Mourners gathered in Paris and London on Friday to mark the tenth anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, revered by many around the world and the enduring object of fascination at home.
Flowers, photographs and messages were attached to the gates of Kensington Palace, her London residence, overnight, although in far fewer numbers than a decade ago, when a vast outpouring of grief stunned the nation almost as much as her death.
In Paris, where she died in a high-speed car crash alongside her lover, Dodi al-Fayed, a number of mourners gathered and left flowers at the tunnel where the fatal incident occurred.
A memorial service, attended by Queen Elizabeth, Diana's ex-husband, Prince Charles, her two sons, Princes William and Harry, and other royals and celebrities including pop star Elton John, will take place at midday at a chapel near Buckingham Palace.
Prince Charles' second wife, Camilla, with whom he had an affair while still married to Diana and whom Diana referred to as "The Rotweiller", will not be attending the service to avoid controversy, although she was invited.
Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, was not invited. The Times newspaper said about 250 seats in the chapel, which can hold 700, would be empty, even if they would likely be filled many times over by mourning members of the public.
Diana, 36 when she died in the early hours of August 31, 1997, is still remembered as the "People's Princess" in Britain and elsewhere, and revered by millions of people who never met her. She was once the most photographed woman in the world.
At the memorial service, Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, will give thanks for "the memories of her that we treasure still".
