Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

LETTER : Royal Family fails nation in its grief

John Campbell
Wednesday 03 September 1997 23:02 BST
Comments

Sir: Diana, Princess of Wales, was in Paris of her own volition. At her own insistence, against the better judgment of the Palace, she had no official protection. She died as a result of being driven by a drunken chauffeur, an employee of her lover's family, into a concrete pillar at high speed.

As you say (leading article, 2 September), some people will hold the Royal Family in general, and Prince Charles in particular, in some way responsible for this tragic event. They are being irrational to the point of idiocy; and in the frenzy of bad taste which has surrounded Diana in both life and death, there are no reasonable or dignified steps the Royal Family can take to counteract such prejudice.

Your suggestion that Prince William's emotional competence must be in question as a result of his attending Eton would be cheap at the best of times. It is a vile thing to write when the boy must be feeling emotion enough at the death of his mother. You might be better employed questioning the emotional competence of the millions who did not go to Eton and are now wallowing in ersatz grief at the loss of someone who was no more to them than a media icon.

JOHN CAMPBELL

London N10

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in