Archbishop to pen Diana prayer
August 12, 2007
Christopher Morgan

PRINCES William and Harry have invited the Archbishop of Canterbury to compose a special prayer in memory of their mother to be said at this month’s memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of her death.

Rowan Williams’s prayer for Diana, Princess of Wales, is also likely to be circulated to Anglican parishes around the country to mark the anniversary on August 31.

Mourners at the service, which will be shown on BBC1, will be led by the Queen and other senior members of the royal family. Gordon Brown and his two predecessors as prime minister - Tony Blair and Sir John Major - are also expected to be present at the Guards Chapel in Wellington Barracks, London.

The prayer is expected to reflect Williams’s strong feelings about the death of Diana. Writing shortly after her fatal car crash, he described the response from the public as “a potent lament for a lost sacredness, a magical and highly personal but equally a ritualised focus for public loyalty”. the rest