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I catch myself saying what if she had been wearing a seat belt, what if they had not been speeding, but in the end she is still ... dead. A true shame. While the media may be responsible I can not help but feel this does not justify the excessive speed they were apparently driving.
I have been very confused by the lack of facts, the slowness of information from the event and the lack of public witness to the event to explain this horrid event. I can only hope investigations in the coming months will come to explain all these confusing details. The least of which is of course how did the accident occur.
I have been personally outraged at how many accounts have totally forgotten to mention that two other people lost their lives that night, and another was injured permanently.
Princess Diana's brother has been amazing through all of this. His inital speach after her death was excellent and very moving blaming the press and saying the editors who had paid for the intrusive pictures have blood on their hands.
His speech at the funeral was very moving and apropriate. I have captured the text using the closed captioning and attached it below. The closed captioning is not perfect, so I apologize for any errors.
FOR SUCH WAS THE EXTRAORDINARY APPEAL, THAT THE TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TAKING PART IN THIS SERVICE, ALL OVER THE WORLD, VIA TELEVISION AND RADIO, WHO NEVER ACTUALLY 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 THAN I COULD EVER HOPE TO OFFER HER TODAY.
DIANA WAS THE VERY ESSENCE OF COMPASSION, OF DUTY, OF STYLE, OF BEAUTY. ALL OVER THE WORLD, SHE WAS A SYMBOL OF SELFLESS HUMANITY. A STANDARD BEARER FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE TRULY DOWNTRODDEN, A VERY BRITISH GIRL WHO TRANSCENDED NATIONALITY. SOMEONE WITH A NATURAL NOBILITY WHO WAS CLASSLESS AND WHO PROVED IN THE LAST YEAR SHE NEEDED NO ROYAL TITLE TO GENERATE HER PARTICULAR BRAND OF MAGIC.
TODAY IS OUR CHANCE TO SAY THANK YOU FOR THE WAY YOU BRIGHTENED OUR LIVES, EVEN THOUGH GOD GRANTED YOU BUT HALF A LIFE.
WE WILL ALL FEEL CHEATED ALWAYS THAT YOU WERE TAKEN FROM US SO YOUNG, AND YET WE MUST LEARN TO BE GRATEFUL YOU CAME ALONG AT ALL.
ONLY NOW DO WE TRULY APPRECIATE WHAT WE ARE NOW WITHOUT, AND WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT LIFE WITHOUT YOU IS VERY, VERY DIFFICULT. WE HAVE ALL DISPAIRED OVER OUR LOSS IN THE PAST WEEK, AND ONLY THE STRENGTH OF THE MESSAGE YOU GAVE US IN THE YEARS OF GIVING, HAS AFFORDED US THE STRENGTH TO MOVE FORWARD.
THERE IS A TEMPTATION TO RUSH, TO CANNONIZE YOUR MEMORY. BUT YOU STAND TALL ENOUGH AS A HUMAN BEING WITH UNIQUE QUALITIES NOT TO NEED TO BE SEEN AS A SAINT.INDEED, TO SANCTFY YOUR MEMORY WOULD BE TO MISS THE CORE OF YOUR BEING, YOUR WONDERFUL SENSE OF HUMOUR, AND YOUR JOY OF LIFE, AND THE SPARKLE IN THOSE UNFORGETTABLE EYES AND YOUR BOUNDLESS ENERGY THAT YOU COULD BARELY CONTAIN.BUT YOUR GREATEST GIFT WAS YOUR INTUITION.
IF WE LOOK TO ANALYZE WHAT IT WAS ABOUT YOU THAT HAD SUCH A WIDE APPEAL, WE FIND IT IN YOUR SKBINGTIVE (???) FEEL FOR WHAT WAS IMPORTANT IN OUR LIVES. WITHOUT YOUR SENSITIVITY, WE WOULD BE IMMERSED IN GREATER ANGUISH WITH THE AIDS SUFFERERS, THE ISOLATION OF THE LEPERS, AND THE RANDOM DESTRUCTION OF LAND MINES.
DIANA EXPLAIND TO ME ONCE IT WAS HER INNERMOST FEELINGS OF SUFFERING THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR HER TO CONNECT WITH THE CONSTITUENCY OF THE REJECTED.
AND HERE WE COME TO ANOTHER TRUTH ABOUT HER -- FOR ALL THE STATUS AND GLAMOUR AND APPLAUSE, DIANA REMAINED THROUGHOUT A VERY INSECURE PERSON AT HEART, ALMOST CHILD-LIKE IN HER DESIRE TO DO GOOD FOR OTHERS SO SHE COULD RELEASE HERSELF FROM FEELINGS OF UNWORTHINESS. THE WORLD SENSED THIS PART OF HER CHARACTER AND CHERISHED HER FOR HER VULNERABILITY WHILE ADMIRING HER HONESTY.
THE LAST TIME I SAW HER WAS ON HER BIRTHDAY ON JULY 1st, WHERE SHE WAS NOT TAKING TIME TO CELEBRATE WITH FRIENDS BUT WAS GUEST OF HONOUR AT A CHARITY EVENT IN THE EVENING. SHE SPARKLED, OF COURSE, BUT I WOULD RATHER CHERISH THE DAYS I SPENT WITH HER IN MARCH, WHEN SHE VISITED WITH US IN OUR HOME IN SOUTH AFRICA. APART FROM WHEN SHE WAS ON PUBLIC DISPLAY, WE CONTRIVED TO STOP THE EVER-PRESENT PAPARAZZI FROM GETTING A SINGLE PICTURE. THAT MEANT A LOT TO HER. THESE ARE DAYS I WILL ALWAYS TREASURE. IT WAS AS IF WE WERE BACK IN OUR CHILDHOOD, WHERE WE SPENT OUR TIME TOGETHER. FUNDAMENTALLY SHE HADN'T CHANGED AT ALL FROM THE BIG SISTER WHO MOTHERED ME AS A BABY AND FOUGHT WITH ME AT SCHOOL AND ENDURED THE LONG TRAIN JOURNEYS ON WEEKENDS.
IT IS A TRIBUTE TO STRENGTH THAT AFTER HER CHILDHOOD SHE REMAINED INTACT, TRUE TO HERSELF. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT 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 AT THE HANDS OF THE NEWSPAPERS. I DON'T THINK SHE EVER UNDERSTOOD WHY HER GENUINELY GOOD INTENTIONS WERE SNEERED AT AND WHY THERE SEEMED TO BE AN ATTEMPT TO BRING HER DOWN. IT WAS BAFFLING. MY OWN AND THE ONLY EXPLANATION THAT I CAN GIVE IS GENUINE GOODNESS IS A THREAT TO THOSE AT THE OTHER END OF THE MORAL SPECTRUM.
OF ALL THE IRONIES ABOUT DIANNA THE GREATEST IS THIS, A GIRL GIVEN THE NAME OF THE ANCIENT GODDESS OF HUNTING WAS IN THE END THE MOST HUNTED PERSON OF THE MODERN AGE.
SHE WOULD WANT US TODAY 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 DRIVE YOU REGULARLY TO TEARFUL DESPAIR.
AND 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 THEIR SOULS ARE NOT MASKED BY DUTY, BUT THEIR SOULS WILL SING AS YOU PLANNED. WE FULLY RESPECT THE HERITAGE INTO WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN BORN AND WE WILL ALWAYS RESPECT AND ENCOURAGE THEM IN THEIR ROYAL ROLE, BUT WE, LIKE YOU, RECOGNIZE THE NEED FOR THEM TO EXPERIENCE AS MANY ASPECTS OF LIFE AS POSSIBLE AND TO ARM THEM SPIRITUALLY AND EMOTIONALLY FOR THE YEARS AHEAD. I KNOW YOU WOULD EXPECT NOTHING LESS FROM US.
WILLIAM AND HARRY, WE ALL CARE DESPERATELY FOR YOU TODAY. WE ARE CHEWED UP WITH SADNESS FOR THE LOSS OF A WOMAN WHO WAS NOT OUR MOTHER. HOW GREAT YOUR SUFFERING IS, WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK GOD FOR TAKING DIANA, WHEN SHE WAS MOST BEAUTIFUL AND RADIANT AND WHEN SHE HAD JOY IN HER LIFE.
ABOVE ALL AND I GIVE THANKS FOR THE WOMAN I WAS SO PROUD TO CALL MY SISTER, THE UNIQUE THE COMPLEX AND EXTRAORDINARY AND IRREPLACEABLE DIANA WHOSE BEAUTY BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL, WILL NEVER BE EXTINGUISHED FROM OUR MINDS. [ APPLAUSE ]
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