The Queen And I

Sun Herald

Sunday February 25, 2007

By MICHAEL BLAXLAND

A SENIOR Anglican cleric who supported Prince Charles after the death of Princess Diana believes he may have been misrepresented in The Queen, nominated for best picture in tomorrow's Oscars.

The movie, which stars Academy Awards best actress favourite Helen Mirren, details events following the death of Diana on August 31, 1997.

Martin Draper, then the archdeacon of France, was called to Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital where Diana had been taken after the car crash in which she and boyfriend Dodi Fayed were killed.

"I was woken by the British Ambassador and rushed to the hospital," Canon Draper said.

The leading Anglican priest in France prayed the traditional commendation for the dying over her body, and later escorted Prince Charles to the hospital. He was with the heir to the British throne as his wife's body was taken to the airport for its journey back to England.

"I haven't yet seen the film The Queen, but I understand there's a credit which identifies an actor playing a Catholic priest," Canon Draper said.

"I'm not sure who [director] Stephen Frears was talking to, as I'm an Anglican priest.

"There were some claims that Diana had converted to Catholicism and had taken the Catholic last rites but I knew this wasn't the case.

"It was August and the Catholic hospital chaplain was on holidays."

Now retired, Canon Draper is visiting Newcastle.

He said the outpouring of grief which followed Princess Diana's death and last week's call by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney for stricter protocols surrounding funerals could all be linked to the drift of the present generation from "church".

Canon Draper said young people felt unconnected with religion.

"There's now a lack of religious culture," he said. "Only about 20 years ago church baptism and marriage was the norm. It's a Western cultural issue.

"Muslims coming to live in Western countries would consider it unthinkable not to bring their children up religiously. In the future, if someone is a young believer it's going to be more likely that he or she will be a Muslim."

A Sydney Catholic clampdown on "jovial" eulogies and "disrespectful" excesses at funerals was also linked to unfamiliarity with church practices.

"People are unable to deal with death and have to turn it into a celebration of life," Canon Draper said.

"That's why the Diana thing was so big. That enormous display of public grief was probably the first instance of this new phenomenon."

Canon Draper said this was also part of the reason for the huge response in Australia to the death of Steve Irwin and Peter Brock.

"People are now living out their need for ritual vicariously by outpourings for celebrities," he said.

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