Princess Diana superfan demands to attend statue unveiling after palace refusal

Jo Dobson, from Hucclecote, Gloucester, is demanding to be at the unveiling of Princess Diana's statue at Kensington Palace on July 1. She already has her itinerary for the event planned out even though the palace told her she is not invited.

The 82-year-old founder of the Diana Circle UK is determined to be there to celebrate what would have been the late royal's 60th birthday. She said she has already prepared the flower arrangements she needs to take to the palace on Thursday.

"I have had the number 60 made from silk flowers which are pink and little pearls decorating them," Dobson shared according to ITV as she revealed that she already has her trip to London planned out.

"On Thursday I am getting picked up at about 7.30 a.m. by Dial a Ride and going to be dropped in Gloucester to get a National Express coach up to Kensington Palace. It has cost me £20 and the coaches are few and far between at the moment but I have to go up there," she shared as she expressed her hope to be at the palace "before lunchtime around 11:00 a.m."

However, the unveiling of Princess Diana's statue is closed off to the public. It will be an intimate event that will only have few members of the Royal Family in attendance. Prince Harry and William were reportedly forced to cut down the guest list because of the pandemic.

Dobson knows it is only a small memorial because she said she "telephoned the palace to see if the unveiling was still on and told them" she was coming. But they told her "it was a private matter and members of the public were not invited to attend."

"They are wrong. I am going. It is important that I am there. I am the founding member of the Diana Circle UK," she insisted adding, "It is important that I am there. I wanted to get her birthday made into a public holiday but I couldn't."

Dobson even claimed that it "is wrong" that Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell is not invited to the statue unveiling as he served the royal for 14 years. She said she had considered the late Princess of Wales a family member and that "there will never be another Diana."