WThe funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales started on Saturday 6 September 1997 at 9:08 am in London, when the tenor bell of Westminster Abbey started tolling to signal the departure of the cortège from Kensington Palace. The coffin was carried from the palace on a gun carriage by riders of the King's Troop and escorted by mounted police, along Hyde Park to St James's Palace, where Diana's body had remained for five days before being taken to Kensington Palace. The Union Flag on top of the palace was lowered to half mast. The official ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey in London and finished at the resting place in Althorp.
WThe 2nd Empire Awards ceremony, presented by the British film magazine Empire, honored the best films of 1996 and took place on 5 March 1997 at the Park Lane Hotel in London, England. During the ceremony, Empire presented Empire Awards in nine categories as well as two honorary awards. The award for Best British Director and the honorary Empire Inspiration Award were first introduced this year. The awards were sponsored by Miller Brewing Company.
WThe constituency of Enfield Southgate returned a memorable result in the United Kingdom 1997 general election, when the seat was unexpectedly lost by the incumbent, the Conservative's Michael Portillo, to Labour's Stephen Twigg.
WThe Imperial College Act 1997 is a local Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a minor piece of legislation that enabled Imperial College London to take over the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, the National Heart and Lung Institute and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School.
WWPC Nina Alexandra Mackay was a police officer serving with London's Metropolitan Police Service who was fatally stabbed on 24 October 1997 by a man with paranoid schizophrenia she was attempting to arrest. She is the only female police officer in Great Britain to have been stabbed to death while on duty and her killing was the first of a female officer since the murder of Yvonne Fletcher in 1984.
WMusic For Montserrat was a benefit concert held on 15 September 1997 at the Royal Albert Hall. The event was organised by Sir George Martin, former producer for The Beatles and founder of Associated Independent Recording, to raise funds for the Caribbean island of Montserrat after a major volcanic eruption by the Soufrière Hills volcano earlier that year.
WThe Southall rail crash occurred on 19 September 1997, on the Great Western Main Line at Southall, west London. An InterCity 125 high speed passenger train (HST) failed to slow down in response to warning signals and collided with a freight train crossing its path, causing seven deaths and 139 injuries.
WThe Uxbridge by-election, 1997 was a parliamentary by-election held in July 1997 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Uxbridge in Greater London, England. The seat was held by the Conservative Party, their first such victory since 1989.