Althorp enshrines poignant memories of Diana
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See the article in its original context from August 1999.
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Even two years after the death of Princess Diana, there is no mistaking the grief of people mourning a 20th century icon who touched the hearts of millions. It is the children's words that catch the eye in condolence books from across the globe on display at the ancestral Spencer family home where she is buried. They give poignant meaning to the extraordinary outpouring of emotion which followed her death in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997. Amanda McGrath from Sydney, Australia, wrote: "Thank you for your caring contribution in a harsh and hostile world."
A 6-year-old British boy called Harry poured out his heart to Diana's two grieving young sons: "I know you are cross and angry. I know you are lonely. You are not feeling excited. Your mum is very special."
Diana's face no longer covers every tabloid front page; the plea from Princes William and Harry to be allowed to mourn in peace for their mother has been answered; the national obsession with the world's most photographed woman has abated. But the ancestral home where she grew up and was buried still has the power to pull at the heart strings of thousands of visitors who come to pay tribute to "The People's Princess".
More than 140,000 people have paid £9.50 ($15) apiece this summer to visit Althorp, the Spencer family estate in rural England where she is buried on an island in a lake. In a museum dedicated to her memory, packed with items such as her christening robe and a toy car, the eyes are drawn to a letter she scrawled to her parents at the age of five: "We had a power cut Monday and I went to bed with a candle in my room." The grainy films from family archives show Diana cavorting on the lawn as a would-be ballet dancer. Her brother Charles found it a painful task to edit the films for the museum. "I was absolutely drained for two days," he said. "It was really sad to see this little girl running around and to know what happened to her when she grew older." Her wedding dress draws gasps of admiration from visitors. A postcard from Prince Charles carries the words "from your top dancing partner". That was long before their fairytale marriage turned sour amid recriminations and adultery.
Diana, who like Marilyn Monroe died at the age of 36 with her beauty at its peak, always said she wanted to be considered as a work horse and not a clothes horse. But one of the museum's most colourful rooms displays 28 of the dazzling dresses that made her such a great fashion icon.
Inevitably the most sombre room is a memorial to her funeral which brought the nation to a standstill. The floor is strewn with dried flower petals, their sweet smell pervading the air as it did outside Diana's London home, carpeted with a sea of flowers after her death. On display are Bernie Taupin's handwritten lyrics for "Candle in the Wind" which Elton John sang at the funeral. It then became one of the biggest-selling records of all time. Charles Spencer's notes for the funeral oration to his sister that so electrified the world can also be seen.
But in the end, the most eloquent expression of grief comes from children in the condolence books piled up to the ceiling. Thirteen-year-old Caroline painted a spectacular sunset picture for Princes William and Harry and promised them: "Every end is a new beginning."
