The monarch paid tribute to the princess with a speech, saying she “was an exceptional and gifted human being”. “In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness,” the queen said in a televised speech at Buckingham Palace on September 5, 1997.
But the queen wasn't wholly unsupportive. Just like Prince Philip, she did offer support to Diana in the wake of the split. “She [found] one perhaps rather unlikely ally at the palace in the queen,” Morton wrote, “whose understanding and helpful attitude did much to encourage Diana to soldier on.”
The Queen bowed her head as a sign of respect to her late daughter-in-law, Princess Diana. As the Head of State, Her Majesty was under no obligation to bow to anyone, making the gesture even more poignant.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton revealed in his book, 'The Queen: Her Life' that Princess Diana's interview was “shocking” and “unforgivable” to the royal family. “[The queen] was despairing, her husband apoplectic.
"No-one who knew Diana will ever forget her. Millions of others who never met her, but felt they knew her, will remember her. "I for one believe that there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death. "I share in your determination to cherish her memory.
The Royal Family's response
The Queen's first public address came five days after Diana's death. “I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being,” she said in a speech broadcast to the nation.
A friend of the Queen's told Kay that "she felt the pretty girl was a misfit who didn't quite contribute to the things they did and what they wanted her to do in the family. "There was no real compatibility. Initially she was sympathetic, but later on I don't think she felt sorry for her, not really."
Diana remembered Camilla saying that she had “everything she could ever want” and “all the men in the world.” When asked what more she could want, Diana told the Camilla, “I want my husband.” Oddly enough, Diana apologized to Camilla for being in the way of her and Charles, but she was still outraged.
It's unknown whether Princess Diana actually warned the Queen about the interview before it aired. Whether this conversation – or a more true-to-life version of it, anyway – happened, is up for debate.
"The day I walked down the aisle at St. Paul's Cathedral, I felt that my personality was taken away from me, and I was taken over by the royal machine," she said in a BBC interview. She shared these thoughts during her now-controversial BBC1 "Panorama" interview with Martin Bashir in 1995.
Katie Couric has revealed why she broke down in tears while covering Princess Diana\x27s funeral. Couric was struck by an envelope with \\\x22Mummy\\\x22 ... Yes, Prince Harry and Prince William both cried at their mother, Princess Diana\x27s, funeral.
Camilla may have been at Diana's wedding but she was not welcome at her funeral, which was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people around the world. Still, to many her absence echoed around the ancient hall. The Queen made it clear to Charles that he could not take his paramour to the service.
When Princess Diana passed away in 1997, even Queen Elizabeth bowed her head to Princess. Diana's coffin. But Princess. Margaret chose not to bow her head in respect.
Answer: The big reason Prince Charles and Camilla Shand, as she was then known, didn't get married in the early 1970s: He never asked her. And there are probably a number of reasons for that. In his early 20s, like many other young men, Charles simply wasn't ready for marriage.
Throughout her life, Diana was a devoted mother to her sons, William and Harry, and a lifelong advocate for children, AIDS-related causes, and victims of landmines. Hailed as the “people's princess,” she is also credited with helping to modernize the monarchy.
While Princess Diana and Prince Philip were not reported to have gotten along well (during her marriage to Philip, there were reports that he was "unkind" to her, according to CNN), behind closed doors, it appears he was there for Diana during the difficult divorce — to a degree at least.
She attempted suicide
One of the most troubling revelations from Princess Diana's audiotapes was that she struggled with depression and even attempted to take her own life.
Although Queen Elizabeth II had been willing to allow Diana to retain the title, Prince Charles insisted she give it up. According to Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, the then-14-year-old Prince William comforted Diana by promising to give her the title back one day when he became king.
The Queen has had a good relationship with Kate, her granddaughter-in-law, and sees her as "supporting William and getting on with her duties," said Prof Williams. However, she was reportedly concerned in the early days that Kate didn't have an identity of her own before marrying into the Royal Family.
“It was horrid,” Camilla admitted in a rare interview, of the media scrutiny that imprisoned her in her home after the shocking death of Diana, Princess of Wales. “I wouldn't want to put my worst enemy through it.”
Charles Didn't Tell Diana He and Camilla Used to Date
“Instead of explaining to Diana at the outset that Camilla was an old girlfriend, he had presented her as nothing more than a friend.
She accepted without hesitation, although she had already suspected that Camilla Parker Bowles was more than Charles's best friend. One of Camilla's friends told biographer Gyles Brandreth that Camilla “had encouraged Charles to marry Diana,” yet Diana was suspicious of Camilla's guidance.
"It was indeed dreadfully sad, and she is a huge loss to the country," the queen wrote.
Queen Elizabeth II bowed to Princess Diana's casket in 1997 - The Washington Post.
DIANA CHANGED HER WEDDING VOWS
Even after Queen Elizabeth insisted on including that she would "obey" Prince Philip in their wedding vows, Diana omitted the line from their 1981 nuptials. Instead, she promised to ''love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health.