If you’re seen the Helen Mirren film, The Queen, then you know that the days following Princess Diana’s death were rough for the royal family.
The Queen faced immense backlash for staying silent publicly about Diana.
But when she finally faced the crowds outside Buckingham Palace, an iconic moment occurred that became one of the most powerful images from that sad time.
A little girl, Katie Jones, handed the Queen a bouquet of flowers – not to join the sea of flowers in Diana’s honour – but for the Queen herself.
Almost 20 years on, that little girl who captured hearts the world over has spoken out about what happened.
In a documentary, which has aired in the UK this morning, Diana: 7 Days That Shook The Windsors, Katie tells the story of that iconic moment from her perspective.
“I was waving my flowers and, and she (the Queen) came over and asked me if she wanted me to go and put them down with all the rest of the flowers. And I said no, they’re for you ma’am,” she said.
“She’d held my hand at this point, she was shaking. She sort of questioned me like “are you sure?”.
“I was like, “I think you deserve them, I think you’ve done the right thing staying with your grandsons”. I think I actually said you know “if my mum had just died, I’d want my grandma with me”.”
So poignant was the moment that it even featured in the film, The Queen.
Katie’s mother Enid told the documentary that attitude of the crowd outside Buckingham Palace that day was “unpleasant”.
“It was something which I have never, ever seen before in any Royal occasion, ever,” she said.
“You know, usually when the Queen goes by. People clap, people cheer, people wave. They don’t just stand there.
“I actually think perhaps what Kate said struck home and people realised that perhaps they’d been totally unfair to someone who after all has given her life to our country.”
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