Diana, Princess of Wales

General outline of funeral arrangements

Movement of the coffin to St James's Palace

Following completion of the coroner's formalities, the coffin was taken to the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace in the early hours of Monday, 1 September, where it remained until Friday night. It was then moved to rest overnight in the Princess's apartment at Kensington Palace.

Procession to Westminster Abbey

The Procession began from Kensington Palace on Saturday morning at 9.08 a.m. The Princess's coffin, borne on a gun carriage of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, and escorted on foot by a bearer party from the Welsh Guards and by mounted police, was taken to Westminster Abbey along a route lined by tens of thousands of mourners. The route passed Hyde Park, where many thousands more watched the Procession and service on two giant screens. At Hyde Park Corner, the Procession passed under Wellington Arch before moving into Constitution Hill. The Queen led members of the Royal family in paying their respects outside Buckingham Palace.

Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry, The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Edinburgh joined the Procession in The Mall, together with 500 charity representatives, to walk behind the coffin on its journey to Westminster Abbey.

Funeral service

The Order of Service is reproduced in full elsewhere on this site.

Westminster Abbey to Althorp

The funeral cortège travelled to Althorp by road. Family members travelled to Northamptonshire separately on board the Royal Train.

Committal and interment

The coffin was subsequently interred in a private ceremony at Althorp in the afternoon of the same day as the funeral, in sanctified ground on a small island in the centre of a tranquil ornamental lake.

The Althorp estate has announced that members of the public will be able to view the lake where the Princess is buried from 1 July 1998 to 30 August 1998. Further details about the opening have yet to be announced.