Residents Find Comfort in Mourning Diana

Snuggled together in a comfortable booth at the Crown and Anchor pub in Thousand Oaks, Anglophile Tracy Dunbar and her two eldest children--11-year-old Katie and 9-year-old Emma--quietly wept as they watched Princess Diana’s funeral.

The Thousand Oaks resident had brought her offspring to the British pub, which stayed open through the night Friday, to honor what she described as Diana’s legacy of love and acceptance of all people.

“I wanted them to see part of history,” Dunbar said, adding that her daughters especially identified with young princes William and Harry.

“I think that’s what touched my children most tonight,” she added. “She . . . left behind two very impressionable sons.”

Dunbar’s feelings were typical of those expressed by the more than 50 people who gathered at the pub on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

A pair of lighted candles on a table adorned with flowers, pictures of the princess and a guest book greeted people as they walked through the entrance.

A line of small Union Jacks hung behind the bar, their staffs respectfully dipped.

The pub was still selling alcohol when television coverage of the funeral began, which gave the occasion an unusually upbeat air.

But by 2:30 a.m., as the funeral service approached, the mood changed.

People stopped nibbling on the buffet of such English delicacies as Scotch eggs, sausage rolls and pork pies.

Discreet whispers replaced animated conversation.

The lights were dimmed and candles lighted on each table.

Few spoke or moved throughout the hourlong service.

Tears silently ran down cheeks as Elton John sang his rewritten version of “Candle in the Wind.” Heads nodded as Charles Spencer vented his anger and frustration at the media and royal convention.

Lips silently mouthed the words during the reading of the Lord’s Prayer.

The funeral combined the appropriate pomp and tradition with the informal touch that was Diana’s trademark, many of those in attendance said.

“She was the people’s princess, so we just thought we would be with people who felt the same way,” said Aileen Wilson, a native of Kilmarnock, Scotland. Wilson and her husband, Allan, have lived in Thousand Oaks since 1981.

“We’re definitely not fans of the royal family,” said Allan Wilson. “[Diana] was pushing against the tide. I think maybe this [funeral] is a representation that she won. I think we all felt she won.”

Bar owner Jed Peel, who was born in northern England, was glad to offer up his establishment to those who found solace in companionship--many of them his countrymen.

But others in Ventura County preferred to pay their respects to Diana alone.

For Mitzi Knight, 76, who watched the proceedings in her Ventura home with her pet poodle curled up on her lap, the funeral procession brought back memories of the London she grew up in. She clung to the belief that Spencer’s address would prompt the royal family to look to the future more than the past.

“I just hope they change their ways a little bit and become human beings and show the love that Diana did,” she said. “She believed in humanity, and there’s not too much of that left any more.”

British native Hazel Facciano, of Ventura, felt that the service’s heartfelt honesty remained faithful to Diana’s legacy.

“It seemed like a great light went out in the world,” the 52-year-old Facciano said. “She did something no royal has ever done. She brought the world together in love.”

Many of those who watched felt that in death, Diana transcended the tawdry tabloid coverage and family conflicts that dogged her in life. They also felt they were gaining closure in their affection for Diana, an affection that had grown since her storybook wedding to Prince Charles in 1981.

Pamela Hantgin, of Ventura, welcomed the chance to curl up on her couch with a pillow and blanket to bid farewell to the princess alone.

“She came into my life, and I needed to see her go out of my life,” the 44-year-old Hantgin said. “I just felt this is going to come to a conclusion, and I just wanted to be part of it. I didn’t need anybody.”

* FUNERAL COVERAGE: Details of the world’s farewell to Princess Diana. A1