Londoners hope for healing moment for Harry and William, makeshift memorial marks Diana birthday

Record ID: 1623835

  • Title: Londoners hope for healing moment for Harry and William, makeshift memorial marks Diana birthday
  • Date: 28th June 2021
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF RED STAR-SHAPED BALLOON AND BANNERS TIED TO GATE FOR MAKESHIFT MEMORIAL EXTERIOR OF KENSINGTON PALACE / PEOPLE WALKING PAST QUEEN VICTORIA STATUE KENSINGTON PALACE / HEDGES AROUND PRINCESS DIANA MEMORIAL GARDEN VARIOUS OF GARDENERS WORKING ON HEDGE ALONG ROAD BETWEEN PRINCESS DIANA MEMORIAL GARDEN AND SUNKEN GARDEN WHERE NEW STATUE WILL BE UNVEILED PEOPLE EXITING UNDERGROUND STATION SIGN FOR LONDON UNDERGROUND TRAFFIC ON STREET / PEOPLE WALKING ALONG HIGH STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) PHOTOGRAPHER, BILL KNIGHT, 75, SAYING: "On the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death, there was a Requiem Mass in St. Paul's Cathedral which started at about 1230 a.m. which was the hour of his death, and she turned up. And it was a moment of pure stardom. She walked down the nave, it was quite unexpected and you suddenly realised what all the magic was about. It was a wonderful moment and I shall never forget it." (SOUNDBITE) (English) BROKER, PAUL RAMUSHU, 40, SAYING: "She was and will always be a treasure to us all, if anything, we miss her. I can't even imagine what it would've been like if she was around now, the way she would've helped the world. She will always be missed. " (SOUNDBITE) (English) VLOGGERS BROTHERS ISAAC RASA AND ZACH RASA, VISITING FROM YORKSHIRE, SAYING: ZACH "She was the princess of the people, wasn't she." ISAAC "She was for the people and if she was still alive now..." ZACH "She would've done good for the world." ISAAC "She would've done good for the world, wouldn't she, yeah. And she would've been a voice for the people." ZACH "Unspoken people, forgotten people, in Palestine and other countries." (SOUNDBITE) (English) LONDON RESIDENT, YVETTE LAVIS, 68, SAYING: "I think you have to take what you read and hear about with a pinch of salt but I'm hoping that this will be a really friendly visit and that things will start to heal." (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAWYER, CHANTELLE THOMPSON, SAYING: "It's probably a relief that Meghan isn't coming because I think she is still causing some difficulties but hopefully they will, you know, remember their mother together and it's a bridge between them, I think." (SOUNDBITE) (English) BANK WORKER, OLLIE BOOTS, 30, SAYING: "The royal family are entitled to a private life and as long as they are fulfilling their constitutional duties and not doing anything illegal I think it's entirely the royal family's business." (SOUNDBITE) (English) PHOTOGRAPHER, BILL KNIGHT, 75, SAYING: "I don't think so, I think the institution will rumble on, I mean, we've had monarchy scandals and problems for hundreds of years and I'm sure we'll get through this one."
  • Embargoed: 12th July 2021 12:58
  • Keywords: British royals Diana birthday Diana legacy Diana statue Princess Diana royal family
  • Location: LONDON, ETON AND CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / HUAMBO, ANGOLA
  • City: LONDON, ETON AND CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / HUAMBO, ANGOLA
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Royals
  • Reuters ID: LVA007EJBF7T3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A makeshift memorial in honour of what would have been the 60th birthday of Britain's Princess Diana has appeared in Kensington Gardens ahead of the occasion on Thursday (July 1).
    Banners featuring photos of Diana and dedications to her were tied to a gate outside Kensington Palace, with red roses laid on the ground.
    "It's hard to forget someone who gave us so much to remember," one of the banners read.
    To officially mark the birthday, a new statue of Diana is to be unveiled in the Sunken Garden of Kensington Palace on Thursday.
    Her sons, Princes William and Harry, commissioned the commemorative work and are expected to attend the event.
    As locals and visitors in the nearby Kensington High Street on Monday (June 28) shared their memories of Diana and reflected on her legacy, some said they hoped Thursday's unveiling would help heal.
    "I think you have to take what you read and hear about with a pinch of salt but I'm hoping that this will be a really friendly visit and that things will start to heal," said 68-year-old Londoner Yvette Lavis.
    There was a very public falling out between the princes following an explosive interview with Prince Harry, his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and U.S. chat show host Oprah Winfrey in March, when they accused one unidentified royal of making a racist remark and said Meghan's pleas for help when she felt suicidal were ignored.
    One member of the public, Chantelle Thompson, said she hoped the event will help resolve their apparent differences.
    "It's probably a relief that Meghan isn't coming because I think she is still causing some difficulties but hopefully they will, you know, remember their mother together and it's a bridge between them, I think," added Chantelle Thompson.
    In 2017, Princes William and Harry said they had commissioned a statue in honour of their mother, who died in a Paris car crash more than 20 years ago, to be erected outside the older brother's official London home, Kensington Palace.
    Later that year, they chose sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, who produced the image of Queen Elizabeth used on Britain's coins, to create the statue to commemorate 20 years since Diana's death.
    Diana, the first wife of the heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, was killed when the limousine carrying her and her lover Dodi al-Fayed crashed in a Paris tunnel in August 1997.
    William was 15 and Harry 12 at the time.
    The first permanent memorial to her, a 210-metre (689-foot) long fountain, was launched in Hyde Park in 2004 after years of bureaucratic wrangling and squabbling over the design.
    (Production: Hanna Rantala, Steve Hignett)
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