I was curious and just looked that up, eric Egads I think I found out more than I really needed to know:

"The Embalming Process

The body is placed on stainless steel or porcelain table, then washed with a germicide-insecticide-olfactant. The insides of the nose and mouth are swabbed with the solution.

Rigor mortis (stiffness) is relieved by massage. [and here I thought it was the embalming chemicals that 'relieved' the rigor mortis!] Rarely but sometimes, tendons and muscles are cut in order to place the body in a more natural pose if limbs are distorted by disease, e.g., arthritis

Facial features are set by putting cotton in the nose, eye caps below the eyelids, a mouth former in the mouth (cotton or gauze in the throat to absorb purging fluids). The mouth is then tied shut with wire or sutures. (Glue may be used on the eyelids and lips to keep them closed in an appropriate pose.) Facial hair is shaved if necessary...


Ok you're spared the rest of that description! But there's some interesting viewpoints about the tradition of embalming at that link:

Facts about Embalming

Embalming is rarely required by law ...

... Embalming provides no public health benefit, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Canadian health authorities. Hawaii and Ontario forbid embalming if the person died of certain contagious diseases. Many morticians have been taught, however, that embalming protects the public health, and they continue to perpetrate this myth.

6. Embalming chemicals are highly toxic. Embalmers are required by OSHA to wear a respirator and full-body covering while embalming. Funeral home effluent, however, is not regulated, and waste is flushed into the common sewer system or septic tank.

9. Private or home viewing by family members and close friends can occur without embalming and is far more "traditional" than some of the services promoted by the industry under that name.

10. The funeral industry promotes embalming and viewing as a means to show "proper respect for the body," and to establish the "clear identity" of the corpse so that the reality of death cannot be denied by those who view the body. Many funeral directors are convinced that seeing the body is a necessary part of the grieving process, even if the death was long anticipated.

11. Few funeral directors will participate in the public viewing of a body without embalming and cosmetic restoration. While some people may be comforted by "a beautiful memory picture," as it's called in the trade, 32% of consumers reported that viewing was a negative experience, according to a 1990 survey.

12. Embalming gives funeral homes a sales opportunity to increase consumer spending (by as much as $3,000 or more) for additional body preparation, a more expensive casket with "protective" features perhaps, a more expensive outer burial container, and a more elaborate series of ceremonies.

"I think the elaborate expensive display of an open casket with all the makeup in the slumber room enforces the belief that the person is only asleep, and in my personal opinion would only help to prolong the stage of denial."

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in
Questions and Answers on Death and Dying"


In the Netherlands, embalming is illegal except for the Royal Family, who can choose to be embalmed or not. Apparently the procedure turns both the corpse and the cemeteries into toxic waste dumps. In Diana's case, due to the head injury it was a closed-casket funeral (if I'm remembering correctly). So why did they embalm her at all - and within hours of death no less???

Sorry if this isn't the most appropriate thread to post this stuff, but I wanted to respond to eric and Ebbie re rigor mortis and embalming, and maybe read some interesting opinions about why it was done to Diana's body at all, let alone so quickly.