Taken just outside Windsor Castle, early in the morning of 31 August, 1997.

My mother and I had just flown in overnight from Sydney, and were met by my father (who had been in England for a conference) at Heathrow Airport. Our first night’s accommodation was in Windsor, but as we drove towards the castle from the airport, I noticed that the flag above it was at half-mast. My father mentioned that Diana and Dodi Fayed “had been in an accident”, but didn’t know much more than that. Remember, the car crash had only happened a few hours prior to this, and this was in the days before instant news updates via the Internet. All I said was, “Well, the Royal Family sure isn’t putting the flag at half-mast for Dodi!”

After parking the car at our B&B, we wandered the lonely streets of Windsor. The castle was closed and the entrance was guarded by one lonely policeman, who didn’t really have much idea of what was going on. I just happened to notice this lone bouquet of flowers at the base of the statue of Queen Victoria, and snapped this shot of possibly the very first flowers laid out in memory of Diana.

Camera: Pentax Z-70
Lens: Tamron 28–200mm
Exposure: unknown