'Diana CHANGED the Royal Family’ | 29th Anniversary of Diana’s death as Harry and Megan return to UK

In the meantime, let's talk about a day that shocked the world. 29 years ago today, can you believe, we were all waking up to the news that Diana, Princess of Wales, had died following a car crash in Paris. Comes as days ago, her youngest son, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, returned home with his family to live here in the UK. We're joining us now, Charles Ray, former Royal Correspondent at The Sun. Charles, can you believe it's been 29 years? What do you remember about this day 29 years ago? Well, it was one of the most unforgettable days of my life. I'd been out on the Saturday night with my wife to the pictures and I returned back at 11 o'clock, which was 12 o'clock in Paris, to get a phone call from a contact to tell me there had been a minor bump in Paris involving the Princess of Wales. I would have been working the following day in any case. And from that point on, from that time to four o'clock, when it was formally announced by the then Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, I was getting updates all the way through. And each phone call I was I was getting was worse than the one previously. Until, you know, I was supposed to be going to Paris at four o'clock in the morning. But, you know, when we heard that the princess had died, I went straight to the office. And, you know, that week was very dramatic for all sorts of all sorts of I still can't believe she's dead. I honestly cannot believe she's still she died. Yeah, I think it really did do something to this country, didn't it? So much so that the trauma of her death really does stay with us. I think at this point in time, Charles, even today, because the fallout of it has had massive implications on our royal family, had massive implications even on government. I remember at the time where the public were really turning against Her Majesty the Queen because they were expecting her to do more, to show more empathy, even though that was not the royal tradition to do that. Tony Blair, of course, one of his perhaps finest moments. He stepped up, didn't he? And I think many people remember that very fondly of the prime minister, president, prime minister of the time. How do you think that's that her death has changed life in Britain? Oh, death has changed, you know, life in Britain tremendously. I mean, and just one thing about the queen, the queen was caught in between a rock and a hard place. She was up at Balmoral as the present king is up there now today. And so she was she was caught between being queen and then a grandmother looking after her two grandsons who just lost a mother. And so I think that the criticism of the queen was a little bit unfair. I mean, she came down as soon as she possibly could. She came down a day or so just before the the funeral. But, you know, to answer your question, you know, she Diana changed the royal family from the moment that she became a member of the royal family, despite all the infighting with with her then husband. And she changed it, I think, for the better. And we're seeing today the way the royal family is. They've moved forward from an organisation which, you know, wanted to keep some members at that time wanted to keep the magic, what they call the magic of the royal family secret from the rest of us. Well, we're hearing all sorts of things and we're seeing all sorts of things that we would never have seen ever before. And that's all down to Diana. Charles, I wonder what Diana would have made of her sons and this falling out and the way that things stand at the moment where they're not they're not even on speaking terms. That is one of the tragedies of all this. If Diana had lived, we would not have had the mess that we have got today with Harry and Meghan. I firmly believe that she would have stepped in and she would have sat the boys down, no matter what ages they were, and banged their heads together. And she would have given some good counsel to both William and Harry about the people that they've chosen to marry and love. There's no question about that. And we wouldn't have had all this Brexit, sorry, Megxit and all this sort of stuff and the rows between the royal family. And that is one of the greatest tragedies that we've got, the boys, who were, when Diana was around, were very, very close. Diana always believed that Harry was going to form an important part of when William was king. He was going to be with him all the way through. Very good morning to you, Grant. I can't believe that it's been 29 years. What are your memories of that day? Well, you both made me feel old, because I was trying to remember how old I was. I think I was in my teens at this point. Everybody I remember, I mean, the extraordinary thing for me was getting to obviously work for the royal family. And I've always said this, you know, it was a few years after she had died. But she was still very much part of the royal household. She was still talked about. There was a lot of memories of her, especially at Highgrove, where she spent a lot of her time in the early years. But it's extraordinary how it still affects people, because I've just been away on a couple of speaking engagements. And the amount of people come up to me to talk about their memories of Princess Diana and reflect on that day as well is extraordinary. All these years on, it in some ways still feels like it was only yesterday. I think we can vividly remember the flowers, the sea of flowers outside palaces, all around the country, airfields. I remember I wasn't living too far from where her body was being flown in, actually, and my mum wanting to go and lay flowers there in northwest London, not far in northwest London. But this paused the country. There's not many moments in our history. I think the Queen, of course, the late Queen dying, paused the country. But this was so shocking. Diana was 36, I believe, when she passed away. She's a year older than I am now, just a few months older than I am now. And of course, was so beloved by so many people around the world. Yeah, I mean, she was very young. And you're right. I mean, I wasn't in London, but I've been told about the smell. I'm sure a lot of your listeners and viewers who were there would remember or talk about this extraordinary scent from all these flowers. I mean, I don't think we've ever seen anything quite like it. And I remember the outpouring of grief. And can I say, it was also a very changing moment for the it was a changing moment for the monarchy, because I don't even remember, but there was a lot of unhappiness at the time about the fact, obviously, the royal family at this time of the year in Scotland, which is where they always are. The Queen, quite right, was trying to protect William and Harry. There was always a lot of feeling that they should all be in London. There was a lot of, I mean, the reason we have the Union Jack flying above Buckingham Palace is because of Princess Diana's death. It was then agreed that that would fly at half mast. So she made so many changes through her life and also through her death, the royal family. And I've always said, I'm sure many times in the programme, a lot of the changes we see in the royal family today, the modern way that William and Catherine do things, the way that even the king does things. It's very much a template that she started. She very much modernised the royal family. And that's why we have the family we've got today. I wonder what the late Princess Diana would have made of what's going on with her sons now, Prince William and Prince Harry. I wonder if they'd even be in the position, Grant, where they're not speaking if the late Princess of Wales was still here. You know, it's one of those things, I've always said, I'm glad the Queen's no longer here to see what's going on, unfortunately. But it's the same with Diana. I mean, she's a mother and I'm sure she would have, like any mother, she would see both sides of the story from both her boys. But you can imagine the one thing she would hate is this fallout. The fact that, as we are aware, that, you know, the fact they're not speaking, the fact that this has now been going on for several years, that would, like any mother, that would upset her. And I have no doubt if she was here, she, just I think the king is doing, she'll be doing everything in her power to try to heal the rift. Not, as I've always said, not necessarily bringing them back into the royal family as such, but certainly to feel this rift between two brothers, because it's the worst thing. You get one chance at life, as she's shown us. You know, you get this one chance at life. We lost her at such a young age. And I'm sure that she would say to her boys, you know, you do get one chance. It's not a rehearsal and you must make the most of it.