The Diana Phenomenon: Reaction in the East MidlandsAuthor(s): Margaret EvansSource: Folklore, Vol. 109 (1998), pp. 101-103Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1260577 .

Accessed: 13/06/2014 18:04

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Folklore Enterprises, Ltd. and Taylor & Francis, Ltd. are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve andextend access to Folklore.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.109 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 18:04:00 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Topics, Notes and Comments 101

somewhat cut off from the outside world, seeing no newspa- pers or television, and having time to listen to only the occa- sional radio broadcast. However, on the journey to Winches- ter, I travelled with a Druid who felt that he had an insight into both the past and the future of the country and Diana's part in it all.

To summarise his ideas briefly, Diana Spencer was of the ancient British royal bloodline. Her "arranged marriage" to Charles had been engineered to re-introduce this ancient bloodline and legitimise the House of Windsor. Both the Windsor and Spencer families had colluded in the arrange- ment. The British people warmed so much to Diana because they instinctively recognised she was truly royal, their "real" monarch. Moreover, one reason that so much has been made of her touching people was that she had the gift of healing, the royal touch. Diana was also the descendant of Edmund Spenser, author of "The Faerie Queen," which was published in its finalised version in 1597 in the reign of Elizabeth I. Diana, the "fairytale princess" who could be seen as the "Faerie Queen," died in 1997 in the reign of Elizabeth II. Prince William, whose name is William Arthur, was born on the summer solstice; if he were to follow the ancient custom of kings using their second name, he would become King Arthur. Thus, through Diana, the ancient British royal blood- line would be restored to power, with a new King Arthur for the new millenium. This is as yet not a widely articulated reading of events, but the fact that it came into existence so soon after the death is worth recording.

I was also struck by the fact that two female conference participants, practising pagans accustomed to officiating over and innovating their own rituals, mentioned that they had slipped away one afternoon and queued to light candles for Diana in Winchester Cathedral. This seemed to echo the "in- clusive" nature of events commented on elsewhere.

Conspiracy Theories

The person who first told me about Diana's death on Sunday 31 August 1997 added, "I can't help thinking that will make life a lot simpler for some people." The first conspiracy theory I heard voiced was that arms manufacturers, particularly makers of landmines, might have been behind the accident. I have been told that a card on one of the bunches of flowers near Westminster Abbey blamed "International Freema- sonry." Most serious of the conspiracy theories, both in terms of the numbers who believe it and its implications, is that Diana and Dodi were killed by the British Secret Service to prevent Diana marrying a Muslim. An Iraqi postgraduate student at Bath University recalls that when he told his wife the news, the first thing she said was, "They've killed her!" Many people throughout the Middle East appear to take this view (however, one Muslim's reaction on hearing this was, "He wasn't a Muslim, he was a playboy!"). It is claimed that there was a rumour that the funeral procession would stop outside Regent's Park Mosque, and great disappointment when it did not.

Concluding Remarks

In conclusion, I would like to quote an Iraqi student at Bath University, who felt moved to write in a book of condolence whenever he encountered one. His third and final message was simply "Diana, what have you done to us?" To a consid- erable extent, this remains to be seen. I intend to return to

Bath city centre on the first anniversary of Diana's death to see what forms of remembrance, if any, are in the shop win- dows I observed in the immediate aftermath of her death.

Study of Religions Department Bath Spa University College

Notes

1In Oxford, in a deliberate display of bad taste, a "Potting the Princess" party was held.

2It will be interesting to see whether the thin black ribbon worn in this way becomes common practice after other deaths, or becomes particularly associated with Diana.

'Traditionally, lilies are a "mourning flower that is associ- ated with church" (Bath Chronicle 6 September 1997, 15).

4While a number of the cards left with flowers in Bath had been addressed to "Diana and Dodi," this was the only busi- ness notice to mention respect to Dodi Al Fayed.

5I encountered only one memorial dedicated specifically to Mother Theresa; this was in the form of a large piece of paper stuck on a wall, with a picture of Mother Theresa at the top centre, an artificial sunflower taped down the left side, and underneath the picture the handwritten words, "Mother Teresa RIP" with latin cross below.

3. The Diana Phenomenon: Reaction in the East Midlands

Margaret Evans

The sudden death of Diana Princess of Wales at the end of August 1997 sparked off a massive display of emotion in Britain. The event provided the opportunity for the expres- sion of what appeared to be communal feelings in a short- term and superficial, but undoubtedly sincere, manner by a large number of people. It also led to those not wishing to take part keeping silence rather than voicing dissent.

One feature throughout the country was that many peo- ple saw themselves as in some way connected to this public figure and able to grieve for her as if she were an acquaint- ance. However, there remained clear borderlines between what the public, who thought they knew her, and the imme- diate family, could or should do. Public grief was by and large decorous, not only in the nature of the ritual on display but in the manner in which those who were unmoved ac- cepted the expression of emotion by others.

There were apparent ironies surrounding the life of the princess, the manner of her death and the procedure at her funeral, some of which were noted in the serious press but few, if any, of which had an effect on the wider public. The princess, whose relations with the press were often stormy, was on the whole given the traditional treatment and was spoken well of in death. Contradictions were by and large ignored. A young woman not known for personal maturity died before she reached mid-life, a period at which conven- tion assumes that a woman becomes wise. An individual who had been criticised in her lifetime for fecklessness and a love

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.109 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 18:04:00 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

102 Topics, Notes and Comments

of glamour was in death venerated for the time she spent with those on society's margins. Someone who declared a wish to be "queen of people's hearts" in a television inter- view she also used to comment on her young sons' private emotions, was acclaimed "queen of hearts" and a good mother. A woman who attracted both praise and opprobium for her involvement with the Red Cross campaign against the use landmines had her coffin carried on a gun carriage. An individual to whom were attributed the feminine values of spontaneity and tactility had her cortege followed on foot by her menfolk while the women waited at church. Her un- doubted skills at fleeting but valued conversations with peo- ple from a wide variety of backgrounds contrasted with her poor relationships with her family of marriage. In addition, she died in a car crash, while not wearing a seatbelt, at the hands of a speeding, drunken driver in the company of his demanding employer. Perhaps the fact that, while the r61e of the attendant freelance press photographers remained at best ambiguous, other passersby stopped at the scene of the crash and assisted, led to the notable lack of public anger at her death at the hands of foreigners.

The rituals observed in the wake of her death included evidence of a change in popular attitudes. Her divorced hus- band's r1le in accompanying the body home and taking a prominent part in the burial was accepted; while the attend- ance of young boys at a funeral passed without comment. In addition, Britain's Royal Family were required, whatever their personal inclinations, to show evidence of bereavement.

The reaction in the part of the English Midlands where I live was much the same as that of other parts of the coun- try-a public opportunity to express emotion for a woman met briefly or known only through the press, or possibly to grieve for private losses or for one's own mortality. The pat- tern of events was informed by enormous coverage in the media, yet there was unorchestrated sympathy which found its expression during the week.

One striking aspect was the simplicity of the ritual. Though both church and state had the ability to stage a traditional formal ritual, both tailored their approach to the popular mood. The simplicity of the ritual does not appear to have been intended, and indeed it failed to satisfy many, who felt obliged to invent their own more satisfying forms. It seems that, confronted with the violent death of a relatively young person, people were groping to articulate a multiplicity of emotions for which they had no obvious vehicle. One of these emotions may have been a form of guilt for having enjoyed the frequently disparaging press reports of the Princess's ac- tivities.

The Princess died early on a Sunday morning, a feature which enabled regular and sporadic worshippers to use churches as an obvious focus. Floral tributes had already been laid at the iron gates of Derby Cathedral by early Monday morning. Initially, they may have been laid outside the gates, rather than inside the cathedral precincts, for practical rea- sons (these gates are locked at night), but the symbolism of the gates as a boundary and as a useful focus for display may also have been factors. The flowers grew in number throughout Sunday, and by the next day the quantity was substantial enough to prevent the gates from being closed. Flowers (and candles) spread inwards, right up to the cathe- dral doors. During the hours of opening, flowers were con- tinually placed near the doors, but in such a manner as to keep a pathway clear for those wishing to enter. No flowers were placed inside the cathedral, though they were left in

other churches. Some of the earlier bouquets were of homegrown flow-

ers, but far more common offerings were shop-bought sprays (of all colours), which were set upright through the railings or placed beneath them, still in their elastic bands, cellophane and paper wrappers, in which they rotted rapidly. There were very few wreaths at any location: perhaps wreaths are re- garded as more personal tributes, reserved for members of the family of the deceased? No attempt was made to disturb the flowers, except, apparently, to read the notes attached to them. As far as possible they were left undisturbed until cleared away by the authorities on the Thursday following the funeral. The practice of not disturbing tributes appears to have been widely observed. Its violation by a few foreign tourists in London led to media anger and severe judicial sentences.

The cathedral was used throughout the week. On the Sun- day afternoon following the death, an extra service was held in response to demand. For most of the week, regular serv- ices were attended by more people than usual, additional prayers were said, and people used the opportunity to write in the visitors' book kept near the door, which rapidly be- came a condolence book. Many of the comments were re- petitive, simple messages, though some were of a personal nature, and included contributions from at least one visitor of another faith. Another ritual widely observed, and which involved venturing deep into the cathedral, was the lighting of candles. Out of opening hours, some candles were left out- side the doors.

The ritual involved in leaving flowers was, for the most part, very simple. Some people merely passed by and left their spray without stopping. Others spent time reading the many notes, poems, letters and other attached papers, while others simply looked at the flowers and other offerings. No- ticeably, many brought children, who were often deputed to deposit the flowers or light the candles. A fairly large number of prayer cards were left, together with sympathy cards, Thank You cards, cards handmade by children, elaborate handwritten or computer-written letters and poems, notes on the back of florists' trade-cards, and comments on torn-off scraps of paper. Individuals of all ages, including children, teenagers, whole families, groups of friends and staff from local businesses left flowers and cards. No verbal displays of emotion were observed at any of the sites, nor did people enter into conversation with others present, although this practice was widely reported as occurring in London among those waiting to sign condolence books.

The council provided a condolence book, while flowers were left not only at the cathedral but also a hundred yards away at the war memorial. Here it appeared, cuddly toys were more profuse and lengthy poems or letters rarer than at the cathedral. There was no opportunity to observe whether some people left tributes at both places, or further afield, nor whether they wrote in more than one condolence book. These possibilities may need further consideration. Examination of tributes left at one of the East Midlands sites indicated that some people had left more than one at the same place, pre- sumably on different days.

In villages and small towns the most visible focus was the war memorial. Their height may have been the reason for their being chosen, for the flowers produced a magnetic visual display. Their existing association with death, including youthful death, may also have been influential. Sprays of shop-bought flowers in paper were again the normal offer-

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.109 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 18:04:00 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Topics, Notes and Comments 103

ing here. There appeared to be no sense of incompatibility in the choice of a military memorial for one whose last public actions concerned the banning of landmines.

The messages seen attached to flowers or written in books were initially almost all addressed to, or in memory of, Diana. The common themes were thanking her for caring, mention- ing her charity work, and wishing her peace. Comments such as "happiness at last," "sadly missed," "remembered for ever," and "at peace" abounded. Some of the messages were lengthy, and most of the poems appeared to be original. By Wednesday, the name of Diana's friend Dodi Fayed, also killed in the crash, was added. Many of the notes after that date referred to them as a couple. A large number were ad- dressed to her two sons as well as to Diana (and Dodi), with no distinction made between the living and the dead. It was notable that Dodi was usually thanked for making Diana happy. Specifically Christian messages did not include Dodi Fayed, a Muslim, though his name was sometimes added as an afterthought on Christian cards. Letters addressed solely to Diana remained common, in particular when written by men. There were also a number written "from one mum to another." Only two references to the deceased driver and the survivor of the crash were observed. Both asked that they and their families be remembered.

The messages were almost unanimous in attributing no blame except to the impersonal "we" who read the papers filled with pictures and stories about Diana. Given the cir- cumstances of her death, and the initial blaming of freelance photographers by other members of the press, and the press in general by the Princess's own brother, this may be worth further investigation. No one even blamed the French. This general tendency towards sentiment rather than blame re- mains a surprising feature. Few of those who left notes at- tacked Prince Charles or the Royal Family, in spite of the somewhat hostile press coverage they were receiving.

Diana was sometimes addressed as a messenger. "Give our little Charlene a hug," "Say hello to someone special," and so on. Her ability to respond to people of different races and backgrounds was referred to, and this attribute no doubt assisted the development of her r6le as the newly deceased conveying messages to one's personal dead. In the case of a very few of the notes it was clear that she had actually had some passing contact with the person referred to. Many who had not had this minimal contact still treated her as a per- sonal friend. While many expressed a desire than she would now sleep in peace, the existence of an afterlife in which she could pass on these messages, or be happy with her friend Dodi Fayed, was taken for granted by others.

When the records from one site were examined in more detail, it was discovered that in this particular place very few regarded her as a messenger. At this site too, there were few cuddly toys, though there were a small number of other of- ferings, including a male sports trophy, a teenage girl's poster of Diana, and a child's toy. It seems likely that people fol- lowed the lead of others at particular sites, and that this led to a degree of local variation. The site in question contained numerous pictures of hearts, mostly red and homemade and produced by either men or children, and a number of play- ing cards depicting the Queen of Hearts. There were written references to Diana as the "Princess," while others called her a saint or an angel, or commented on her having been "a voice for the voiceless." A few compared her directly with Christ. A high proportion of cards contained the name and address of the individual, family or friends that had left them.

There were even a few malapropisms ("Will be gratefully missed").

On the day of the funeral many shops shut, at least for the duration of the televised service. Afterwards, in the afternoon, there were a number of church services. This seems to have been regarded as appropriate, but it did not go without com- ment that her last visit to the East Midlands was a private one, captured on camera by children, to a local clairvoyant.

As elsewhere in Britain, the funeral did not lead to the end of the grieving process, and flowers continued to arrive at the chosen sites. A decision was taken in London to re- move them on the following Thursday, and the local authori- ties followed this lead, thus providing a formal mechanism to end the process, at least until the anniversary of the death.

This writer had a sense of a society in the grip of a power- ful desire to express emotion in a new way, deliberately break- ing with anything that could be regarded as traditional prac- tice. There seemed to be a popular attempt to devise new rituals for a person perceived as representing a break with tradition. Diana was presented as youthful, beautiful, vul- nerable and caring, all of these positive attributes. Her r6le made her distant, but the press coverage, and her ability to relate at some level to the people with whom she came into contact, added to her symbolic potential. The modem method of expressing sympathy, by leaving flowers, was adopted, but as most people did not have the ability to leave them at the place of death, other sites, in particular her previous homes, were chosen. For those unable to travel so far, the local war memorial, or in some cases the parish church, pro- vided the focus.

While neither the civil nor religious structures were pre- pared for the largescale expression of grief, they responded to it, and their responses were seemingly regarded as accept- able contributions by a public led by neither. Early media decisions included dark clothing for television presenters, but no solemn music other than the National Anthem, which was played on the day of her death during news broadcasts. The tradition of dark clothing or armbands seems to have died out totally in this part of the country. Those wishing to take part in a ritual wrote letters or poetry, or copied those of others, usually also leaving flowers and cards. It was clear that the popular outpouring of feeling was regarded as some- thing quite new. There were no mechanisms in place to end the expression of grief. These had to be provided by the civil authorities, and were probably accepted because they were made in conjunction with a plea from the deceased's brother for no more flowers. His authority seems to have stemmed from his being regarded in the media as the chief adult mourner and family spokesperson.

A number of informants expressed unease at the public grieving, either on the grounds of the apparent discrepancy between a powerful public mood and the superficiality of its expression; or because they felt personally unmoved by the death of Diana but unable to say so when so many other people appeared genuinely moved. Some expressed relief that the public gatherings, in particular on the day of the funeral, were decorous, but voiced concern at the possibility of the highly-charged national mood turning ugly.

It may be that the response to the death of Diana was a popular attempt to create a mechanism for expressing a sense of loss in a society where "correct" or traditional methods are no longer seen as suitable.

Derbyshire, 31 December 1997

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.109 on Fri, 13 Jun 2014 18:04:00 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions