The rehabilitation of the House of Windsor continued apace over Christmas with a new-look broadcast by Queen Elizabeth which appeared to satisfy public demand for a moving, personal tribute to Princess Diana.
British press and media reaction suggested Queen Elizabeth struck the right note in the documentary style broadcast in which she quoted William Blake's "silken twine" of joy and woe to describe the royal year.
Striking images of the queen dressed in black, entering Westminster Abbey to the accompaniment of the single tolling bell - and of Princes William and Harry mourning their dead mother - opened the broadcast in which Queen Elizabeth placed her own family amongst those suffering loss and bereavement this Christmastime.
The abbey, she said, had this year been the setting both for Princess Diana's funeral and for the celebration of her own 50th wedding anniversary, two events "one of them almost unbearably sad and one, for Prince Philip and me, tremendously happy".
Quoting Blake, she said: "This interweaving of joy and woe has been very much brought home to me and my family during the last months. We all felt the shock and sorrow of Diana's death."
Speaking over film footage of the sea of flowers placed outside Kensington Palace last September, the queen continued: "Thousands upon thousands of you expressed your grief most poignantly in the wonderful flowers and messages left in tribute to her. That was a great comfort to all those close to her."
The queen made no specific reference to the young princes. But in one piece of footage Prince William was heard thanking a member of the public with the words: "Thank you so much, thank you."
Prince William and Prince Harry had earlier been the focus of attentions for more than 1,000 well-wishers who gathered to watch the royal family attend the traditional Christmas service at the parish church at Sandringham - the church where their mother, as Lady Diana Spencer, had been christened.
Supported by their father, Prince Charles, and other senior members of the family, the princes heard Canon George Hall tell the congregation: "We thank God for Diana, Princess of Wales, and for all our loved ones who have departed this life."
Queen Elizabeth completed her Christmas broadcast - at close on 10 minutes the longest since King George V began the tradition in 1932 - with another distinctly personal note. "Christmas reaffirms that God is with us today," she said. "But, as I have discovered myself afresh this year, he is always present in the kindness shown by our neighbours and in the love of our friends and family."
The Christmas broadcast provided the queen with the first opportunity to address the country since she did so a week after Princess Diana's death in direct response to public criticism of royal silence in face of overwhelming national mourning and grief.
An opinion poll by MORI on Christmas Eve suggested a dramatic turnaround in public opinion about the royals since then. The poll found that 61 per cent of those questioned declared themselves satisfied with the way in which Prince Charles was doing his job, compared to 29 per cent who said they were dissatisfied.
This reversal of the public mood left Prince Charles with a popularity rating equal to that of the Prime Minister, Mr Blair. Both men, however, still lagged behind Queen Elizabeth, who scored approval with 72 per cent of those questioned.