When we went for Princess Diana there were those portaloos scattered around… not sure if they’ve got them now but I would expect they have.
Re sleep, nope! The atmosphere keeps you awake, at least it did when we went for Diana. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced, people were genuinely moved by her and it really showed, in their faces and with people recollecting stories about her, how she made an impact in their lives, what she meant to them, etc. There were people from all walks of life there - there was even a t-shirt of the Pakistan cricket team stuck on to a tree and someone had written “loves you Diana” underneath the printed team name ‘Pakistan’. Candles and flowers everywhere, it was extraordinary.
She was an incredible person that brought people from all walks of life together, perhaps particularly important to those who had otherwise been persecuted or looked down upon. I wish there were more people like her in this world
My Mum used to say that Brits developed a high tolerance for queuing during WW2, when we had food shortages and rationing.
Mum said it was a bit of a joke during Wartime and post-war rationing that if folk saw a queue outside a shop, they would join it, just in case!
Was it the Hungarian Comedian, George Mikes who wrote in the post-war period -
‘An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one,’
‘At weekends an Englishman queues at the bus stop, travels out to Richmond, queues up for a boat on the Thames, then queues up for tea, then queues up for ice cream, then joins a few more odd queues for the sake of the fun of it, then queues up at the bus stop, and has the time of his life.’
Brits were queuing in a nice and neat organized and disciplined queues while in many other countries people were still pushing, gathering in a mess and jumping queue.
Well, the British Army were very polite and organised when they formed a neat queue and let rip with their guns at the Amritsar massacre in 1919. Can’t get much more civilised than that.
@Dextrouse, That was considerably worse than any film Dex!
The version l have seen focuses on the fact that it was carried out by
lndian troops ?
But British officers were in charge!
So no excuse at all !!
Thanks for the article !
The atmosphere keeps you awake, at least it did when we went for Diana. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced, people were genuinely moved by her and it really showed, in their faces and with people recollecting stories about her, how she made an impact in their lives, what she meant to them, etc. There were people from all walks of life there - there was even a t-shirt of the Pakistan cricket team stuck on to a tree and someone had written “loves you Diana” underneath the printed team name ‘Pakistan’. Candles and flowers everywhere, it was extraordinary.
