SUPPORT OUR JOURNALISM: Please consider donating to keep our website running and free for all - thank you!

British RoyalsPrince & Princess of WalesThe Sussexes

Special tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales to open at Buckingham Palace

As the 20th anniversary of her death approaches, Buckingham Palace is set to host a tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, as part of the summer opening.

Beginning this weekend, visitors to the Queen’s ‘office’ in London will be able to step into Diana’s world as the tribute exhibition recreates part of her sitting room at Kensington Palace. With items chosen by Princes William and Harry “to reflect their mother’s commitment to duty and their personal memories of her,” the display features Diana’s eclectic music collection including cassette tapes of albums by Rod Stewart, Pavarotti and Lionel Richie.

The exhibition of rarely seen personal belongings has been set up in Buckingham Palace’s Music Room which has been the site of man royal christenings including that of Prince William, and is centred around the late princess’s desk, at which she read and responded to official correspondence, surrounded by pictures of her beloved sons.

A statement on the Royal Collection Trust website says of the exhibition: “From the outset of her marriage, The Princess undertook many official duties in support of The Queen, both at home and abroad. As a tribute to The Princess, this work is remembered through a special display in the Music Room.”

Other items on display include a boarding school wooden trunk inscribed with ‘D. Spencer’, which Dina took with her to West Heath Girls’ School in Kent, her first portable typewriter, a pair of ballet shoes, and a Cartier silver calendar with the birthdays of Diana, Charles, William and Harry engraved on it – a gift from then-president Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy during Charles and Diana’s official visit to the US in 1985.

The exhibition is the first tribute of its kind to Diana at Buckingham Palace and a Royal Collection spokesperson has called the special display “very personal, very emotive”.

3 Comments

Comments are closed.