Diana: Raw feelings linger on…

LONDON – Princess Diana is at rest, but the passions that swirled around her tempestuous marriage to Prince Charles are still evident.

The religious service on Friday, exactly 10 years after her death in a car crash in Paris, has triggered new recriminations against Charles’ second wife. And the media watched closely to see who was invited to the ceremony, who was not coming and who wasn’t asked.Ten years on, emotions have quieted.But memories of the glamorous “people’s princess” hold their grip on the public, remembrances of a secular saint who touched hearts, who suffered, who died.A prayer written for the memorial service by Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, gives thanks “for all the memories of her that we treasure still”.”Her vulnerability and her willingness to reach out to the excluded and forgotten touched us all; her generosity gave hope and joy to many.May she rest in peace where sorrow and pain are banished,” Williams wrote.Charles’ wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, changed her mind about attending in the face of criticism from those who blame her for breaking up his marriage to Diana.Since then, various media reports have described Camilla as being furious with Charles, and Charles as pointing to his sons as the instigators of the troublesome invitation to their stepmother, which she at first accepted.Diana’s admirers, many of them suspicious of the cause of her death and resentful of Charles, tied bouquets, poems and portraits to the gates of Kensington Palace, her former home.A formal inquest into her death opens later this year.Mohamed al Fayed, whose son died with Diana in Paris, has hired a high-paid legal team to argue that the couple were the victims of an Establishment conspiracy led by the queen’s husband, Prince Philip.A poll commissioned by Channel 4 television suggested that one in four Britons believe Diana was murdered.Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, who has written two gossipy books about his years in her service, wasn’t invited.Nor was Patrick Jephson, the princess’ former private secretary, who also wrote two books about her.Princes William and Harry have accused Burrell of a “cold and overt betrayal” of their mother.Al Fayed, who accuses Prince Philip of masterminding a plot to kill Diana and his son Dodi Fayed, also wasn’t on the guest list.Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, was involved in planning the service but was not a speaker.At her funeral, Spencer took a swipe at the royal family, pledging to the young princes that he would work to ensure “that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly”.Workers at Spencer’s home laid a wreath for Diana late Thursday, carrying a floral tribute by rowing boat to her grave on an island in a lake at the family’s estate.The marriage of ‘Shy Di’ to Prince Charles was fundamental to her global fame, and an integral part of the legend.All of the bridesmaids and page boys who participated in the lavish wedding at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981 were invited to the memorial service.Affirming Diana’s continuing star power, a number of television channels carried live coverage of the event.”I think that because Diana died young, at the age of 36, she joins James Dean, JFK, Elvis and John Lennon, all icons who died young,” said Martyn Gregory, author of ‘Diana: The last days’.”And because she died young and in an accident she and her memory is preserved as if an aspic – forever.”Nampa-APAnd the media watched closely to see who was invited to the ceremony, who was not coming and who wasn’t asked.Ten years on, emotions have quieted.But memories of the glamorous “people’s princess” hold their grip on the public, remembrances of a secular saint who touched hearts, who suffered, who died.A prayer written for the memorial service by Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, gives thanks “for all the memories of her that we treasure still”.”Her vulnerability and her willingness to reach out to the excluded and forgotten touched us all; her generosity gave hope and joy to many.May she rest in peace where sorrow and pain are banished,” Williams wrote.Charles’ wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, changed her mind about attending in the face of criticism from those who blame her for breaking up his marriage to Diana.Since then, various media reports have described Camilla as being furious with Charles, and Charles as pointing to his sons as the instigators of the troublesome invitation to their stepmother, which she at first accepted.Diana’s admirers, many of them suspicious of the cause of her death and resentful of Charles, tied bouquets, poems and portraits to the gates of Kensington Palace, her former home.A formal inquest into her death opens later this year.Mohamed al Fayed, whose son died with Diana in Paris, has hired a high-paid legal team to argue that the couple were the victims of an Establishment conspiracy led by the queen’s husband, Prince Philip.A poll commissioned by Channel 4 television suggested that one in four Britons believe Diana was murdered.Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, who has written two gossipy books about his years in her service, wasn’t invited.Nor was Patrick Jephson, the princess’ former private secretary, who also wrote two books about her.Princes William and Harry have accused Burrell of a “cold and overt betrayal” of their mother.Al Fayed, who accuses Prince Philip of masterminding a plot to kill Diana and his son Dodi Fayed, also wasn’t on the guest list.Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, was involved in planning the service but was not a speaker.At her funeral, Spencer took a swipe at the royal family, pledging to the young princes that he would work to ensure “that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly”.Workers at Spencer’s home laid a wreath for Diana late Thursday, carrying a floral tribute by rowing boat to her grave on an island in a lake at the family’s estate.The marriage of ‘Shy Di’ to Prince Charles was fundamental to her global fame, and an integral part of the legend.All of the bridesmaids and page boys who participated in the lavish wedding at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981 were invited to the memorial service.Affirming Diana’s continuing star power, a number of television channels carried live coverage of the event.”I think that because Diana died young, at the age of 36, she joins James Dean, JFK, Elvis and John Lennon, all icons who died young,” said Martyn Gregory, author of ‘Diana: The last days’.”And because she died young and in an accident she and her memory is preserved as if an aspic – forever.”Nampa-AP