Britain and the world will say farewell to Diana, Princess of Wales, this Saturday after "a unique funeral for a unique person". Buckingham Palace announced plans for a royal, rather than a state, funeral, which will take place before 2,000 invited guests at Westminster Abbey, and a television audience of tens of millions across the world.
The princess's coffin will be borne by gun carriage from the Royal Chapel at St James's Palace along the Mall, down Whitehall through Parliament Square to the Abbey, scene of coronations and great royal events down the ages. Afterwards the princess will be buried at a private service alongside her beloved father in the family vault in which 20 generations of Spencers lie on the family estate at Althorp, Northamptonshire.
It was unclear whether Queen Elizabeth would attend the interment, as the palace made clear attendance would be a matter for individual members of the royal family to decide.
But it is plain that the two families - the Windsors and the Spencers - have agreed arrangements which will carefully balance their wishes and the expectations of a grieving public.
The princess's body will not lie in state for inspection by the public. But the decision to hold the funeral on Saturday owes much to Mr Tony Blair's capturing of the public mood, and his determination that it should be a national commemoration of the life and work of "the people's princess".
Delicate negotiations continued behind the scenes between government officials, Buckingham Palace and the Spencer family about the precise form of Saturday's ceremony and service.
Further details are expected to emerge today. But it is already clear that heads of state will sit with representatives of Diana's favoured charities and from various walks of life affected by her work, in an unprecedented event which the Prime Minister has urged should reflect the princess's "modernity, dignity and ceremony".
In death, as in life, it seems Diana is to continue to set new fashions for Britain's royalty. Canon Stephen Oliver of St Paul's Cathedral - which might have been in contention to stage the service - told Channel 4 News "there are no templates" for the event, which represented "a great creative challenge".
The canon said sanctity, dignity and modernity were not "incompatible concepts".
And in answer to questions, he said he could imagine Diana's friend, the pop star Elton John, contributing: "We are actually trend-setting here, in that we are creating something new." Among the thousands queuing to sign the book of condolence at St James's Palace, opinion was divided about the decision not to grant Diana a full state ceremonial.
Usually reserved for sovereigns alone, exceptions have been made in the past to honour Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten.
But some agreed that the full-scale military ceremonial beloved by such as Lord Mountbatten would be inappropriate for the princess, who emerged as a powerful campaigner against landmines and for the orphans of war.
"I wouldn't have wanted to see her surrounded with guns and weapons," said one woman: "This will be more her style."
And a palace spokesman said: "The status is irrelevant. This is a unique funeral for a unique person." The fact that the princess's coffin will be draped in the royal standard confirms that Diana is being treated as a full member of the royal family, and that she has, in death, had restored the royal status taken from her when she and Prince Charles finally divorced one year ago.