The 10th Anniversary…

Ten years ago this morning I woke up early, as I always did on work days, to give myself time to plan and prepare for the day ahead at Kensington Palace. Today was going to be a fun day, the Boss was coming home, relaxed and refreshed after her vacation and she would be in a really good mood because ‘the boys’ were coming home too.

The plan was that the princess would hang around at VIP Heathrow and wait for their Queen’s flight to arrive - they were returning from Balmoral Castle - and we then had them at KP for a few days before heading off back to Ludgrove School.

I turned on the BBC news as I ate breakfast and like everyone else doing the same thing, couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing. Princess Diana was dead. Killed in a car accident in a Paris tunnel they were saying. No, way I remember saying allowed. I had the food for dinner that night with me; of course she was coming home. The rest is history.

Ten years on it is still hard to believe the princess is no longer with us. Every day her photo appears in one paper or another. Controversies, concerts, inquests and memorials keep her on the front pages of many of the worlds press. To so many she really was the people’s princess she claimed she wanted to be and a true inspiration to thousands of people around the world. We all admired the way she broke new ground in her role as princess. No white gloves when shaking hands – “you don’t feel the warmth and connect with people if you wear gloves” she once said. Hugging AIDS patients when most of us still thought you could catch the disease just by looking at someone infected. Remember how she broke down in public – “Stiff upper lip Diana, it’s the British way” the palace grey suits reminded her. And then seeing her kneel down to talk to young children on royal walkabouts. “You have to get down to their level, Darren” I remember her saying “or they think you are talking down to them” Cold winters nights, remembering her asking for early dinner so that she could scoot off into the poorer parts of London where earlier that day she had seen the homeless going through trash cans. Quick as a flash she would jump out of her car and throw blankets and coats into those same trash cans, hoping they would return and find them.

I wish I could be in London today, at the memorial. I wrote to the boys and asked to be considered should there be any spare tickets. I got two really nice notes back and I fear politics played a part in my not being there. Instead, I will be in New York watching the memorial live on TV and reminding everyone on this side of the pond – as if I have too – what a special person Diana, Princess of Wales really was.