The Royal Family really took a hit in the immediate aftermath of Diana's death. The perception was that Queen Elizabeth was cold and uncaring. It took the Queen about six days to make an announcement of Diana's death. In addition, one of the biggest criticisms is that they failed to fly the flag at Buckingham Palace at half-mast. There was a reason for that. The Union Jack only flies at Buckingham when the Queen is in residence--which she was not at the time--and it is never flown at half-mast because the monarchy never dies. The public' reaction, though, was maybe then was not the time for rigidly following rules.

Queen Elizabeth's announcements following Diana's death were a little tone death also. Initially, she failed to highlight Diana's charity work or her role as a mother--the two things the public most loved about her.

Time has shown that a lot of what was seen as coldness was a mix of being focused on Diana's kids and just generally being at a loss as to how to handle the situation--although make no mistake, the poor relations between the Queen and Diana played a role.

But the death was a turning point for the Royal Family. I don't want to go beyond twenty years, but in the aftermath, the Queen made a concerted effort to be less formal and less rigid. It has really helped transform the public' perception of the Royal Family.