Explaining the grief

The compassionate but sensible letter to the editor in The Irish Times last Saturday questioning the hysterical public grieving and populist canonisation of Princess Diana was written by Sir Lingard Goulding, headmaster of the Headford School in Co Meath. He is a son of the late Sir Basil Goulding and Lady Valerie Goulding and, most interestingly a grandson of Walter Monckton, the very Viscount Monckton, the British cabinet minister who was legal adviser to and who stood by Edward VIII during the abdication crisis. Lingard Goulding's first cousin is Rosa Monckton who wrote the touching piece My Friend Diana in last week's Sunday Telegraph about their long friendship, their holiday together in Greece last month and about how Princess Di was godmother to her daughter.