours of the morning.
ReplyDeleteI was a preteen up at I believe it was 2 a.m. waiting for my sister to get home from partying so that I could open the door for her (this was before everyone had cell phones) when whatever I was watching was interrupted by the news of her crash and death. Didn't know much about her then but I certainly keep up with my gossip on the royals today
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I remember of the funeral is the letter with the word "mummy" cause I had no clue that was the british word for mom and how little harry and william were
DeleteI was a teenager working at Sweet Factory in the mall. I first heard from another mall employee who was about to start work and heard on his drive over. I had to wait until I got out at 9:30 before I could see any news coverage.
ReplyDeleteI saw it on tv right when they announced it because I had gone to a Dave Matthews show the night before and stayed overnight at my boyfriend at the time's place. It still feels like yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI was having an all-night chatfest on AOL on my brand new internets.
ReplyDeleteRandom fact the oldest woman in the world named bessie mae was alive for the birth and death of diana and literally everyone on this planet. She has seen the world evolve from cobblestone streets and men wearing top hats to the electronic world we have today. She's seen it all. I wish she would write a book. All the stories she could tell could school all of us.
ReplyDeleteI had insomnia and I heard it on the overnight news immediately and watched it all that night. Hard to believe.
ReplyDeleteSomething seemed strange about the first news reports of her being in an accident, so I went out (it was night) and picked up a Washington Post, which had the next day's edition with a side headline about the accident. It wasn't reported anywhere as a death at that point.
ReplyDeleteBy morning the Washington Post had come out with a later edition with the news.
My God -- that might well have been one of the last times I got two print editions, one early one later, of the same newspaper.
It was the same day my grandmother died. I was with a friend and he was consoling me when his mom called and told him about Princess Di.
ReplyDeleteBut, within that same month, I ran my first marathon and bought my first condo. It was a crazy Q3 for me!
I was driving through the west and was leaving New Mexico, somewhere near the Colorado border. There weren't any radio stations available, so when we heard one little blurb about the accident we spent the next three hours trying to find actual news. It was maddening--nobody on air was even mentioning it. We didn't get any more details until we stopped for the night.
ReplyDeleteI was week before giving birth. I loved Diana, watched her wedding all day long, bought the photo books of her on her honeymoon in Scotland while Charles wore a kilt, squirmed when Charles said "whatever love means" in their interview and remember the picture of her falling asleep in that dress at a dinner because she was pregnant with William. I stayed up all night hoping to she would be okay and then they started using the word "grave injuries". Her funeral happened while I was in the hospital with my son. Those pictures of William and Harry in the procession were so sad and I've never liked Camilla.
ReplyDeleteLiving in England and had just come in from a nightclub. It was around 3am and I turned the radio on while getting ready for bed. They announced the crash and that Dodi had died. I woke my mum up (I was 18, still living at home) to tell her and we had a chat in which we wondered whether Diana would need reconstructive surgery or anything like that.My Dad woke me later that morning to tell me Diana had died.
ReplyDeleteI've never before or since seen such an outpouring of grief as there was for Diana. It really kickstarted the monarchy into becoming modern.
RIP Diana. Prayers for her boys today - Wills and Harry.
ReplyDeleteI was dating my police officer at the time and we were hanging out at this classy VFW bar with a lot of old timers. The ex was former military. (not) fun times.
Sad day though. I can't believe it's been 15 yrs.
My neighbor told me Diana was in an accident and my first thought was "Oh she'll be fine, the media is blowing this all out of proportion" (Back then the poor woman couldn't go & workout in a gym without being photographed in unflattering positions thru the windows by the paps).
ReplyDeleteWhen she was pronounced dead all I could think of was her 2 little Princes...I was incredibly sad because my children where around the same age as her's at the time.
I was visiting my brother and his then fiance, now wife. We watched the news all morning.
ReplyDeleteI too was such a huge huge fan of Diana. She resonated with me because she proved that money & fame don't make you happy. Like a lot of you, I remember every step of her evolution from a mousy girl to being a terrific loving mother, her charities & being the most famous woman in the world. It seemed she died at her absolute peak; she finally seemed content, centered, and more beautiful than ever.
ReplyDeleteI bawled for the funeral too. The flowers thrown at the casket, SO many openly weeping in the street.
The card 'Mummy' and the little boys (so brave & poised) following the casket got me too.
They really did that funeral right with the WORLD watching, and despite the royals' disdain for her.
Thanks everyone for sharing the stories, I enjoyed them. I got a little teary remembering it all. I found out on the news, eventually it became obvious that she must be gone, and the waiting was so that the boys could be told. Still I lost my breath when the official word came.
As someone else said, I too will always have a soft spot for her sons.
I was living in Westwood and my husband and I had just pulled into a Sav-On drugstore on Sepulveda Blvd. The radio station interrupted music to announce that Diana had been in a horrific car crash in Paris. A few minutes later, they announced she and Dodi were dead.
ReplyDeleteWe just sat in the car, totally stunned. I started crying. It was awful.
Saw it on the TV the next morning.
ReplyDeleteWhile I felt bad for her children, Diana's death didn't impact me in any way. I watched the funeral, but that was it for me.
I got up at 4 am to watch Diana's funeral.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget when Diana's casket was passing by the Queen and as her casket was going away from the palace there was a woman who wailed Diana's name in the crowd with such anguish I just lost it, it was just gut wrenching to watch Prince William and Harry walking behind their mother's casket.
I was with my mother at her Vermont house, when my ex-husband came in telling us he just heard that Princess Diana was killed in a car crash. For some reason I remember it as being afternoon and I do know that when we turned on the TV she was in fact still alive at the time.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, my ex was coming back from one of his "secret" dope drives (holyoke, ma to vt, and secret b/c junkies never think anyone knows what they're up to) and we (my mom and I) assumed at first that he was just high. So, it was a sad reality check when we found out that she was in fact in a terrible accident as was when we found out that she had, passed on to the otherside.
It was my first day at a new store; my best friend woke me up after I ignored the alarm clock. She said, "Princess Diana died." I liked her after she dumped Prince Charles. I'm glad that her kids have turned out to be *normal.* Yes, even partying it up in Vegas is normal!
ReplyDeleteI was shocked by both Princess Di's and JFK, Jr's deaths. They're my age or near. I miss seeing current photos of JFK out and about, looking as fine as fine can be! And, it helped that he seemed to be a decent guy, too.
When I think of Diana it is this photo that sticks with me. Sorry I don't know how to make it clicky!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Z9X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1440&bih=750&tbm=isch&tbnid=R34BnZzcJQ3-MM:&imgrefurl=http://www.people.com/people/package/gallery/0,,20395222_20504905_20980437,00.html&imgurl=http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2011/specials/diana/iconic/princess-diana-5-435.jpg&w=435&h=580&ei=eRBBUJL_NKPmiwLHhYHwDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=168&vpy=109&dur=2053&hovh=259&hovw=194&tx=80&ty=118&sig=115838407953299221354&page=1&tbnh=118&tbnw=89&start=0&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:73
It was Sunday morning, and I had just gotten out of bed and went and picked up my L.A. Times to read with breakfast. I opened the paper, and there was a beautiful photo of Diana. I assumed she was coming to Los Angeles for some charity event. Then I saw the headlines: Princess Diana Dead. I screamed (to no one), "Turn on CNN!" I watched the news reports for the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteOh and I was a huge Diana fan. I remember how my music theory teacher was so enamored of her. We were the same age almost and I watched her weddding. That was the only time I ever thought about being a princess. She was so universally loved. It always happens to the best ones..An early exit tragically.
ReplyDeleteI was on vacation with my then GF's family. We returned to our room and saw it on the news. I think the report interrupted Jeopardy, or something.
ReplyDeleteI was sitting on the floor reading the paper back to front. After seeing the second half of the article covering the accident, that was the last time I did that.
ReplyDeleteI was dozing on the couch with SNL on. I woke to see an anchor I didn't recognize announcing her death.
ReplyDeleteGroggy as I was, I kept waiting for the punchline, as I was sure it was some sort of SNL skit. Then I woke up more and realized that it wasn't a skit, that it had actually happened.
My first coherent thought was "damn, they got her".
I had just gotten married and returned from the weirdest honeymoon ever. Was married to a military history professor, so we went to Germany and visited scenic battlegrounds and even Dachau. I still say if I ever write a memoir, I'll have a chapter called Honeymoon in Dachau. (Yes, it was horrible and nauseating, and heartbreaking. And on a honeymoon!) Anyway, we returned home and I was up at 4:00 am due to jet lag and turned on the tv. I was stunned. I wept for her and her boys. I agree with someone else here that I have never cried so much for someone I didn't know, except for Casey Anthony. Such a weird time...
ReplyDeleteIf any of you were watching the television coverage between the time of her accident and the time they announced her death, you would have heard Tom Cruise calling in. He was complaining about how aggressive the paps were and that it should be against the law to be chased like that.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I found it odd that he did the whole MI5 display picking up Suri and zooming away for all to see. At that time, Tom Cruise was likeable, not crazy (that we knew of).
This is the story I always tell about the incident. Still makes me laugh.
ReplyDeleteMy son had been sleeping all day (typical teenager on summer break) and missed the continuous TV coverage. He came down to dinner, the TV was on, and he heard the news. He looked at us and said, OMG, Princess Diana died? and his little sister looked at him and with all sincerity said, Yes. She died while being chased by Pavarotti on a motorcycle.
That's cute!
DeleteWoke up early Sunday morning, the clock radio went off, to the news; when I heard it. I ran downstairs to watch it on tv, because I wanted it confirmed.
ReplyDeleteNow to date myself; I remember sitting in the classroom, when we were told Princess Grace died.
I don't recall where I was when I found out, but I recall her funeral the following weekend. I was working for a news gathering organization and was paid to watch certain news programs at home and basically regurgitate what was on into their software and upload it. They advised us that they were not interested in the funeral at all but to document it and they would still pay us. So I got paid to type the news show beginning and end time and "Lady Diana's Funeral" and that was it. It was the easiest job I ever did but was also the most depressing as I had to watch broadcast after broadcast of the funeral.
ReplyDeleteI woke up the next morning and went to fetch the NYT from outside my apartment door. That's how I heard about it. I screamed "Jesus!!!" and ran to connect to AOL even as I was reading the Times.
ReplyDeleteIt was the first time I realized that the Internet had replaced print media. I needed more up-to-date info than a dead tree could provide.
It's tragic that she died so young, and just when she'd finally found a haircut that flattered her.
I called in sick to work so I could watch her wedding. When I showed up the next day, my male boss dourly informed me that 90% of the women in the office had done the same thing.
It was a week before I got married. Her funeral coverage was the day of.
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered if people botched about missing watching the funeral. Hubs has some real quality folks in his extended family, IYKWIM.
That should be bitched. Stupid auto correct.
ReplyDeleteAs for her death, I didn't cry, but I was shocked.
ReplyDeleteI had a lump in my throat when I watched part of the funeral and saw the boys. Whatever her faults were, she loved those boys more than anything.
I remember the news ticker on one of the 24/7 news channels my dad used to watch, reading: "Lady Diana has been killed in Paris car crash." I was 16 or 17, so I was at home at the time. She seemed like a woman who never figured out how to really be happy and enjoy her life, and for that I felt a surprising amount of sadness towards her death, and also my heart broke for her kids. She seemed as though she was finally growing into who she was, and her life might have vastly improved (for her emotional state) if she had lived.
ReplyDeleteI woke up to it at 4:30 am on the news. Back then I always went to sleep w the tv on(I live alone).I had.it on CBS and the first thing i saw was the live video of the crumpled car, and the caption saying "Princess Diana Dead"
ReplyDeleteOk I hardly ever post but have to on this one....came home after a night out (in high school at the time) was high on special K cuz yes that was a thing and literally turned on the tv took like an hour to comprehend what was going on and called my friend (also high) to ask if this was really happening
ReplyDeleteOk I hardly ever post but have to on this one....came home after a night out (in high school at the time) was high on special K cuz yes that was a thing and literally turned on the tv took like an hour to comprehend what was going on and called my friend (also high) to ask if this was really happening
ReplyDelete@reecespieces. in Re: to JFK jr.....I am a HUGE carolyn bessette fan....HUGE (in fact here's a funny little tidbit, CBK and my older brother went to the same catholic hs, and get this, the headmaster was busted for getting child porn in the mail. Nice, huh? and no, he was not a priest. a young "fam" man).....anyway, I too remember when that plane went down. My heart sank. She was such a class act, CBK. Still to this day, no one even comes close to her.
ReplyDelete//I like to believe what my ex-husband said about that, that they found some homeless ppl, one with a broken leg, etc, to be stand ins for their bodies and that the three of them jfk, CBK and her sister are on some far off place living a "normal" life, far from prying eyes. It's a far fetched fantasy which I like to believe :)
I was bartending in a country club, and had worked the night she got injured, and the morning after she died. I thought it was tragic, but it didn't affect me.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I thought was really sweet, though- One of the cooks I worked with was this quintessential Harley Dude. Big guy, longer hair, big handlebar mustache, tattoos on both arms. Not exactly a stranger to the occasional night in jail. He wasn't totally bad news or anything; he was rough around the edges, but really nice.
I was closing up the morning shift and he came in to work for the evening shift. His eyes were all puffy, his face was red, he'd obviously been crying. He went straight to his station, set up a candle and lit it, and propped a picture of Princess Di up on it. Wouldn't talk to anyone all night.
Goes to show you never know who affects people.
I had just given birth about a month previously, and I was watching something on TV, feeding my baby, when the news about Princess Diana's accident came on.
ReplyDeleteI started crying, as I had always been an admirer of hers. I was thinking about her sons also, and how lucky I was to have had mine pull through his difficulties.
Diana would have been so proud of her sons. She would have loved Kate.
I cannot stand that opportunistic skank, Camilla.
@Omama...I like to indulge in a fantasy like that, too...they're with Jim Morrison! ;)
ReplyDelete@Alex...I started working midnights when this happened and my co-worker was a heroin addict. Her lovely friends set up a shrine to Princess Di; had that thing up for months and would toast to Princess Diana. These were pretty scummy guys and it was actually endearing to see.
I was watching it on the news. I was trying to figure out if I should leave my then husband. I did.
ReplyDeleteI sad snorting a massive amount of coke --- & when I saw it on "breaking news", I instantly thought: Prince Charles had something to do with it......it Camilla. bye
ReplyDelete"I was".....not sad....Sorry!
DeleteI was moving to Vegas at the time, and didn't hear until I went into my new job after Labor Day. It was horrible!
ReplyDeleteI was in the midst of moving back to Boston after 8.5 years in GA; apparently I was flying US Air over the east coast w/my cat Jezebel in a teeny carrier under the seat in front of me when everything was happening. One of my new roommates met us at the airport, and we got back to the house just before my friends Julia & Cassie arrived w/the U-Haul w/all my worldly possessions. It was late, and we were exhausted, so we all just passed out on couches around the living room, until about 9 AM the next morning, when the phone rang--it was one of Julia's friends calling: "Did you hear about Princess Diana?" So we ran over, turned on the TV, and I spent the rest of the day watching it, when we weren't hauling my stuff into the house.
ReplyDeleteOn a purely trivial level, I remember being very aggravated that I was still off-line at that point, since I knew the whole thing would be blowing up online, esp. on alt.showbiz.gossip (yes, kids, I remember Usenet...). And then Mother Theresa died a few days later, and things got even weirder. (I've always wondered if the shock of Diana's death was what put Mother Theresa over the edge; the latter had been ill for some time, and they did know each other.)
I don't recall actually crying myself, but I do remember being terribly sad for Wills and Harry, and also for Elton John--Gianni Versace had been murdered almost exactly 6 weeks before (on my birthday), and there had been a picture on the front page of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution of Elton and Diana together at the funeral, with him looking totally devastated and her upset but trying to comfort him...and there he was, 7 weeks after that, trying to keep it together during his performance at her funeral. *sigh* (I honestly didn't think he'd be able to make it all the way through the song without falling apart; it must have taken every ounce of willpower he ever possessed to keep going.)
I was a project manager on a highway project. Had driven down to observe the night shift while they paved. Had started driving back home, and heard the breaking news that she had been seriously injured in a car accident. I remember later hearing that she had died.
ReplyDeleteFrom that night on I have always worn a seat belt. She'd be alive now if she'd been wearing one.
@ Ramone Love: Thank you for posting that. ITA. In fact, I remember a heated discussion about the papparazi on AOL, and I posted something like, "Wear your seat belt and don't get into a car with a driver who is drunk."
ReplyDeleteIt's still valid advice 15 years later. Wear the darned seat belt, folks.
I was working overnights, and for the first time at that job, I had overslept. I don't know what happened with my alarm clock, and when my phone rang repeatedly I was dreaming I was answering it but I was still sleeping. Eventually, I realized the phone was real and not a dream and I answered it all groggy. My co-worker informed me I was late for work, and I was trying to get my head together as to how I overslept and whether I was awake enough to get up and ready. My co-worker then told me princess Diana had been killed in a car accident and that woke me up in a hurry! When I got to work, they were just announcing her death, so he may have told me the news before it was confirmed. I turned on CNN and heard Tom Cruise call in about the paparatzi; I don't even know if I knew the word before then.
ReplyDeleteThat co-worker died in a traffic accident about ten years later.
I was in Mexico city and struggling to understand what was going on with my limited grasp of Spanish. It was all very Surreal, and very sad. One of my most vivid childhood memories was watching her wedding. It was as if i were watching a fairy tail come to life, and for it to turn into such an unhappy ending is heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI remember it so well. Recently divorced-I was out drinking and dancing with friends Dan, Chris and Lori. Lori was a huge diana fan and we saw it on the tv's in the bar. Eventually the music stopped and everyone watched. We left and Lori and i went to my apt, and sat on my couch wrapped in blankets the whole night/morning watching the coverage and crying. Her boyfriend ended up giving her a diana replica ring (real) as her engagement ring too a few years later.
ReplyDeletei heard it on the radio and didn't care then and still don't.
ReplyDeleteKilled by "Pavarotti on a motorcycle". Priceless.At least your child was recognizing Italian words!
ReplyDeleteI was shopping for tv's in an electronic store, I was riveted to the constant news and hoping she was alive and not really dead...I believed that for hours!
ReplyDeleteI loved her and stayed up to watch her and Charles get married.
RIP forever Diana
I was in Old Orchard Beach Maine.... The guy I was seeing was the love of my life (at the time! LOL)... I was 19, bout ready to start school up again, and had flown from Michigan to Boston and did the mini vacation.. We were in a souvenier shop and saw the blip on the little 6" b&w TV in the store... Went to the hotel to see it on TV..
ReplyDeleteI still have a pic outside the British consulate in Boston of all the flowers.
my bff and i were pregnant. VERY hormonal. she was living about 700 miles away, and called to tell me that princess di had been in a moped accident. we were laughing at the dorky-ness. then she called and said it was serious. we stayed on the phone talking and worrying and when the tv said she was dead we were both so amped up we were about hysterical, ctying through snot bubbles and trying to talk. our husbands thought we were nuts.
ReplyDeleteA seat-belt won't work if you're murdered.
ReplyDeleteI said at the time that the one person in the limo who survived was the one person wearing a seatbelt, and people thought I was somehow being "disrepectful to her memory" and it was "too soon" to say things like that. The truth is the truth. If she had been wearing a seatbelt, she may have survived (because head trauma killed her after she initially survived the accident). And if the conspiracists are right and it was "murder," if she had been wearing a seatbelt and survived, the people after her would have had to have done something more overt, and there would be no lingering doubt as to whether or not it was "planned that way."
ReplyDeleteSeatbelts yes. Drinking chauffeurs, no.
Whatever.
DeleteIt was a Sunday morning - I went out to get the Sunday paper off the sidewalk and there was a huge picture of Diana on the front cover and I don't remember the large headline but it did mention she was dead. I literally thought I was looking at a joke. I was stunned - absolutely stunned.
ReplyDeleteI was woken up by a friend after being asleep for a couple of days (Meth), and he told me.. It was crazy.. We watched it on TV the rest of of the day.
ReplyDeleteI was in college. I watched the coverage for hours. I for some reason chose to write an English paper about the paparazzi who caused the accident. Still makes me sad thinking about her.
ReplyDelete