DATE: Wednesday, September 3, 1997          TAG: 9709030424

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FAWN VRAZO, KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS 

DATELINE: LONDON                            LENGTH:   69 lines

FOCUS: A UNIQUE FUNERAL

Saturday's services for Princess Diana reflect a compromise between the desire of the royals for a private affair and the needs of so many in Britain to pay their respects. MEMO: For complete article see microfilm. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, will take place Saturday in

Westminster Abbey, left, in central London. She will be given a

"unique" funeral befitting the mother of a future king and allowing

the public to express its strong attachment to the late princess.

Diana will be interred in the Spencer family chapel at the Church of

St. Mary the Virgin in Great Brington, about 60 miles north of

London. The plans were made in accordance with her family's wishes.

Map

Graphic

Researched by The Virginian-Pilot Library Staff

THE ABBEY

Westminster Abbey, officially named Collegiate Church of St.

Peter in Westminster, is neither a cathedral nor a parish church. It

functions as a ``royal peculiar'' under the jurisdiction of a dean

and chapter, subject only to the sovereign. It is the site of

national events such as coronations, royal weddings and funerals.

Many of Britain's sovereigns are buried there as well as statesmen

and distinguished citizens.

605 - Legend relates that the first church was built by Sebert,

king of the East Saxons.

1065 - A Benedictine abbey, constructed by Edward the Confessor,

was consecrated.

1066 - Scene of coronation of William the Conqueror and every

subsequent coronation.

1245 - Henry III had all but the nave razed and built the

present abbey church.

1300s - Rebuilding of the nave began, continuing intermittently

until Tudor times.

1308 - Coronation Chair placed and thereafter used at the

crowning of every sovereign.

1400 - Geoffrey Chaucer buried; his simple memorial was the first

in Poets' Corner.

1503 - Henry VII's Chapel is begun; since 1725, it has been

designated the Chapel of the Order of the Bath. The east end became

the Royal Air Force Chapel to honor squadrons that took part in the

1940 Battle of Britain.

1560 - Refounded by Queen Elizabeth I as Collegiate Church of St.

Peter in Westminster.

1745 - Western towers completed, designed by Sir Christopher Wren

and built by Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James.

1920 - Remains of the Unknown Warrior brought from Flanders and

buried in the center of the nave near the West Door.

1947 - Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, who became

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

1953 - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Sources: www.westminster-abbey.org, Encyclopaedia Britannica,

Americana

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