As the hearse carrying Princess Diana's lead coffin passed, a figure dressed in black bowed its head.
This marked the first and only time in Queen Elizabeth's life to bow to another person in public – a violation of royal rules.
According to the Sun, the Queen's move was not only the monarch's recognition of Diana, but also the queen's recognition of her people's demands.
After Princess Diana's death on August 31, 1997, the monarchy changed completely.
The whole country was devastated, and the queen was so angry in the face of the people's grief that she had to hold back.
The people were skeptical of her and Prince Philip's apparent indifference, especially at Buckingham Palace, which did not even lower the flag to half-mast.
Probably for the Queen, all of a sudden, her priority was to be William and Harry's grandmother, not to put her feelings first.
Still, in the face of boiling public resentment, she decided to deliver a solemn televised address and walked out of Buckingham Palace to join the crowd that had gathered to watch Diana's coffin go to Westminster Abbey – and she bowed her head in salute.
On the day of Princess Diana's accident, the first person to know the information was the Queen, and at 4:15 a.m., the bad news of Princess Diana's death came from Paris, and as a grandmother, the Queen first thought of Diana's sons.
William was 15 and Harry was 12, and both were asleep. The queen decided not to wake them up immediately and ordered the staff not to turn on the TV or radio in case they heard any sound, and hid all the newspapers.
Just after 7 a.m., she asked Prince Charles to wake them up and inform them of their mother's death.
It would be an hour before a distraught Charles met with the Queen and decided their next move.
For the original intention of the two people, in fact, there is no unified statement, full of speculation.
It is said that despite his divorce in 1992 and the feelings of his two children, Charles was determined to go to Paris to bury Diana's body and bring her home with dignity.
But the Queen thought it was more important for him to stay in Scotland with her sons, that Diana was no longer a member of the royal family, and that she was with another man at the time of the accident, and how far the royal family should have avoided such a complicated situation.
Just then, a royal staff member interrupted her and said, "Queen, would you be willing to take the body of the Princess of Wales home in a Harold van?" ”
This was something the Queen had not expected, her cold reaction to Diana's death had aroused people's rebellion and anger against the monarchy, and she did not expect that this would not be the last dissatisfaction of the people, and the royal family's behavior was destined to be wrapped up in public opinion.
In the end, Charles got his wish, and finally hardened up, despite the objections of his mother Queen Elizabeth, used a plane to take Diana's body back to England, and took out the specifications of the Queen Mother to conduct a funeral for his ex-wife.
The above statement seems romantic, but according to the autobiography of former British Prime Minister Blair, the original appearance of the matter is much more brutal:
Originally, Prince Charles did not intend to attend the funeral of his ex-wife Diana, but Blair "suggested" to the Queen of England that at this time, the "fragile" side of the British royal family should be shown at this funeral, and the advantage of this is to continue to win the support of the British people.
The royal family, as well as Prince Charles himself, had to reconsider their attitude towards the matter, and on 6 September, Princess Diana's funeral, Buckingham Palace lowered her flag to half-mast.
However, considering that Prince Charles himself has offended the public anger, if he comes forward, it is bound to cause dissatisfaction among the people who sent him off, and even lead to the occurrence of extreme behavior, in order not to disgrace the royal family, they pulled out the two underage princes, let the two children also go to the public together to send off the mother, and let the children carry out the "weakness" part.
In fact, William did not want to be exposed to his mother's funeral in public, but was reluctantly agreed to attend after being "persuaded" by the elders of the royal family that this was his mother's last wish.
So, William followed Diana's coffin with his father, essentially being his father's shield.
William understood very well that his father Charles was not concerned about his mother's death, and his grandfather Prince Philip was also unusually calm about this tragic event, but as a prince, the code of conduct and fate of his life had long been written.
Walking behind his mother's coffin was the most complicated and painful and helpless moment in Prince William's life.
Later, William confessed: "I don't understand why this kind of thing happened to me, is it something I did wrong?" And at the time my mother had just died, and I was asked to follow in front of the camera in full view, which I thought was a kind of damage to the soul, and even now, children should not be asked to do this. ”
We especially remember that at the wedding that year, Princess Anna wore a Spencer headdress, wore an ivory white wedding dress with an 8-meter-long tail, and bowed her knees to the queen, and she was happy.
The Queen, who should not bow to anyone, also bowed to Princess Diana's coffin as it passed through the gates of Buckingham Palace, the only time the Queen bowed to an individual in public.
At this moment, the souls of the Queen and Diana have met in the sky, without the shackles of the "Holy Spirit Standard" and without the burden of "royal dignity", they can finally move forward lightly.
-END-
Ref：
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/queen-elizabeth-death-touching-reason-for-queens-protocol-breach/WRGLYIACPTX2ERRP5I6ECYGWXM/
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