ENGLAND: Princess Diana to be remembered in Anglican service
Episcopal News Service. August 30, 2007 [083007-04]
Jim Rosenthal, Editor of the Anglican Communion News Service
The 10th anniversary of the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, will be commemorated in a memorial service on August 31 at the Guards Chapel in Westminster, London. Those attending the service have been personally invited by Prince William and Prince Harry. Among the names are people involved in the charities that Diana supported as well as her personal friends and members of the Royal Family.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will travel from Scotland to attend the service at which London Bishop Richard Chartres will give the address. The service will be broadcast on BBC1 and ITV1 from 11 a.m. The service is private.
Music at the service will include hymns and anthems beloved by the late Princess. Hymns will be I Vow to Thee my Country (her favorite hymn), The Lord's My Shepherd, Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer and Be Thou My Vision. Music will include Serge Rachmoninov's O Virgin Mother of God, Gabriel Faure's In paradissum, Sir Edward Elgar's Nimrod from the Enigma Variations, arranged by composer Andrew Grant using the Requiem Mass text of the Agnus Dei, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Ave Verum, sung by the choirs of the Chapel Royal, the Guards Chapel and Eton College. Diana's sons, Prince Harry and Prince William, who attended Eton, will read the lessons. The music will be played by the Royal Academy of Music orchestra, of which the late Princess was president.
Prayers written by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will be offered in the service, conducted by the Guards Chapel Chaplain to the Household Division, the Rev. Patrick Irwin. The Byzantine-styled chapel, with exquisite mosaics, is situated in the Wellington Barracks and is open to the public for Sunday services and visits.
The chapel was bombed during World War II during a Sunday service where many soldiers lost their lives. The chapel is that of the Household Division thus familiar to Prince Harry and Prince William.