DOCUMENT: Crime

Officials Joked About Diana Funeral Tab

Bill for 1997 rites compared to cost of upkeep for royal yacht

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Officials Joked About Diana Funeral Tab

MARCH 16--Just days after Princess Diana's 1997 death, British government officials joked about the final cost of her funeral, noting that the expected tab would amount to 'scarcely a deck on the Royal Yacht.' The below memo, released yesterday by U.K. government officials pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request, has been redacted to shield the name of the document's author as well as its recipients. According to British press reports, the snide joke was a reference to the government's decision to decommission the royal yacht Britannia, which cost £9 million annually to operate. Also included in the 60 pages of FOIA documents was a memo detailing the menu for the government's official post-funeral lunch and a comprehensive report written by Michael Jay, Britain's ambassador to France. Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997 following an automobile crash in a Paris tunnel. (7 pages)