Britain had not experienced a royal tragedy quite like this one in many a generation meaning the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in the early hours of August 31, 1997, sent shockwaves through the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth like no other bereavement in living memory. While returning from a holiday in Sardinia via Paris with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed having officially divorced from Prince Charles just a year previously the car in which the pair were travelling in across the French capital smashed into the side of the Pont de lAma road tunnel. The now defunct News of the World released a special 6am edition on Sunday, August 31 the day of Dianas death revealing the tragic news, while all the other newspapers in Britain had to wait until the Monday morning to carry the story. With a headline that simply read DIANA DEAD in huge font, the News of the World alerted the British public to the events of that morning. Few front pages in British history have evoked quite so much emotion and few stick in the memory quite as vividly.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
