10 years on & what was I doing on that day?
In the UK today no one could escape the fact that it is the tenth anniversary of Dianna Princes of Wales death! It was all over the news and this morning both main terrestrial TV channels had live coverage of the memorial in which her sons Prince Harry and Prince William paid tribute to her. Elton John was there with his parter David and at one stage I caught a glimpse of Elton in tears as Harry spoke of his personal loss.
Where was I and what was I doing on the night she died? I was in France not far from Paris where she died. The French people had told my boyfriend of her death and he had come rushing back to tell me. “Don’t be stupid, that’s impossible” I had said. you see, we had not seen or heard any English news. We were on our way to Spain and I was towing a large caravan. I quickly tuned the car radio into the BBC world service and it was soon confirmed Dianne morte as the French had said. For days after everywhere we went in France the paper shops were full of magazines with her picture on their front covers. On the morning of her funeral my boyfriend and me wore black and spent time listening to the service on the radio and walking around a sea front – totally skint. I was slowly reducing myself off methadone and at this point it had run out – I was feeling sick – withdrawing. I was in a strange land with a guy I called my boyfriend but although we had sex when we got stoned or drunk he still maintained he was straight. It was a fiery relationship. I wonder today if he is still alive? On our return to the UK some months later he had started injecting and he insisted he would never go there!!!
I had come very close to meeting her on a couple of occasions; In the 80’s I with a number of others had founded a charity for drug users with AIDS called Mainliners and as the coordinator of that charity I had been invited to many events in which she attended but alas our paths never crossed. It seems a little ironic that here i am today – ten years later and still in the same position – well not in exactly the same position, I am older, my family now doesn’t speak to me any more, and I spent 4 years in prison for the drug. No, what I mean by I’m in the same position is that today I am again sick with withdrawals but I have not used today. I am going to spend this weekend building web sites for myself and staying in. No more poison for Ian please!
