Mourning Diana : Nation, Culture and the Performance of Grief

The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31 August 1997, prompted public demonstrations of grief on an almost unprecedented scale. Global media coverage of the events following Diana's death appeared to create an international 'community of mourning'. However, such scenes of 'mass grief' were shadowed by significant social and political tensions. The mourning (and not mourning) of Diana seemed to cross and yet confirm social divisions, to shift and at the same time redraw political boundaries.