The Queen never bowed to anyone during her 70-year reign, except once… Decades ago at a special state funeral, the monarch broke the ultimate royal tradition and bowed her head to the coffin as it went past – but it was for a very important reason…
The Royal Family is so steeped in tradition and protocol that its members were taught royal etiquette by household staff from a young age.
But amongst the plethora of long-established rules that need to be followed, the most important one has always been to bow (or curtsey) to the monarch.
The monarch, on the other hand, bows to no one.
And the late Queen Elizabeth II kept this tradition for her entire record breaking 70-year-long reign – with only one exception.
On the day of Princess Diana‘s funeral on September 6, 1997, while standing with her family, she broke the cardinal royal rule and bowed her head as the cortege passed.
The one woman who was accustomed to being bowed at by the world had suddenly and unexpectedly lowered her head and humbly honoured the princess.
It was not a quick one, nor was it shallow, but one done to recognise the wishes of her heartbroken subjects.
As although the Queen had rarely put a foot wrong during her 70-year reign, her response to Diana’s death the week before was one of the few episodes most experts now regard as a mistake.
On the day of Princess Diana’s funeral on September 6, 1997, while standing with her family, the Queen broke the cardinal royal rule and bowed her head as the funeral cortege passed by
The simple gesture marked one of the most powerful moves in the Queen’s reign at a time when the Royal Family faced significant pressure
The Queen arriving at the funeral service for Diana, Princess of Wales, at Westminster Abbey on September 6
This is because when she received the news of her tragic death in a car accident, which left two young boys, the heirs to the throne, without a mother – she was slow to respond.
After all, Diana was no longer a member of the Royal Family as she had divorced Prince Charles the previous year and lost the Her Royal Highness (HRH) title.
The Queen was used to the World War II era motto of ‘keep calm and carry on’ so, for nearly a week after Diana’s death, she said nothing.
Instead she chose to remain shut away in the heathered hills of Balmoral, 500 miles north of London.
But the family’s absence looked like a lack of compassion. It looked like they didn’t care.
The 5ft-tall wall of flowers placed outside Kensington Palace was an accurate barometer of public feeling: the Queen’s subjects were building a shrine to their lost princess and keeping vigils in the company of people who had been strangers but were now fellow mourners.
Without the monarch, around whom national feeling coalesces, their distress grew mutinous. There was, as it was labelled at the time, ‘a sub-republican rumbling of discontent’.
Prince Charles could hear it, and so could then prime minister Tony Blair, but the Queen remained deaf.
Princess Diana pictured weeks before her death in 1997 sitting and talking to members of a volleyball team who had suffered injuries from mines in Bosnia
The Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth view the thousands of flowers and tributes left outside Kensington Palace in memory of Diana
The flowers began arriving hours after Diana’s death was announced. The day before Diana was laid to rest, Her Majesty and Prince Philip were seen reading the cards and taking in the outpouring of love
A 12-year-old Prince Harry greets royal fans following the death of his mother outside of Kensington Palace
The young prince shook hands with the crowd outside of her former home, Kensington Palace
Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry went to meet royal fans outside Kensington Palace on September 5, 1997, after the death of Princess Diana
Prince Charles accompanied his sons after they arrived at Kensington Palace to view some of the flowers and mementos left in memory of their mother five days after her death
She failed to understand that in those febrile days between Diana’s death and her funeral, caring and being seen to care were the only currency which mattered to the crowds.
It was, appropriately, the flagpole on top of Buckingham Palace which became the lightning conductor for popular fury.
Bare of the Royal Standard because the Queen was not in residence, it stood in contrast to pretty much every other flagpole in the country from which a flag fluttered respectfully at half mast.
‘Where is our Queen?’ yelled the headlines. ‘Let the flag fly at half mast,’ demanded others.
It was thought it was time for precedent and protocol to give way to emotion just as it always had for the tactile, expressive Diana.
The only flag traditionally flown above Buckingham Palace is the royal standard, not the Union Flag.
And the flag was only used to signify when the monarch is in residence, flying when she is there and lowered when away.
Throughout history, the flag had never before been flown at half mast, even for the death of the queen’s beloved father and predecessor, King George VI.
But just like her decision to bow, the Queen once again ordered another unprecedented break in tradition by making sure the flag was flown at half mast above Buckingham Palace on the day of Diana’s funeral.
The Queen is pictured with the Diana, Princess of Wales, attending the Opening of Parliament in London in November 1982
Prince William was initially against walking in the procession from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey for Diana’s funeral – but Prince Philip encouraged the prince by saying: ‘If you don’t walk, you may regret it later. If I walk, will you walk with me?’
The Earl of Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry and the then Prince of Wales are seen waiting as Diana’s coffin prepares to leave, following the funeral service at Westminster Abbey
Tony Blair later claimed credit for persuading the Queen to return to London and pay a public tribute to the princess to satisfy the public demand.
The events were depicted in the 2006 film The Queen, written by Peter Morgan – who went on to create the phenomenally successful The Crown about the whole history of the royals since the Queen came to power.
Historian Dominic Sandbrook said of Blair’s intervention: ‘He understood this, the new sentimentalism that this wasn’t a sort of stiff-upper-lip 1950’s country anymore.
‘That the sort of ritual display of empathy, which he was very good at, and the Queen wasn’t very good at, that was an important part of our political culture that’s becoming.
‘Nobody likes to be in somebody else’s debt. And I think the Queen probably did feel simultaneously he had saved her. But at the same time, she didn’t like the fact that he’d done it or like him for it.’
The royals also showed they cared when, in the lead up to the funeral, Charles took Harry by the hand and they appeared with William at the gates of Balmoral to see the flowers which had been left there.
The royals also appeared outside the gates of Kensington Palace to thank the thousands of royals fans there for the sea of flowers provided.
And when the day of the funeral came, Princess Diana was laid to rest before the eyes of her family, friends and the world in one of the most-viewed television spectacles of all time.
In the days leading up to the funeral, the Queen had faced criticism for not showing emotion. It has been reported that then-prime minister Tony Blair encouraged her to drop her guard. Here, Her Majesty is seen wiping away a tear upon entering Westminster Abbey.
Blair later claimed credit for persuading the Queen to return to London and pay a public tribute to the princess to satisfy the public demand. He is pictured at the funeral of the Princess of Wales in 1997
Although she was no longer married to Charles, Diana was given a royal funeral. As such, Princess Diana was buried in the traditional lead-lined coffin, which weighed an astounding 700 pounds
Like her life, Diana’s funeral had no shortage of controversy, from her brother’s eulogy spliced with thinly veiled attacks at the Royal Family and media, to behind-the-scenes conversations that decided how William and Harry were expected to act in the face of the remarkable tragedy.
Overall, the day was marked by the unspeakable sadness surrounding the princess’s death.
Itremains the most-watched live event in the UK, with 31 million viewers, compared to her wedding, which was viewed by 22 million people in the UK, and 750 million globally.
It had a series of iconic moments, from Elton John singing a rewritten version of Candle in the Wind, to Tony Blair reading a Bible verse.
But looking back on the sad day, perhaps the most significant was Elizabeth’s unprecedented decision to bow.
After all, she and her daughter-in-law’s relationship had become strained due to Prince Charles and Diana’s well-publicised relationship breakdown – dubbed ‘The War of the Waleses’.
It fell to the Queen to finally personally intervene and order the quarrelling couple to divorce after years of tit-for-tat blows in the press and on television.
But because of the public’s affection towards Diana, the Queen realised she had to pay her respects properly to win back the support of the people.
The Queen and other senior royals refused to applaud after Lord Spencer delivered his vitriolic eulogy at Princess Diana’s funeral, even though her sons, William and Harry, did
Elton John and Princess Diana had been friends since 1981. The singer later shared: ‘Me singing Candle in The Wind at her funeral was one of the most surreal things I have ever done’
Although she bowed every year to the unknown soldier on Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph, her bow to Diana is understood to be the first time she had bowed to an individual during her time on the throne.
Despite being almost 30 years old, clips of the moment have been viewed hundred of thousands of times on YouTube, with commenters expressing their appreciation of the Queen’s decision.
One posted: ‘I feel like this was a gesture also for her grandsons. It is lovely that they have the knowledge that the Queen, their grandmother, honored their mother in this final moment.’
Another said they ‘couldn’t believe it when the Queen did this’, adding ‘this was huge at the time which showed how important Diana was. The Queen bows to no one and to see this brought tears to my eyes’.
A third chimed in: ‘The Queen knew she had to do something grand. The people wanted Queen Elizabeth to acknowledge Princess Diana’s tragic death. I’m sure the Queen cared in her own way.’
While a fourth commented: ‘She bowed. It proves life does not go by the rule book even for Queen Elizabeth. Traditions can be improvised always. Everything in this world may change according to situation & circumstances.’
A contemplative Princess of Wales sits on a step at Highgrove House in July 1986
But it is not just in Britain that Queen Elizabeth II’s extraordinary bow is remembered, as commentators around the world took note of the act of respect.
Italian writer Alberto Angela said the simple gesture marked one of the most powerful moves in the Queen’s reign at a time when the Royal Family faced significant pressure.
He said: ‘That bow is perhaps one of the strongest images in her entire reign.
‘Even in the darkest hour, Elizabeth put her mission first and demonstrated that she can find inspiration even from the most painful confrontation, the one with the woman who had won the hearts of her subjects.’
