Where were you when you found out Diana died.

[cowgrrl]

I was visiting my parents for Labor Day Weekend with hubby & our 3 week old son.  I remember sitting with my new little baby boy & being so sad because Dianas 'little baby boys' would never be able to hug or kiss her again.

I was a little girl when she married Charles so when I saw pictures of her it was like I was that little girl again, just for a moment, who could grow up & marry a Prince in a big fancy wedding with a big beautiful dress.   

[TLLK]

I was a junior in college.  I was drunk, at a football game (don't judge ) with a bunch of my sorority sisters (again, please don't judge; I'm a very nice and normal person) and one of my guy friends told me about it.  I didn't believe him because I was drunk and I wasn't sure how he (being a straight man and in his early 20s) knew about this.  I partied the night away, but was shocked to discover that he was right when I turned on the news the next morning. 

I'll never judge a fellow sorority sister says this Delta Gamma!

[brendapie]

I was at a friend's quinceanera at the time of the accident so I missed the breaking news.  When I got home from the party it was around 10 or 11pm PST and I felt compelled somehow to turn on the TV in my mom's room and that's when I saw her death being announced.  It took awhile for the news to sink in, I could see and hear what the newscasters were saying but I couldn't understand what was happening.  It was the same feeling I had when I woke up to my sister screaming that the US was under attack on 9/11.  Complete bewilderment and lack of understanding.

I was 15 at the time but I remember that it just felt like Gianni Versace had just died and that I had just seen Diana comforting Elton John at the funeral.  It was surreal to me that she had died.  Coupled with Mother Teresa's death a week later (or so), I just couldn't believe it actually happened.  I watched her funeral live and I'll always remember the wails and heart wrenching cries when the carriage pulled into view.  I visited London in 2000 and when I was standing outside Kensington Palace I saw a woman crying at the gate and a few flowers laid about.  She'll always be missed.  

[Hester]

I was with family walking to a quiet North Coast beach near my sister's house. As we reached the carpark that led to the boardwalk across dunes to the beach, a middle-aged woman was RUNNING towards us from the distance, with her husband way behind her and screaming out. We thought there was some terrible emergency at the beach and ran towards her. She yelled out from a few metres away: "Diana's dead! Diana's dead!" She had just heard it on the car radio and HAD to share. We were all in shock. The woman was in tears. I remember her so clearly! Everything was so sharp. I remember everything being in slow motion as I walked the wooden path to the beach. There was no-one else around ... just that couple who had just left, and us, on the beach, that was completely empty other than us.

Back at our car we tuned into the radio and started following the story.

I was still staying at the coast when the funeral took place - we were still shocked. I vaguely remember that the Stuart Diver story following an avalanche in the Snowy Mountains was being published, and Diver's face was on a magazine cover. I remember noting how his story had been swamped! We were all in spontaneous tears over the funeral on the TV - even though we weren't particularly royalists or fans. It's all ETCHED in my mind!

[Dangereuse]

I was in medical school.  I remember the interview with a witness who was driving in the opposite direction in the tunnel who said that there was a "flash" and he heard a "crash".  No mention of motorcycles or a chase.  My colleagues and I all wondered why someone involved in a MVA would be stabilized in the field instead of being taken to the nearest trauma center ASAP (French vs USA standards).  I also wondered how Diana would cope with any scars of facial trauma, or being in a wheelchair, realizing how much stock she placed in her appearance.  Then she died.  That should have been the end, but the level of hysteria (yes, it was hysteria) in the hospital was breathtaking, considering that she did not meet or know anyone there.

[PinkPanther]

It was a Saturday night, I was watching TV, flipping channels. When I landed on CNN at about 8:30PM Eastern, they said Diana had been in an accident in Paris but they didn't know much beyond that yet. I kept flipping back over for new information but they didn't seem to have any and they talked with reporters, royal insiders, and celebrities. Even Tom Cruise called in at one point saying how he'd been chased by paparazzi through that very tunnel.

I finally decided to take a shower around 11:30PM. I went to my bedroom and put NBC on the TV thinking Saturday Night Live might be on but Brian Williams was at the anchor desk. Before I went into the bathroom, he said that the latest was that Diana had a concussion and a broken wrist. When I got out of the shower, Williams was announcing that she was dead. I checked every other channel I could think of but everyone was saying the same thing. I was just stunned at first. Somehow I knew it didn't sound good that Dodi and the driver had died hours earlier but I hoped for the best. I only took a brief nap and woke up early so I could tell my mother when she got up. I knew she'd be more upset hearing it on the radio, which she always turns on as soon as she gets in her car.

It was very surreal. Sunday was grey, misty, and rainy all day. I went to the farmers market early in the morning and everyone seemed to be in a bit of a daze. August 31st was the opening day in the NFL here in the states and I remember several of the game broadcasts on Fox and NBC mentioning Diana and a few moments of silence. ABC and CBS, who didn't have football games, had Diana coverage all day long. I'm a big sports fan so I watched football and Diana coverage back and forth.

I live about 25 miles from the border with Canada so I watched a lot of the Canadian news throughout the week. The American press didn't seem as tuned into the controversy with the Queen's and royal family's reaction as the Canadian press and the British news that they aired. I think I watched the Canadian coverage of the funeral and the Queen's statement as well, although both were on pretty much every American channel too. That was one of the strangest weeks I can remember.

[Columbo]

I was woken up at 11:30 PM by my mother, who opened the door sobbing and said "Lady Diana's dead..."

I remember saying groggily and with irritation, "Who?" (Pardon this, I was only 14 years old and didn't get the "Lady" reference.)

My mother was a huge Diana fan. Being a young teenager and not particularly interested in royalty, I went back to sleep. It was, however, one of those moments, like the JFK assassination and 9/11, that you always remember.

The other thing I recall was after the funeral, many of my friends commenting on how "hot" William was. I believe that was the point at which he became somewhat of a teen heartthrob. It's funny to recall the cute, promising boy he was then . . . and the balding, decidedly unsexy man he has become 

[Blue Bird]

Eastern time zone Canada - I found out the next morning - Sunday - while sitting in church when a visiting preacher sneeringly said, "And look at Princess Diana, what good is all her wealth to her now?" 
I sat stunned. 
After the service the preacher's brother, who I really, really disliked anyway, came up to me clucking his tongue, "just think, she had everything and threw it all away."  As usual, I failed to understand just what his point was and wanted to kick the self-righteous jerk where it mattered.  I was so ticked off at both of them for how they were bashing her. 
I don't go to that church anymore - sorry I ever did.     

[brendapie]

The other thing I recall was after the funeral, many of my friends commenting on how "hot" William was. I believe that was the point at which he became somewhat of a teen heartthrob. It's funny to recall the cute, promising boy he was then . . . and the balding, decidedly unsexy man he has become 

I remember buying a YM magazine with William on the cover and it probably wasn't even a year after Diana's death and he was being touted as His Royal Hotness.  They were even soliciting girls to write letters to William to console him, which they were going to gather up and send over to England.

Ah, found a picture of the cover!  I misplaced the magazine although I still have the little set of tarot cards that came with it. 

[ronda]

   

   My alarm clock had just gone off and I was slowly waking as the news came on. I thought I heard that
   Princess Diana had died in a car accident, but I wasn't sure, but my hubby confirmed the news.  I have
   always been a big fan of diana's because I liked  the humility she had towards everyday people, and for
   all her wonderful charity work that highlighted her comittment and the power she had to try and bring
   things out in the open. For example, her work on the issue of  aids comes to mind.             

   She had so much more good she could have done in her unique princess role, even after her divorce from
   Prince Charles.                           
   The end was so sad....  I still feel sad today for what could have been.               
   These current crop of Princesses wouldn't get a look in by the media if   diana was still alive today. 
    She would have been 51 this july, and still a global star and a princess who's  charisma would
   continue to captivate the world like NO other royal today.......                                               
  She had her faults but she had a work ethic that none of these new royal princesses have.  IMO

[LadyBunion]

Eastern time zone Canada - I found out the next morning - Sunday - while sitting in church when a visiting preacher sneeringly said, "And look at Princess Diana, what good is all her wealth to her now?" 
I sat stunned. 
After the service the preacher's brother, who I really, really disliked anyway, came up to me clucking his tongue, "just think, she had everything and threw it all away."  As usual, I failed to understand just what his point was and wanted to kick the self-righteous jerk where it mattered.  I was so ticked off at both of them for how they were bashing her. 
I don't go to that church anymore - sorry I ever did.     

We went to church and the priest decided we were going to sing the national anthem... why?? in the middle of the Service?
she tended to have crazy ideas like that. at the  easter day service (elsewhere) the day after the Queen Mother died they just included her in the prayers for those who had recently died and gave thanks for her life  - much  more appropriate.

[Columbo]

I remember buying a YM magazine with William on the cover and it probably wasn't even a year after Diana's death and he was being touted as His Royal Hotness.  They were even soliciting girls to write letters to William to console him, which they were going to gather up and send over to England.

Ah, found a picture of the cover!  I misplaced the magazine although I still have the little set of tarot cards that came with it.  

Brendapie, I had the same YM issue! Great find!  

[ginnis1]

it was late at night and my mom called and told me. I immediately turned on the tv and watched and was up all night crying. I had a roommate at the time and she was also crying. She didn't follow Diana like I did but I think the impact was just so great and impossible to graps that it was the release valve.

[BessieWallis Warfield]

These are all such amazing stories, and so similar.  I'm glad I brought this up, and thanks everyone for sharing.  I think they are all fascinating.  I don't often read through every single thread here, word for word, but this one I did!

[devin22]

Wow I was 7 years old when it happen. I remember I misheard a news report on her the week before and I thought she had died but my mother said no she's just on vacation with her boyfriend. I remember it was Saturday evening after 8. I was at a block party with my dad and I just taught myself how to ride a bike without training wheels. I was so happy yelling to my dad look at me look at me. I don't remember the ride home but I remember getting up and finding my mom watching the news in my room and she told me Diana was in an accident. My mom is the same age as Diana. I don't remember if she told me Diana was dead. I walked into my living room and my dad and his friend were watching the coverage.

I remember later that day watching NY1 News and they showed coverage of her body being brought back to England. What I remember was the gold buckles the Welsh guards wore while carrying the casket shimmered in the sunlight. I didn't understand what was happening. It was inconceivable to me at that time that someone like her who was so young and vibrant and who I saw the last week vacationing and having so much fun could be in a box a week later. Diana was everywhere that week leading up to the funeral. I remember finding it so odd to see the Queen and the Queen Mother attending the funeral for a 36 year old woman. A day after the funeral I just bawled, for her and learning at 7 years old that death comes to everyone.