On Saturday morning the Princess's coffin, draped in her personal gold and crimson standard and crowned with a bouquet of lilies , was driven to her home at Kensington Palace. A crowd of some 300 mourners had gathered at the ornate black and gold wrought iron gates outside the Palace overlooking Kensington Gardens to see the hearse arrive. Accompanied by police outriders and an overhead helicopter it had passed slowly through the Saturday morning traffic, followed by Viscount Linley in his black Volkswagon beetle car. The coffin will remain at the Princess'sapartment for family members to pay their last respects before being transfered to the Chapel Royal prior to the funeral.
I understand that Princess Margaret's children, Lord Linley and Lady Sarah are looking after the funeral arrangements. It will be a private funeral for members of the Royal Family and the Princess's close friends and will take place at 3PM next Friday, 16 February, at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. In a sad coincidence it will be exactly 50 years to the day that her adored father, the late King George VI, was laid to rest there. The Princess's place of burial will be announced later. A public memorial service will be held at a later date, it was announced from Buckingham Palace.
Prince Charles, who had been visiting friends in Derbyshire, immediately flew to Sandringham on hearing the news of his aunt's death to be with his grandmother, the 101 year old Queen Mother. The news had been broken to her by Prince Philip who was spending the weekend nearby.
The Queen Mother is recovering from an aukward fall and the effects of a cold which she has had difficulty in shrugging off. Informed sources say that she is determined to attend her daughter's funeral despite her weakened condition. Her iron determination and guts are likely to prevail in any battle of wills on this with her cautious doctors and advisors.
Speaking on television from Sandringham, Prince Charles spoke movingly of his "darling" aunt: "The last few years with he rawful illness were hard for her to deal with, particularly as she was such a wonderfully vibrant woman with such a free spirit". Admitting that death must have come as a relief to his aunt who was both blind and crippled by the end, the Prince ended: "She loved life and lived it to the full. We shall all miss her terribly".
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