The News is out; - the people are in shock;
“It’s a mistake for sure,- it cannot be!”,
But then against the media run amok
That just announced the news on Princess Dee.

Clerks stop their work, and many an employee,
Truck drivers sob, engaging the wrong gear,
Stunned by the news concerning Princess Dee,
Reach for their handkerchief to dab a tear.

Oh little flowerlets in lowly beds!
Oh lilies in soft gleaming sheen and gloss!
And all that blooms and blossoms, bow your heads,
And mourn, lament the brightest rose’s loss!

Princess! send down a beam of light on those
That deeply drank from your bright-sparkling eyes,
And call you lovingly “Sweet English Rose”,
And bid their tunes for you to heaven rise.



Pray, let your symbol,- let compassion be,
Your precious gift to water arid tracts;
Compassion, virtues’ crown, be your sweet legacy,
And let her waters swell to cataracts.

Speed down from up above a tender kiss,
And touch your children, struggling to be brave;
Remain a power to be reckoned with
Beyond the realm of your land and grave.

September 1997

Your Ghost is haunting now the palaces
of Windsor, calling forth or sweetness, mixed with fear,
I cannot tell, most beautiful of princesses
Except the people hold their People’s Princess dear.





By Elizabeth Dandy