DIANA'S CEREMONY TO BE ROYAL HYBRID.

Byline: Kathy Boccella Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

While Princess Diana's funeral is shaping up to be a thoroughly modern affair, much of the solemn ceremony will be steeped in military tradition dating to the last century.

From the gun carriage used to carry her coffin through the streets of London to the military regiment that will accompany it, the funeral will be laced with rituals more appropriate for kings and warriors.

``The only people outside the monarchy who were granted state funerals were Winston Churchill, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson,'' said Lynn Lees, chairwoman of the history department at the University of Pennsylvania.

``They were all military figures, all male and all linked to war. The ceremony was worked out in the context of the military, which was extremely appropriate.''

Princess Diana is not having a state funeral but a royal hybrid, mixing elements of a state ceremony with populist touches.

In 1805 when Lord Nelson died, a military cortege paraded his coffin through the streets of London, and the modern ceremonial funeral was born in Britain.

Royal rites of passage weren't always such grand spectacles. Their weddings and funerals tended to be small, private affairs. But by the late 19th century the royal family hired specialists to plan ceremonies and invent rituals that would increase public support of the monarchy, Lees noted.

``Nobody made any plans for Queen Victoria's funeral (in 1901), and it was a huge debacle,'' said Virginia Newmyer, a British cultural and social historian. ``Nobody knew quite what to do. A sovereign had not died since 1837.''

Nonetheless, the last-minute affair boosted the monarchy's popularity, marking a new high point for the royal family as it entered the 20th century.

After that, kings and queens began planning their own send-offs, including Victoria's son, Edward VII, who coordinated a big to-do for his own demise, which came just six years after his mother's. The funerals of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and the queen mother ``are in the can,'' said William Kuhn, an expert on British ceremonies at Carthage College in Wisconsin.

Of course, no one could have foreseen the young Princess of Wales' sudden death. Buckingham Palace, recognizing her widespread public appeal, developed a unique royal funeral with a modern twist. Pop star Elton John will sing at the service, and many commoners will be in the pews.

By not giving Diana a state funeral, in which her coffin would lie in state with members of her family and others keeping an around-the-clock vigil, Newmyer believes the royal family flubbed an opportunity ``to co-opt her popularity.''

``People wanted it, and I think she was important enough,'' she said. ``The royal family has made an error in not being magnanimous in the funeral, particularly in light of their shabby treatment of her when she was alive.''

With a state funeral, Diana also probably would have been buried at Westminster Abbey, where her son Prince William will most likely be interred. Instead she will be laid to rest in the Spencer family vault at St. Mary the Virgin Church in Great Brington, her hometown.