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British royals enter week of mourning for Margaret
( 2002-02-11 08:32 ) (7 )

Britain's royal family enters a week of mourning on Monday for Princess Margaret, the queen's sister who died at the weekend after a life of glamour and heartbreak.

After a Sunday of private royal grief and a modest display of public mourning, final preparations will get under way for Margaret's funeral to be held on Friday.

Princess Margaret, who once famously put duty before heart + and made up for it by living life to its full + died in hospital on Saturday aged 71 after the latest in a series of strokes.

Her funeral will be a private affair of family and friends, Buckingham Palace said, at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle where Margaret's beloved father King George VI lies.

Flags will fly at half mast at royal residences across the land during five days of official royal mourning leading up to the funeral -- 50 years to the day after her father was laid to rest.

The Times newspaper said that several years ago the princess had planned her funeral down to the last detail, including hymns and guest list, adding she wanted "to slip away with the minimum of fuss".

During the week, Margaret's coffin will be moved from her apartments at London's Kensington Palace to the queen's chapel in St James' Palace, where her body will lie in state.

Downing Street said Prime Minister Tony Blair would not be attending the service, in accordance with the royal family's wish for a private ceremony.

On Sunday, Queen Elizabeth attended a private service at the Royal Lodge chapel in the Great Park close to Windsor Castle.

Heir to the throne Prince Charles prayed for his "darling aunt", and his 101-year-old grandmother, the Queen Mother, prayed for her younger daughter, together at the queen's Sandringham estate in eastern England.

The royal family, who were just embarking on a year-long series of celebrations for the queen's 50th year on the throne, will carry out official engagements during the week, although a business awards reception on Monday has been postponed.

The queen's trip to Jamaica on February 18-20, part of a wider schedule of visits to Commonwealth countries to mark her Jubilee year, would go ahead as planned, officials said.

The steady trickle of mourners who gathered at St James' Palace to sign books of condolences is expected to continue throughout the week.

However, there has been none of the mass outpouring of public grief which followed the death of Charles' ex-wife Princess Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997.

Only around 30 bunches of flowers lay at the gates of Kensington Palace on Sunday morning, in stark contrast to the mountain of floral tributes left for Diana.

In a sign of a modernising monarchy, the public can visit www.royal.gov.uk to sign an online condolences book for Margaret, who brought much-needed postwar glamour to the sedate House of Windsor.

Preparations will also begin for a public memorial service to be held in coming weeks, although Buckingham Palace said no date or details had yet been decided.

Almost half a century ago, Margaret put duty before love by turning her back on a dashing air force officer when protocol dictated a princess could not marry a divorcee.

She made up for the heartache with a fast-paced social life.