Actress Tamsin Greig has paid tribute to Princess Diana.
The ‘Episodes’ star is one of a number of well-known people who have opened up about when they first heard about the shocking death of the royal in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997.
Recalling that she only found out after passing a weeping woman in the street, Tamsin told the Radio Times magazine ahead of the 20th anniversary: "We thought something had happened to her family, because it seemed so personal. I felt amazed that we didn’t know.
"It was a deeply strange feeling and I remember watching people grieving and slowly starting to understand how shocking Diana’s death really was."
News presenter Martyn Lewis was woken up and called into work by his bosses.
He remembered: "There was a dark grey suit, white shirt and black tie kept in a wardrobe at the BBC for occasions like this and that’s what I changed into to announce the news of her death…
"There was a moment I lost it for a brief few seconds. I felt myself start to go…
"It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done in that it was a six-and-a-half-hour stint that we couldn’t plan.
"There was no script for the first few hours, we had to fly by the seat of our pants.
"When I came off air at half past one in the afternoon I still felt full of adrenaline and nerves.
"The atmosphere in the newsroom was calm, although as I left I saw some secretaries had clearly been sobbing."
And actress Gemma Jones was "very, very shocked".
She said: "I was at home and switched the television on and heard the news.
"My elderly father was living with me so I went into his room to tell him and we sat and watched the TV for most of the morning. I had a small child at the time so I was very affected."
Stars pay tribute to Princess Diana
