The year 1997, between August and early October, was the highlight for me as I was travelling from one country to other several countries. So why am I writing this blog about 1997? First, I read the NZ Herald and came across the article about the Royal Family that caused my eye. The article was about the opening of Princess Diana’s Memorial Garden and to mark the 60th Years of her age.
I decided to have another holiday break back in 1996, made the plan, contacted several cousins and friends in the UK, Europe, and Canada, and checked the airfare and accommodation prices in Ireland. I booked the date and month from August to early October 1997 and paid everything in advance plus my work leave. Everything was okay leading up to the 29th of August; my mother heard the tragedy over the radio while my youngest brother saw the breaking news on television. I was out visiting a friend and unaware of the breaking news until I got home. My mother said a violent car crash in Paris, France, where Princess Diana was killed and her partner. There may be some delays with the flights and funeral that spoiled my holiday plans. But, I said to my mother, “nothing will stop me from going on a long holiday.”
Off, I went on a holiday, and my first stopover was London, UK, because a young lady was living there for the first time from New Zealand. She was working as a service coordinator for the Deaf Community in Hamilton, New Zealand. Tania was the name of this young lady. Before arriving at Heathrow, UK, the air hostess said there would be a slight delay in landing due to heavy air traffic. So I was in the aeroplane and the other passengers and staff for about 30 minutes in the air. Obviously, the reason why there were so many high-profile people coming to Princess Diana’s funeral.
We landed at Heathrow Airport, and I made my way to the Bed and Breakfast hotel with Tania, who met me at the airport. I showed Tania around London as sightseeing. Ohh, what strong perfume floating everywhere we walked around London, and we passed the Kensington Palace. We saw massive rows to rows of flowers, bouquets of flowers, wreaths and many messages lying on the ground toward Buckingham Palace. We stopped briefly to look at everyone who paid respect and to mourn the loss of Princess Diana. Then, we walked away from this to the other side – Mayfair, Soho, and back to Chelsea, where I was staying. A couple days later, I took a train to Nottingham to see my cousin and his family on my late father’s mother’s side family. I was not bothering about the Royal family and staff preparing the funeral and enormous crowds in London. Still, I am glad to be out of London.
We did not watch the Royal family on TV or read the papers because we were travelling around Notts and Warwickshire before catching a flight to Vancouver, Canada. I flew to Vancouver and stayed there for several days before heading out to Edmonton, where I stayed with my mother’s new friends. They took me to visited the Deaf School called Alberta School for the Deaf (ASD), where I met several D/deaf children and the principal. They also showed me around Edmonton for several days.
I returned to the UK via Heathrow and took a rental car to Wales. I stayed in several bed and breakfast hotels and Patrick’s sister and her family’s place and drove around Wales. Before making my way to Warwickshire – Solihull, I caught up and stayed with my cousin and her family for a few nights. There was nothing to talk about the funeral and afterwards over Prince William and Harry. I took a flight to Ireland from Birmingham Airport, and the flight was delayed due to a mechanical fault. The air hostess gave me a new seat in the business class – oh wow! The flight to Dublin was quicker than I thought.
In the morning, I finally read the newspaper in the hotel lobby after breakfast. I saw there were severe fuss and drama over the royal family, the press, the partner’s family in the media. This was how I remember the media, the blame by the partner’s family, heartbreaking stories and the result of the violent car accident. But from that day, I completed my tour around Ireland and flew back to Birmingham, UK. I hired another rental car and Cambridgeshire – St Ives, where she got a little fella under 2 years old. I was completely forgotten about Princess Diana’s death, media and the drama of the Royal Family. I finished off my holiday in the UK before heading home to Hamilton via Auckland, New Zealand early October.
Céad míle fáilte! – A Hundred Thousand Welcomes! 
St. Ives, Cambridgeshire 
Edmonton
Oh, that was a long time ago – twenty-seven years since Princess Diana’s violent death.
Life in Eureka 
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