GOODBYE, ENGLAND'S ROSE

           The heartfelt goodbye to the people’s princess sums up how everyone felt about her tragic death.

            Astonished tourists fighting back their tears watched En­glishmen weep unashamedly in the streets of London.

            And the grief at her senseless death stretched all around the globe — from America to the Far East.

             Strangers everywhere clutched each other, sobbing bitter­ly, mourning a woman who was just at ease in a home for chil­dren with AIDS in Harlem as she was at a glittery royal pre­miere with Tom Cruise.

              We loved her because we knew her. We watched her story unfold in pictures. She was the most photographed woman in the world. The camera caught her every mood — sparkling at gala events, roaring with laughter on a water ride with her boys, fighting back tears as her marriage crumbled.

            And at the end, the lens that followed so joyously the mor­ning of her fairy-tale wedding solemnly chronicled her sad fi­nal journey through the gates of her family home Althorp — where she was laid to rest in a black dress.

             Di won our hearts because she wasn’t afraid to wear hers on her sleeve. She laughed heartily and cried when her tumul­tuous life overwhelmed her. She loved pop music. Her favou­rite singer was Chris de Burgh. He said sadly after her death, «A light has gone out on earth — and a new star shines bright­ly in heaven».

            Diana was not only a beautiful woman, but she was also an outstanding personality. There were pictures of Diana in eve­ry country in the world- Everybody wanted to see them. That is why more than a million people came to London to remem­ber her. Nearly all of them carried flowers. They put thousands of flowers in front of Diana’s home, Kensington Palace. Di­ana’s brother and her two sons, William and Harry, followed the coffin along the streets of London. Prince Charles and the Qween’s husband, Prince Philip, walked with them.

             People watched and cried. They listened to Elton John’s song «Goodbye, England’s Rose».

QUESTIONS:

1.  What does the heartfelt goodbye to the people’s prin­cess sum up?

2.   What did the astonished tourists do?

3.   Why did we love princess Diana?

4.   What did the camera catch?

5.    Why did Di win our hearts? 

6.    Who was her favourite singer?

7.    Why did more than a million people come to London?

8.    Who followed the coffin along the streets of London?

VOCABULARY:

heartfelt — искренний

to weep (wept) — плакать

to clutch — схватить, зажать

to job — рыдать

to unfold — развертываться

to sparkle — сверкать, искриться

to crumble — разрушаться

coffin — гроб

to chronicle — заносить в летопись

tumultuous — шумный      

to overwhelm — переполнять, овладевать

to wear one’s heart on / upon one’s sleeve — не (уметь) скрывать своих чувств, не отличаться сдержанностью — душа нараспашку.