“2.5 BILLION PEOPLE WATCHED — AND ONE SONG BROKE THEM ALL.” London was wrapped in gray that morning. Flowers piled high outside Kensington Palace. Inside Westminster Abbey, no one moved. Then a piano rolled forward. Quietly. Sir Elton John walked to it, slower than usual, eyes heavy, hands unsure. When he touched the keys, the first notes of “Candle in the Wind” floated out. But the words had changed. Not Marilyn. Diana. His friend. England’s rose. Some bowed their heads. Some closed their eyes. Even the walls seemed to listen. It wasn’t a performance. It felt like a goodbye the whole world needed to hear.
On the morning of Princess Diana’s funeral, London did not feel like a capital city. It felt like a living…