ON the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, Echo spoke to local councillors about their recollection of the day 20 years on.

Basildon councillor Kerry Smith said: “It hasn’t come up in any discussions leading up to the anniversary, 20 years is a long time, I’m not sure what’s left to be done.

“I remember the really over the top classical music they played on the radio, it was like a takeover of classical music.

“When I heard the news, my jaw hit the floor. I don’t understand how she was allowed to die in that way. I’m not one for conspiracy theories but you can understand where they’re coming from.

“It does beg the questions as to why wasn’t anyone from the British government looking after her?”

Castle Point councillor Ray Howard said: “Everyone was saddened and shaken when the news broke, the whole country showed how much she was loved.

“She touched the hearts of so many. It doesn’t seem like 20 years ago, time has moved so fast. There will never be a funeral like it again.

“I live on a very busy road on Canvey and I remember sitting in my lounge the morning she died and there was a car just stopped in the road. The country was at a standstill

“The emotion the country showed, I’m not surprised you’re covering the anniversary 20 years on. She was most definitely a one-off.”

Books of condolence were opened at council buildings and a make-shift shrine was created on a traffic island in Leigh with hundreds of people leaving floral tributes at the time. To mark the tenth anniversary of Diana’s death, Cherry Sandover, an art lecturer at South East Essex College, in Southend, shared the images she captured from the county’s emotional outpouring.

At the time, Mrs Sandover was an art history student at the University of Essex and wanted to capture how people mourned the princess.

She told the Echo in 2007: “The death of Diana was shocking, but what intrigued me was the way people of all ages, cultures and classes became involved in the act of mourning.

“This not only coincided with my growing interest in commemoration as an artistic expression of identity, but as a single mum of a seven-year-old, it was also a stark reminder of how fragile, as well as beautiful, our lives are.”

Her photographs from that time included one of a Diana-style dress in a charity shop and a sign announcing the shop’s closure, next to a display of Spice Girl jewellery.

Mrs Sandover said: “On the morning of September 6, I took my daughter around the silent streets of Leigh to record the array of different notices of closure instead of watching the funeral itself, because I wanted to capture that moment in my own way.”

None of our councils appear to have planned any commemorative events.