Short description
Following the death of Diana, the British media presented an image of the country united in grief, suggesting that the mourners who dominated media coverage represented public opinion. This title challenges these myths and provides an examination of popular attitudes during September 1997.
Long description
In the week following the death of Princess Diana, the media presented images of the entire British nation united in tearful hysterical grief to mourn their 'People's Princess'. However, despite this emphasis on the response of the 'people', their has so far been no detailed examination of popular attitudes or media coverage during September 1997. James Thomas radically challenges the myths surrounding the mourning with the first ever 'people's history' of the week. He combines a detailed survey of media coverage with analysis of a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence about popular attitudes, especially those of the 'ordinary' people across Britain who recorded their views and actions for the Mass-Observation of Britain project. 'Diana's Mourning' provides fascinating evidence of the diversity, complexity and ambiguity of popular reactions to Diana's death, and demonstrates that far from being united, the British people were in fact deeply divided in grief in September 1997. It not only questions the accuracy of media representations of popular opinion, but also illustrates the media's power to influence attitudes and shape the myth of a nation in mourning.
Review
'an enterprising and fascinating project' 'has the potential to attract considerable media attention in the UK and abroad' 'the author's previous work indicates his ability to deliver a lively and engaging piece of work'
Table of contents
- Introduction
- People's Histories
- A people's Princess?
- A Women's Mourning
- Divided in Grief
- England's Rose
- or Argentina's?
- Floral Revolution
- of Floral Fascism?
- Tragic news
- A veil of Tears
- Conclusion