The Shrine Modern Times

PEOPLE CHATTER

It isn't real. I think I'm dreaming that I'm here.

And you'll wake up at home and Diana's alive...

I heard about the flowers but never dreamt it would be like this.

That one person can command all this love and affection is...

You can't take it all in.

I was thinking,

"When the flowers die, how are they going to move them?"

Cos there's masses of them!

I've been wandering around for just over an hour,

and when you came along I was saying a prayer to world peace,

because I was thinking about Mother Teresa dying as well.

And I was thinking that I hope that the death of Princess Diana

really has a meaning for people

and they think about the changes they need to make in their lives,

and that they don't always look outwards

and think others have to do things.

Everybody can make a contribution.

You see all these people building shrines, sitting there in silence.

They're thinking very deeply.

And something like this, it transcends religion.

And there's an Indian called Sai Baba,

who says there's only one religion - the religion of love.

I think that's reflected here today.

LOW CHANTING

CHANTS

BIG BEN STRIKES

On the 19th of May '94,

I was actually homeless, sleeping round Hyde Park,

Regent's Park, that area.

And some gentleman decided that, in his wisdom,

he didn't like homeless people

so he wanted to beat me up. I ran off and he set his dog on me.

I jumped over the bridge there and ended up in the water.

Princess Diana had been out running and she stopped...

She saw what happened and she stopped the car

and, er...gave me some assistance.

I went to hospital. She came to visit me in hospital, gave me £5,

and then, afterwards, she got her staff to actually speak

to the Social Work Department,

and now, thanks to her, I've got a place in Hammersmith in London.

I can't explain it. It's like losing a best friend.

Because, as I say, if it hadn't have been for her,

I wouldn't have been alive today.

It's my birthday this month, my 40th birthday,

and it's only thanks to her that I'm seeing that 40th birthday

and I have, as I say, got a roof over my head.

The most profound impression here -

it sounds strange for a radio journalist to say this -

but it is of silence,

silence that speaks so much of what this nation feels.

MUSIC: "The Death Of Jazz" by Winton Marsalis

The impression that I have was it wasn't going to be

a state funeral because that wasn't Diana.

But it was going to be a family funeral in which the general public

could pay their respects.

But the sun was shining for Diana.

At the end of the day, the sun was shining for her.

JAMES NAUGHTIE ON RADIO: ..The coffin making its gentle, dignified way

down Constitution Hill

to the place where they wait, led by the monarch, the Queen... FADES AWAY

CHURCH BELL TOLLS

-DAVID DIMBLEBY:

-'And so the coffin's nearing the final stages

'of its journey to the abbey.'

HORSE NEIGHS

'And still Prince William, with head hung,

'walking next to his grandfather.

'Prince Harry on his father's right and Charles Spencer in the centre.'

HELICOPTER DRONES

MUSIC: "Improvisation On Organ" by Martin Baker

'And the coffin

'enters the final stages

'of this long and moving journey...

'..to Westminster Abbey.'

TOM FLEMING: 'The Collegiate Body turns to face eastward,

'and, led by the Beadle

'and Master of the Choristers, Mr Martin Neary,

'who has arranged the music for this whole service...'

SINGING '..and by the choir who sing now the familiar funeral sentences

'in a setting by William Croft, who was organist here in the abbey

'from 1708 to 1727,

'the slow procession through the nave begins.

'"I am the resurrection and the life," saith the Lord.

' "I know that my Redeemer liveth."

'"The Lord gave... and the Lord hath taken away."'

CHOIR SINGS

'I stand here before you today the representative of a family in grief,

'in a country in mourning, before a world in shock.

'We're all united not only in our desire to pay our respects to Diana,

'but rather in our NEED to do so.

'For such was her extraordinary appeal,

'that tens of millions of people

'taking part in this service all over the world, who never met her,

'feel that they too lost someone close to them

'in the early hours of Sunday morning.

'It is a more remarkable tribute

'to Diana that I can ever hope to offer her today.'

There is a temptation to rush to canonise your memory.

There is no need to do so.

You stand tall enough as a human being of unique qualities

to not need to be seen as a saint.

The last time I saw Diana was on July 1st,

her birthday, in London,

when, typically, she was not taking time to celebrate

her special day with friends,

but was guest of honour at a fund-raising charity evening.

She was looking for a new direction in her life at this time.

She talked endlessly of getting away from England,

mainly because of the treatment she received from the newspapers.

I don't think she ever understood why her genuinely good intentions

were sneered at by the media - why there appeared to be

a permanent quest on their behalf to bring her down.

She would want us to pledge ourselves to protecting her beloved boys -

William and Harry -

from a similar fate, and I do this here, Diana, on your behalf.

We will not allow them to suffer

the anguish that used to regularly drive you to tearful despair.

CROWD CLAPS

Beyond that, on behalf of your mother and sisters,

I pledge that we, your blood family,

will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way

in which you were steering these two exceptional young men,

so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition,

but can sing openly as you planned.

I end by thanking God for the small mercies he's shown us at this time,

for taking Diana at her most beautiful and radiant,

and when she had joy in her private life.

Above all, we give thanks for the life of a woman

I'm so proud to be able to call my sister...

the unique, complex, extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana,

whose beauty, internal and external,

will never be extinguished from our minds.

APPLAUSE

TOM FLEMING: Charles, Earl Spencer.

And spontaneous applause breaks out in Westminster Abbey.

I've never heard that before.

CHOIR: "Alleluia! Song For Athena" by John Tavener

'For one minute, the whole nation keeps silence.'

ABBEY CHURCH BELLS RING

'The silence ends

'and the half-muffled bells of Westminster Abbey

'ring out their quarter peal

'across an unusually still London.

'You shared your life with us.

'God give to you eternal life.

'You gave your time to us. God give you his eternity.

'You gave your love to us. God give you his unending love.

'You gave your light to us. God shed anew his perpetual light.

'Into the sadness and smiles of our memories, we let you go.

'Now, with you, we lay down what is past, and look to the future.'

MUSIC: "Offering" by Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass

We were walking up, and it must have been a good half-mile away

the fragrance hit us.

And, er...

I think we both stood looking at the flowers, crying,

because it really hits home,

all the people who've brought flowers and what she means.

So many are left feeling like you are today, and it is such

a sensitive place, here, I think.

It's one of those scenes you want to hold in.

You've to stand there so you've got it for the rest of your life.

What's surprised me is how quiet everyone's been.

In the build-up when the procession was going through, it was so quiet.

Nobody moved. It was like that for a few hours before the procession hit

your area. Afterwards, nobody moved.

Everyone was in their own world thinking about Diana.

I think her imperfections was what made her so perfect.

The fact that she shared that, that's what made her whole.

You put the humanity and compassion with that,

and it was just a complete picture.

She wasn't trying to be a saint. She was just a human being.

I lost my mother when I was 15,

so, in some ways I suppose,

for this week it's been a selfish emotion as well,

in that I can grieve, and it has been for Diana, there's no doubt,

but you can go through the processes

you didn't go through at that time because you were protecting others.

It's made you more sensitive to William and Harry.

That was the age me and my brother were more or less at,

and we didn't even share it with each other because we wanted

to protect each other from it.

And it does hit you.

And I'm very grateful to Diana for that,

and that must be the case for a lot of other people.

MUSIC: "Offering" by Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass

SOMEONE WEEPS NOISILY

I was quite surprised. In the crowd,

you know what men are, they'll be all right, and the girls will cry.

But the men started weeping

as soon as the coffin came off round Parliament Square.

And they were weeping all the time.

Well, it's from watching television.

One couple had come from Rochdale and the lady had just an open blazer.

I asked her, "What you going to do, love?" And she said,

"Oh, I'll be all right."

Somebody brought some bread trays and they sat on them all night.

They didn't look fit. Her husband had had open-heart surgery.

I said, "He's quiet, isn't he, love?

She said, "Yeah, he's had open-heart surgery."

-She dragged him down here!

-No wonder he was quiet.

-But it was worth it.

-Have you been here long?

-Er... Only since about ten last night.

What time did we get here? Well, we left Derby about half seven....

..so a few hours.

What time is it?

(Ten... 24... 28...)

30 hours.

Got to come. Just have to, I don't know why.

It's not only a piece of history, it's a piece of you.

Something in your heart's telling you to come here.

Oh, I don't know. It's just so sad. The feeling in the air is incredible.

Anything you ever said that was derogatory towards her

just feels total and utter guilt.

And a lot of people are feeling that now.

And do you know what else does me?

When you look at the Royal Family going round meeting the crowds,

what member of the Royal Family doesn't wear gloves?

There ain't one I've seen that shakes the hands of the people.

It's so rare. She didn't care.

She kissed the cheeks. She... Do you know what I mean?

I seen her picture on the news the other day, and she was in India,

a doctor had pulled a lady's shoe off - she would have been about 60.

He was showing Diana the cracks on her feet from dermatitis,

and Diana was rubbing her hands down this Indian lady's feet.

And who would do that?

Would you see the Queen do it to anybody...of any origin?

She wouldn't do it. None of them would.

It just... No colour divide, no sex divide, no ability divide,

just love for everybody.

Me dad wants to go home and me mum doesn't. They've just gone off there.

They're not very happy, cos she wants to stay and he wants to go.

And they won't leave me here,

but she'll probably have to end up agreeing with him, like mothers do,

and they'll probably drag me away sometime this evening or tomorrow.

I don't want to go home. I don't want to leave it.

I'm the same as everybody else. I'm nothing special.

Everybody feels it. Everybody's here and they just wish she was in there.

When she was in there last night,

the strangest feeling overcame everybody that was here.

Every person that walked up to that fence cried.

Not one person wasn't absolutely devastated.

I want to stay here. I don't want to go home.

It's stupid, innit?

Look at everybody. I know you all feel the same.

No-one wants to leave it.

I don't want to go home and I'm going to have to go home tomorrow.

We can't camp out here for the rest of our lives, can we?

MUSIC: "For Arinushka, Upon Regaining Her Health" by Arvo Part

It's like an extraordinary love story.

Young girl becomes a princess, marries the man who'll be king.

It falls apart, she find a new love and they die in each other's arms.

It's... You know, you'd write it,

you'd never sell it, would you? I mean...

You were saying you photographed lots of wars.

Yes, nearly all the wars since Vietnam.

The one war, I suppose,

that strangely reminds me of this is Rwanda,

where there were as many bodies in Rwanda in fields

as there are flowers here.

And it strangely reminds me of it.

And the strange quiet silence.

People just almost lost in their own thoughts.

Although there's horrible things going on around them,

here people just stare and read the messages.

There's a sort of quiet madness about it. It's quiet hysteria.

If you wanted to be cynical, you'd ask how many dialysis machines

can you buy with all these flowers.

They're paying £5, £10 out there to pick up some flowers

and then put them down here.

It's like throwing money away.

That money could be better employed and help other people survive.

But then I'm just being practical

on a subject that's not open to that sort of approach.

She did a lot of good work, particularly on mines.

I've seen a lot of victims of those, especially children, over 30 years.

It's just appalling,

and it's children who become victims very quickly -

run into the fields, playing.

I'm getting to the point

I don't want to see more children in pain, because they're so...

What she did there was very good.

But she was no saint. She played away from home like her own husband.

So, I don't like this deity business about it all.

Of course, I'm just old and cynical.

The first thing I did when I went for a paper

was see if she was on the front page.

I'd say, "Here she is again..."

-Can't leave her alone.

-We didn't want to know her private life...

-No.

..as long as we saw her going about doing things.

I don't think anybody knew just what she did do till now.

And, well, the press just put her down all the time.

Now it's the princes we've got to think of more now.

Just hope that they get the love their mum tried to give them.

She did, didn't she? Big cuddles she used to give when she met them.

-I don't think anybody will forget that day.

-No...

-You've just come down?

-I've just arrived.

But it's my third trip down here since she died.

-Why do you keep coming?

-I've been coming here since I was five.

I used to live in Queensway and fish for sticklebacks

in the Round Pond.

But I came the first time to see the scene

and then I was surprised at how moved and taken I was by it.

I didn't actually expect this reaction to hit me, if you like.

I think it was the... just the, just the group energy.

It just felt a really valuable experience

to come here and share this.

It's... It's poignant and powerful and, er...tragic

and it's all these sort of major emotions wrapped up into one.

And it's also a...a greater loss

than I thought I'd ever imagine that I would perceive it to be.

It took her death for me to realise how much I valued her presence

as the only woman of prominence on the world stage

expressing womanly emotion.

I was amazed, watching on TV, the self-control of the crowds

and the absence of police to hold the crowds back.

I remember my brother telling me

that when he was at the only sort of funeral of comparable significance

in my recent history -

that was the funeral of Kennedy -

that was one of the things

that made him decide not to live in America,

because the crowd was just rapacious and horrendous,

and had they not been held back forcibly by police

they'd have torn the coffin apart.

And the contrast with England was just very impressive,

to see the respect and the restraint and the, er...

I don't know, just the purity of the emotions.

Everything that happens is life-changing,

so I suppose this is,

but I...I couldn't sort of say it's changed me in one way or another,

but everything does.

It's made me realise the importance of love

more than I used to, I suppose.

-Carla.

-Yeah.

-Look. "We are glad you both found happiness together

"in your final days together, and you'll be together forever."

Aw-w-w.

I heard the news about Princess Diana's death

on Sunday morning at church.

And completely...

I just couldn't really take it. I couldn't...

A lady put her arm round my shoulders and I felt

the presence of God come down on me.

And I just very gently lay on the floor for over two-and-a-half hours.

And the presence of God was so strong on me that I could hardly get up,

even after everyone went home.

And then I had to turn over on my hands and knees

and push myself up off the floor.

Then I just felt I had to come on the Tuesday

on behalf of the church that I go to.

And...I gave... I made a card for her.

It said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,

"and I will give you rest."

I think the burden of Princess Diana...

I felt all of what she was receiving from people.

At the actual passing of the coffin, my breath just went away.

And I just felt

I've got to control myself, because everybody was quiet,

but I just felt like screaming, "Oh, God!"

because the loss is so great.

Just looking at all these people round here just shows how much

each individual has lost in her going.

MUSIC: "String Quartet No 5" by Philip Glass

BELLS TINKLE

We came down on Thursday night

and camped out opposite Westminster Abbey so we'd get a good view,

and that was just such a lovely funeral, but heartbreaking.

It was just so good that we were fortunate enough to be down there.

And then when that finished we came up here to Kensington Palace

and all these little shrines that have been made up.

We've slept down there and spent all the days down there.

And we've adopted it as our shrine.

And everyone that comes round -

"What do you think of our shrine?" We're so proud of it, aren't we?

It's like a vigil. We feel like pilgrims, don't we?

Cos we've suffered so much pain -

not real pain, but like we're hurt.

Our backs are killing us, our feet are killing us, our behinds are killing us,

our heads are killing us.

Really bad headaches because of lack of sleep. We're eating stale food -

three-day-old sandwiches and things.

I think, "At least I might be losing a bit of weight."

I lost both parents

within three-and-a-half years of one another.

They were 70, 71. My dad first and then my mum.

But my mum has been gone eight years now and I feel they're both here

with me. I just know they are. I just know it.

Definitely, they're here with me

and they're looking after me and they're enjoying...

Well, no. Enjoying is the wrong word.

They're experiencing the same emotions that I am. They're here now.

Away from this area, it is quite cold out there.

But in here it's warm -

that's the warmth of the spirits around us, millions of them.

It's not just our loved ones' spirits, it's everybody around,

their relatives' spirits.

They're all here. I know that. I can feel it.

They're here now. I...

It's gone cold now. Did you feel that cold wind?

Did you feel it? Everything's blowing.

They're letting us know they're here.

MUSIC: "Hat And Beard" by Eric Dolphy

'This is the entrance only.'

Exits are further down on the right.

It made me sick, her going away so quick in that car,

so quick to get back to her holiday at Balmoral.

Poor girl wasn't even buried then.

I'd be starting a riot, I would.

I feel so bitter against the royals now. I really do.

I do. I feel really bitter.

Captain Mark Phillips was at Westminster Cathedral.

He was one of Diana's friends.

He was divorced from one of the royals, and he advised Diana...

Mark Phillips was Diana's husband at one time. ..Not Diana's - Anne's.

-But he was at the cathedral.

-Yeah.

Because he helped Diana with things because he had experienced divorce.

He got in touch with her.

-I rather like him. He's never said anything against...

-No.

-No.

REPORTER: The feeling here seems to be that...

The feeling here seems to be you can

sweep away the flowers but mourning for Princess Diana will continue.

The organisers are anxious everyone,

the millions who have come here from across the world

to lay their tributes - their poems, their messages...

Sorry.

Once again.

You're facing the wrong way, aren't you?

Not facing the wrong way. This is where all the people are!

Do you mean looking at all these old flowers?! We're watching the people,

and it's very interesting.

Well, London's a melting pot, isn't it? Everybody knows that.

So there's everything.

Every nationality, every colour, every type of person altogether.

Oh, no, it's great. We enjoy it.

We hope... We hope we'll come again many times. Don't we?

It seems so un-English, all this lot that's been taking place.

And I would... Of course, reasoning it out,

she was very beautiful - exquisitely beautiful -

which, of course, is a riveting idea.

And then to be cut off at the age of 36...

I think people are SO shocked

at the horror of it all that that's what's sent them haywire.

I would think so.

SIREN WAILS

I'm just taking notes.

I started an overall picture, but it wasn't working,

so I started to write down details I'm observing, like the palace.

I want to get a sense of the crowd.

I think people have long felt that traditional buildings - palaces -

had nothing much to do with them, and these old gates,

which seem to represent monarchy,

something distant from the general people,

they're shoving teddy bears and hearts and flags and everything

on them and making them their own somehow.

It's like a peaceful revolution, like the Berlin Wall coming down.

When I bought some flowers, I felt a bit embarrassed.

I said to a friend of mine that I want to take some flowers down

and they said, "You're being very honest." But actually buying and putting them down

made me feel I was contributing to something,

standing up for goodness again.

It's like a ritual. I think there's a great lack of ritual

in our modern society.

It's also something beautiful and valuable been taken away.

That's a shock for anybody, a tragedy.

It's got mythic...

I think she's an archetypal figure for people -

that goddess being snatched away.

Certain individuals have moved thousands of people to do things.

It's how Jesus started. He was made a martyr. He was killed too young.

They built a religion round him. It's how religions start.

MUSIC: "Mad Rush" by Philip Glass

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail, Mary, full of grace the Lord is with thee.

Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now,

and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

I believe in God the Father Almighty creator of Heaven and Earth

and in Jesus Christ, his only son...

Eternal Father, we offer you the body and blood,

soul and divinity of your dearly beloved son,

our Lord Jesus Christ,

in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world,

-for the sake of his sorrowful passion...

-Have mercy on us.

-For the sake of his sorrowful passion...

-Have mercy on us.

-For the sake of his sorrowful passion...

-Have mercy on us.

-For the sake of his sorrowful passion...

-Have mercy on us.

-For the sake of his sorrowful passion...

-Have mercy on us.

-For the sake of his sorrowful passion...

-Have mercy on us.

MUSIC: "Raga Bhimpalasi" by Hariprasad Chaurasia

So you've got... Lined bins are for wrappings and waste and rubbish.

They are for things to be composted.

Underneath, they are the boxes for the little condolence cards,

and I'll get you another box for cuddly toys.

That's it like that. That's great.

-Just turn your face up a bit.

-Lift your face up a bit.

You don't have to look at us, but just kneeling down.

My name is Greg...

I lived in London for quite a while

and I can't say I've never wanted to join in

with any major state occasion.

It's quite extraordinary.

I think the people who have come to be part of it have just...

ARE part of it,

whereas before it's always felt as though you were pure spectators

to something else.

It was what belonged to someone else.

All royal occasions were ROYAL occasions and you were

just subjects to stand by and...

But this has been different

in so far as people haven't just been spectators.

They've been there taking part in it.

And I thought what was really good

was that when Earl Spencer gave his talk,

it was the people in Hyde Park that stood up and applauded.

And applause then went through the cathedral.

But it was the people who made the response,

and I thought that was good.

Monarchy, just in itself,

has long since been useful as an institution

and there's been a move where people have felt that government

should be of all the people

and that we should look to be citizens rather than subjects.

And if Diana did anything,

it was to move that process

a little bit further along down the line.

And so here was a chance for ordinary people to respond to that

and to say, "Yes, I think that's probably...that's right."

And so maybe we can express it by sort of saying,

"Yes, this was a terrible thing that happened to her,

"but we mustn't let the momentum go."

Been wanting to come all week.

We just felt we had to come and see everyone and put the flowers down.

So...

Always liked her since I was little, so I had to do it.

I always admired her and always think of her.

Tragic...

Just a waste of a young life.

Far too young and far too beautiful.

It's such a waste.

INTRO TO CANDLE IN THE WIND PLAYS

# Goodbye England's rose

# May you ever grow in our hearts

# You were the grace that placed itself

# Where lives were torn apart

# You called out to our country... #

You do one. Where are you?

# Now you belong to heaven... #

Dave, you do one as well.

# And the stars spell out your name

# And it seems to me

# You lived your life like a candle in the wind

# Never fading with the sunset when the rain set in... #

Just trying to get the end.

# And your footsteps will always fall here

# Along England's greenest hills

# Your candle's burned out long before... # THEY JOIN IN

# Your legend ever will... #

That's the bit I absolutely... I love that bit,

just the bit sort of in between on the piano.

# Goodbye England's rose... #

-This is just so beautiful.

-Yeah, it's wonderful.

-You can't stop coming back to see it.

-No...

Because there's such beauty... well, like her.

# Goodbye England's rose from a country lost without your soul

# Who'll miss the wings of your compassion

# More than you'll ever know

# And it seems to me you lived your life

# Like a candle in the wind

# Never fading with the sunset

# When the rain set in

# And your footsteps will always fall here

# Among England's greenest hills

# Your candle's burned out long ago

# Your legend never will

# Your footsteps will always fall here

# Along England's greenest hills

# Your candle's burned out long before

# Your legend never will. #

Mm. Dear, oh dear. I don't know.

So many questions.

SIRENS WAIL IN DISTANCE

MUSIC: "For Arinushka, Upon Regaining Her Health" by Arvo Part

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd