The Flag Is Half-Mast: It’s All We Can Muster For Princess Diana
“DIANA: Why won’t the Queen flay the flag at half-mast?”
With her Majesty unavailable or unwilling to comment, the Express asks its readers for direction. “Should flags fly at half-mast for Diana?” (Calls cost 25p a minute plus network operator rates.)
One wonders how any flag can make it even that high up the pole. We suggest all flags are placed in a box, along with the laughter and the joy, and buried at sea.
But in case any Express readers are undecided, the paper offers the gentle prod: “’The flag should be flown at half-mast for Diana…that is what Britain wants.’”
By Britain, the Express means you. This is what you want. No need to phone in now. Save your money. The Express knows already.
It is ten years since Diana ascended to the Sixth Floor of Harvey Nichols and the Express has never flagged in its support for her.
It will lower the flag on its Blackfriars HQ. But the Queen will not do the same. And Diana’s friends are aghast and incandescent with rage.
Simmone Simmons says: “I can’t believe it after everything that has gone on.”
Margaret Funnell, a founding member of the Diana Circle, says: “It’s despicable!…I shall certainly be writing to Gordon Brown to complain.”
And the prime minister is a player in this act. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport decrees that flags should only be flown at half-mast on the day or day after the death of a member of the Royal Family or a major disaster.”
A Palace spokeswoman agrees. A spokesperson for the DCMS says the Queen can override the rules.
We suggest a compromise and the flag is flown at three-quarters height or maybe four-fifths.
But Diana’s brother Earl Spencer is unimpressed. It’s half-mast or nothing. He will flutter the flag at half-mast over the family’s ancestral seat at Althorp in Northamptonshire.
It’s a similar scene over at Harrod’s where Mohammed Al Fayed will fly the flag at half-mast.
Touching stuff. And we wonder if Fayed and Spencer would care to team up and produce a commemorative Diana Flag that only goes half-way up the pole?
Retailing at £9.99, Diana enthusiasts can attach the heart-shaped flag to their car windows, ears and tiaras and cheer Diana on.
It’s just what the country needs to keep going…
Diana: The Sixth Floor At Harvey Nichols Years
Posted: 17th, August 2007 | In: Royal Family Comments (7) | TrackBack | Permalink
