A sea of tears for Princess Diana's funeral

Princess Diana's funeral, held less than a week after her shocking death in a high-speed Paris car crash, drew more than a million people to London. Millions more watched on TV.

Nearly two decades after its original publication, The Associated Press is making available correspondent Maureen Johnson's Sept. 6, 1997, report on the event.

FILE- In this Saturday, Sept. 6, 1997 file photo, Britain's Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Earl Charles Spencer, Prince William and Prince Philip, from left, stand as the coffin bearing the body of Princess Diana is taken into Westminster Abbey in London. It has been 20 years since the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris and the outpouring of grief that followed the death of the "people's princess." (AP Photo/John Gaps III, Pool, File)

With timeless splendor, a sea of tears and a brother's rage, Britain bade farewell today to its "Queen of Hearts," a million mourners or more seeing Diana, Princess of Wales, to her final rest after a life of golden days, heartache and too few years.

"All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity," said her brother, Charles.

But the ninth Earl Spencer was bitter, too, in his eulogy from the pulpit of Westminster Abbey, taking aim at a gossip-hungry press that may have contributed to Diana's death, and vowing to keep the royal family from smothering her sons in "duty and tradition."

Hushed throngs strained to see the stately procession bearing Diana's coffin to the abbey funeral, as it passed at "dead march" step through corridors of humanity massed in central London to bid godspeed to the much-loved but star-crossed princess.

At the funeral's end, just after noon, the nation fell silent in a one-minute tribute, as echoes absorbed the final strains of the abbey choir's "Come, enjoy rewards and crowns I have prepared for you."

FILE - In this Sept. 6, 1997, file photo, Princess Diana's casket is carried out of Westminster Abbey after her funeral in London. It has been 20 years since the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris and the outpouring of grief that followed the death of the "people's princess." (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

A motorcade then carried the princess's remains north on a 75-mile route to her ancestral home, Althorp Park, where a grave awaited on a quiet, wooded island in the estate grounds.

The hearse was quickly blanketed with flowers tossed from the grieving crowds. As it entered Althorp, police shut the estate's gates, and Diana's family took her into the privacy she had often craved - a burial service attended by a few Spencers, her former husband, Prince Charles, and her beloved sons. The Spencer family said no details of the burial would be made public.

Charles and his sons left Althorp at about 6 p.m. (1 p.m. EDT), police said. They were believed to be going to Charles' home, Highgrove, in Gloucestershire in western England.

Within Westminster Abbey's hallowed and soaring walls, black-clad ranks of royals, glittering rows of celebrities, and hundreds of ordinary people whose lives felt her human touch had gathered to hear words of praise and prayer for Diana, killed at age 36 last Sunday in a Paris automobile crash many blame on pursuing photographers.

FILE - In this Sept. 6, 1997, file photo, soldiers of the Welsh Guards carry the casket containing the body of Diana, Princess of Wales, into Westminster Abbey in London. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

"Although a princess, she was someone for whom, from afar, we dared to feel affection," said Westminster's dean, The Very Rev. Dr. Wesley Carr.

But along with his own paean of love and prayer, Diana's brother delivered an indictment of the media, in a eulogy that drew long applause in the abbey and across London, where hundreds of thousands watched the funeral on giant TV screens.

"She talked endlessly of getting away from England, mainly because of the treatment that she received at the hand of the newspapers," said Earl Spencer, 33, holding his tone of rage under steely control.

Spencer also alluded to his sister's troubled years within the royal family, which took away Diana's "Her Royal Highness" title when she was divorced last year from Prince Charles.

She was "someone with natural nobility who was classless, who proved in the last year she needed no royal title to generate her particular brand of magic," he said.

The earl vowed he would protect Diana's sons, Prince William, 15 and second in line to the British throne, and Prince Harry, 12, from the press and from being swallowed by the "duty and tradition" of royalty.

FILE - In this Sept. 6, 1997, file photo, Britain's Prince Charles casts a concerned glance towards his sons Prince William, left, and Prince Harry as they wait for the coffin of Princess Diana to be loaded into a hearse outside Westminster Abbey in London. It has been 20 years since the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris and the outpouring of grief that followed the death of the "people's princess." (AP Photo/John Gaps III, File)

Amid the sorrowful tones of Bach, Verdi and Purcell in the abbey, the 2,000 mourners also heard a gentle pop hymn from Diana's friend Elton John, a song that left her boys in tears.

"Goodbye England's rose," he sang, "... your candle's burned out long before your legend ever will."

The ceremonies today, a day when this nation shut down as for the death of a true monarch, will help make the legend of Diana.

Six gleaming black horses had pulled a gun carriage bearing the coffin down the city's boulevards and avenues in the cool sunshine. Slowly striding behind on the last mile of the 3 -mile journey were her adored sons, heads bowed; their father, Prince Charles; their grandfather Prince Philip; and the earl.

Hundreds of representatives of the charities Diana championed trailed behind, some in wheelchairs, some in nurses' whites.

The coffin was shrouded in the royal flag and topped with white lilies, tulips and roses, one wreath each from her brother and her sons. A card propped atop the casket read simply, "Mummy."

Sobs and anguished cries of "Diana!" were heard. Some in the throng, often 50 deep, tossed flowers as the cortege passed. "No one can hurt you now," a banner read. "Just feel the love."

As the cortege passed Buckingham Palace, before the men joined the procession, the royal family, led by the queen, bowed their heads.

Police estimated many more than 1 million people lined the sidewalks and filled London's parks to watch the requiem on TV screens. But silence reigned, seldom broken by more than the clop of hooves and the bell's sad call.

Uncounted millions of others around world watched on television as the British people buried the earl's daughter and former kindergarten teacher who became perhaps the most-photographed woman on Earth.

In the six days since the princess's death, there has been a remarkable outpouring of public grief. Diana's astonishing popularity, which had troubled the royal family in life, was now humbling it in death.

"They (the royals) must get closer to the people to survive," said Doreen Duffell, who joined a subdued throng before the procession. "Di was the only one who showed expression in her face. The expressions of the others hardly ever change."

That very sentiment had led Queen Elizabeth II on Friday to shatter royal protocol by making her first live, televised address since the early days of her 45-year reign to pay tribute to her former daughter-in-law, describing her as a "remarkable person" whose memory would be cherished.

Diana herself had once said she aspired most of all to be "a queen in people's hearts." And on Saturday, the multitudes crowned her - mourners pinning simple playing cards to the chests.

Among the 2,000 guests gathered for the 45-minute funeral were first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, royalty from across Europe, celebrity friends of Diana from the worlds of entertainment and fashion - including movie stars Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, and opera's Luciano Pavarotti - and many others who had known her kindness.

Pool television cameras were operated under instructions not to show the royal family during the service.

The mixture of old and new at the royal church - solemn choral music, Diana's favorite hymn, "I Vow To Thee My Country," and Elton John's song, originally written for Marilyn Monroe and reworked for Diana - reflected her life and passions.

Hugh Mulligan, an AP special correspondent who was inside the abbey, said he was reminded of covering Charles and Diana's wedding in St. Paul's Cathedral when he saw designer David Emanuel weeping openly at John's song.

Then, in 1981, Diana emerged from a glass coach to march up the aisle in an ivory taffeta dress of his design, trailing a 25-foot train, to become the Princess of Wales. Today it was just as glorious, with crowds in the streets and sunshine slanting through stained-glass windows, but the muffled bells were tumbling out a dirge from their tall towers.

That "fairy-tale" marriage, between an awkwardly beautiful young woman just out of her teens and a prince 12 years her senior, deteriorated year by year. Diana complained he was cold and the royal family unfeeling. Charles' friends said she was a moody, difficult wife. Both eventually admitted to extramarital affairs.

But, meanwhile, the free-spirited, radiant Princess of Wales had won a rapt following worldwide, people who admired her style and spunk.

In the year since her divorce, which the queen had demanded, Diana seemed to be rebuilding her life. Then, last Sunday, it all ended in the twisted wreckage of a Mercedes sedan in a Paris tunnel, when she was killed her with her new beau, Dodi Fayed, and their driver in a high-speed flight from paparazzi photographers.

Many blamed the photographers. Later it was also reported by prosecutors that a blood test showed the driver was legally drunk.

At least six photographers and one press motorcyclist are under formal investigation in Paris on possible charges of manslaughter and failure to aid accident victims.

Even to the end, fame dogged the former Diana Spencer.

She originally was expected to be buried in the village church at Great Brington, near Althorp Park, where 20 generations lie at rest. But instead a site within the estate was chosen, for fear the hamlet would become overrun with sightseers and tourists.

DENVER (AP) — A couple who owned a Colorado funeral home where authorities last year discovered 190 decaying bodies were indicted on federal charges that they misspent nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds on vacations, cosmetic surgery, jewelry and other personal expenses, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

The indictment reaffirms accusations from state prosecutors that Jon and Carie Hallford gave families dry concrete instead of cremated ashes and alleges the couple buried the wrong body on two occasions.

The couple also collected more than $130,000 from families for cremations and burial services they never provided, the indictment said.

The 15 charges brought by the federal grand jury are in addition to more than 200 criminal counts already pending against the Hallfords in Colorado state court for corpse abuse, money laundering, theft and forgery.

The federal offenses carry potential penalties of 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, the indictment said.

On Monday, the owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs entered a federal courtroom bound in shackles as they made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott Varholak.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Neff argued the couple were a flight risk, after they allegedly fled to Oklahoma last October when the decaying bodies were first discovered and before their arrest on state charges on Nov. 8.

“They simply evaporated from the community,” Neff said.

The judge did not immediately decide if the couple should be released pending trial. He set an arraignment hearing for Thursday.

Carie Hallford’s attorney, Chaz Melihercik, said he would argue against detention at the next hearing. Jon Hallford’s public defender, Kilie Latendresse, told the judge that he had been following his bond conditions in the state case and that detention was unnecessary.

The new charges and accusations triggered more anguish for families who sent their loved ones to the funeral home.

Every new revelation about the case is a jolt to Tanya Wilson, who hired Return to Nature to cremate her mother’s remains. Wilson spread the ashes with family in Hawaii. After the grim discovery, Wilson was told those ashes weren’t actually her mother, whose body has since been identified among the 190 decaying bodies.

Hundreds of family members, like Wilson, had thought they put their loved one’s to rest, or clutched their ashes close, only to have that healing torn away.

“I honestly feel like I have whiplash, and I can’t hold onto one emotion long enough to be able to process it,” Wilson said over the phone.

Before the new indictment was unsealed, public records showed the Hallfords had been plagued by debt — facing evictions and lawsuits for unpaid cremations even as they spent lavishly on themselves.

The indictment alleges the couple used $882,300 in pandemic relief funds to buy items that also included a vehicle, dinners, tuition for their child and cryptocurrency. The fraud involved three loans obtained between March 2020 and October 2021, authorities said.

Previously released court documents from the state abuse of corpse case reveal more details about what they were spending money on.

They bought a GMC Yukon and an Infiniti that together were worth over $120,000 — enough to cover cremation costs twice over for all of the bodies found in their business’ facility last October, according to previous court testimony from FBI Agent Andrew Cohen.

“That is just thoroughly disgusting for a lack of a better term, just reading about all the money that they had,” said Wilson. “Just the price of the two vehicles that he bought ... it was enough to just do right by these families.”

The Hallfords also paid for trips to California, Florida and Las Vegas, as well as $31,000 in cryptocurrency, laser body sculpting and shopping at luxury retailers like Gucci and Tiffany & Co., according to court documents.

The couple have not yet entered pleas to the state’s abuse of corpse charges.

The Hallfords left in their wake a trail of unpaid bills, disgruntled landlords and unsettled business disputes.

The couple once claimed to a former landlord that they would settle their rent when they were paid for work they had done for the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the COVID-19 pandemic. The business’ website featured logos for FEMA and the Department of Defense.

FEMA has said they did not have any contracts with the funeral home. A defense department database search also showed no contracts with Return to Nature.

The company failed to pay more than $5,000 in 2022 property taxes at one of its locations, public records show. Then last year, the business was slapped with a $21,000 judgement for not paying for “a couple hundred cremations,” according to public records and attorney Lisa Epps with Wilbert Funeral Services crematory.

The Hallfords' alleged lies, money laundering, forgery and manipulation over the past four years devastated hundreds of grieving family members.

The 190 bodies were discovered last year in a bug-infested storage building in the small town of Penrose, about two hours south of Denver. Some of the remains had languished since 2019.

An investigation by The Associated Press found that the Hallfords likely sent fake ashes and fabricated cremation records to families who did business with them. They appear to have written on death certificates given to families, along with ashes, that the cremations were performed by Wilbert Funeral Services, which denied performing them for the funeral home at that time.

As the decomposing bodies were identified, families learned that the ashes they'd received could not have been the remains of their loved ones. Court documents allege at least some were dry concrete.

As far back as 2020, there were concerns raised about the business’s improper storage of bodies. But there was no follow-up by regulators, letting the collection of bodies grow to nearly 200 over the following three years.

Colorado has some of weakest funeral home regulations in the country. Funeral home operators in the state don’t have to graduate high school, let alone study mortuary science or pass an exam.

The Hallfords case and others in recent years spurred Colorado lawmakers to introduce legislation to strengthen oversight with rules that are in line with or exceed those in other states. Those bills are currently moving through the state Legislature.

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

FILE - This combination of booking photos provided by the Muskogee County, Okla., Sheriff's Office shows Jon Hallford, left, and Carie Hallford, the owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home. The couple who owned the Colorado funeral home — where 190 decaying bodies were discovered last year — have been indicted on federal charges for fraudulently obtaining nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds from the U.S. government, according to court documents unsealed Monday, April 15, 2024. (Muskogee County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

FILE - A hearse and debris can be seen at the rear of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, Oct. 5, 2023, in Penrose, Colo. The couple who owned the Colorado funeral home — where 190 decaying bodies were discovered last year — have been indicted on federal charges for fraudulently obtaining nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds from the U.S. government, according to court documents unsealed Monday, April 15, 2024. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP, File)