Keywords Politics, International

There have been similar scenes of distress at the Round Oval all summer long, ever since Diana's younger brother, Charles, decided to fashion a memorial to his sister on the grounds of Althorp, the 216-hectare estate 100 km north of London that has been the Spencer family's ancestral home since 1508 (it is pronounced "Altrup" by the cognoscenti). More than 2,000 people a day - in separate morning and afternoon shifts - have passed through Althorp's gates since the memorial opened on July 1, each of them paying roughly $24 to gaze across at Diana's island grave, roam the 121-room mansion where she grew up and wander beneath the same towering oaks she once played under as a child. By the time the memorial closes on Aug. 30 - the day before the first anniversary of Diana's death - Althorp is expected to have played host to 152,000 visitors.

Diana's brother Charles, the ninth Earl Spencer to reign at Althorp, has been widely criticized for the work he has wrought in rural Northamptonshire. He has been castigated for the admission price, questioned about the size of the proceeds slated for his sister's charities, mocked for the "tastelessness" of the inaugural pop concert he staged and derided for the "vulgarity" of the exhibitions he has arranged in what used to be Althorp's stables. Even the Archbishop of York has joined the chorus, choosing to publicly bemoan the earl's efforts to create what he described as a "cult of Diana" unworthy of her memory.

No matter what the critics are saying, however, there seem to be few complaints from the paying customers. "I think the earl is to be congratulated," remarks Beryl MacDonald, a 58-year-old retired nursery-school operator from Wiltshire, as she sits in the shade of a spreading lime tree on a warm August afternoon along with her daughter and two elderly female companions. The four are sipping California Zinfandel and enjoying a picnic lunch of cold roast duck and potato salad after having spent the morning touring the Spencer estate. "I was a bit surprised by the opulence inside Althorp House," MacDonald continues. "But everything else was exactly as it should have been. The mood was sombre and respectful, the exhibits tasteful, the staff polite. And the atmosphere at the grave by the lake was very moving."

This sentiment is echoed by visitors inside Althorp's stable block, a handsome, Italianate construct of honey-colored ironstone that once accommodated 100 horses and 40 grooms. The stables have been converted into two exhibition halls, tracing Diana's life from her infancy through her marriage to Prince Charles to her championing of the causes - land mines and leprosy and cancer and AIDS - that won her world renown. Childhood articles are on display: a rag doll, a toy car, an elementary-school report card, her first passport. So too are 28 of her often spectacular designer gowns, including the wedding dress with the 25-foot-long train she wore on the day in 1981 when she married Prince Charles in St. Paul's Cathedral.

In each exhibit hall, there is a film, compiled from home movies shot by her late father, the 8th Earl Spencer, and edited by his successor, Diana's brother. Visitors watch Diana grow from a chubby toddler into a gangly teenager, a happy bride and, finally, a proud mother. The current earl told a BBC television interviewer earlier this summer that he had been "absolutely drained" by editing the films. "It was really sad to see this little girl running around and to know what happened to her when she became older," said Spencer. "There was a shot in slow motion of her laughing in a boat with her sons at an amusement park. Although it was silent, I could really hear that laugh. It was such a joyous laugh and I will never hear it again." Nor will anyone else, which is as good a reason as any to explain why so many of those who choose to visit Diana's grave on the island in the lake cannot resist the urge to shed a tear.

Closing in on the Ritz
Almost every evening at sunset, 50 or 60 people gather at the Liberty Flame, a Paris monument erected a decade ago in Place de l'Alma as a symbol of French-American friendship. They come not to celebrate international harmony but to honor the memory of Diana. It was in the Tunnel de l'Alma, directly below the monument, that the Princess of Wales was critically injured last Aug. 31 when the Mercedes-Benz in which she was a passenger spun out of control and crashed into a concrete pillar. From chattering youngsters on Rollerblades to sombre elderly couples, people lay bouquets, pose for photos and leave notes in languages from Japanese to Basque. Many, too, survey the scene of the accident - which also killed Diana's companion, Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul, and left bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones seriously injured - and ponder the unresolved questions about its cause.

Those questions may be answered in October when French Judge Hervé Stéphan is expected to report on his investigation of the tragedy. His findings should determine whether the nine photographers and a press agency motorcyclist, who pursued Diana and Fayed as they fled the Paris Ritz Hotel in a Mercedes driven by Paul, will stand trial on charges of manslaughter. Very likely, they will not, and the judge's conclusions will leave Fayed's father, Mohamed Al Fayed, open to costly lawsuits since the Ritz, which he owns, provided the car and the driver, who was legally drunk and taking tranquillizers and antidepressant pills.

Ever since the tragedy, Paris police investigators have insisted that the cause of the crash was no mystery. They lay the blame squarely on the 41-year-old Paul, deputy head of security at the Ritz. He was called back to work unexpectedly to drive the couple to the Fayeds' Paris home because Dodi's usual chauffeur had just roared off from the front of the hotel to distract the paparazzi. Some investigators remain outraged that the photographers were arrested and charged. "It was a clear case of seeking scapegoats when none was needed," said one officer of the Renseignements Généraux, the French equivalent of the FBI. "The driver was drunk. End of story."

Meanwhile, Paris police have promised to release a "technical report" on the Mercedes next month. The vehicle had been stolen and its anti-lock brakes removed about four months before the accident. After it was repaired, Paris police recertified the car for commercial use, provided it was driven by a licensed chauffeur - which Paul was not. Any suggestion that the car should not have been in service could prove a huge embarrassment to Al Fayed. Critics say his claims that British agents were behind the crash - supposedly to prevent Diana from marrying a Muslim - were designed to deflect attention from his hotel's role.

Along with questions, Diana's death continues to generate controversy. The French media harshly attacked a Paris establishment, the Odéon Hotel, for offering hour-long, $100 anniversary tours that would start at the Ritz, pass through the Tunnel de l'Alma, pause for 10 minutes at the Liberty Flame and end at the hospital where the princess was pronounced dead. But almost the only people attracted to the tour last week proved to be journalists.

Amid the tawdriness, there are humane touches. Late most evenings, after the crowds have left the Liberty Flame, an elegant, middle-aged Frenchwoman removes debris and dead flowers, and rearranges those that are still blooming. It is a small gesture, but one that demonstrates just how deeply Diana touched people.

Maclean's August 31, 1998

Author Barry Came in London, D'ARCY JENISH with JULIAN NUNDY in Paris