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Clintons Mourn Diana's Death

EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AllPolitics, Aug. 31) -- At a church service Sunday, the first family prayed for the princess who once said she wanted to be the "Queen of Hearts."

President Bill Clinton spoke of his sadness over the death of Princess Diana, the woman whose shy smile and dedication to good works captivated people around the world.

"We liked her very much. We admired her work for children, for people with AIDS, for the cause of ending the scourge of land mines in the world," he said. "And for her love of her children, William and Harry."

Clinton declined to say whether the press should back off from efforts to obtain intrusive pictures of celebrities' private lives.

Diana died from injuries suffered in a violent car crash in Paris, where she was being pursued by photographers on motorcycles.

"I think it is better right now if we let a little time pass and let this event and the people involved be honored and grieved," Clinton told reporters covering his three-week vacation on the island of Martha's Vineyard.

"Then we'll have time to think about that and maybe make a better judgment," he said. "I think it's better for me not to say anything until this moment has received its due respect."

Diana's first visit to the White House was a star-studded event, flustering even then-President Ronald Reagan -- a Hollywood veteran himself.

Subsequent events with Presidents Bush and Clinton lost none of that excitement. Diana's charm, coupled with the near-royalty of American presidents, made White House happenings almost magical.

Former President George Bush remembered the princess fondly. "We will always remember our many family contacts and her vivacious spirit with great warmth and fondness," Bush said in a statement.

It was Diana's work for international causes that impressed so many presidents and first ladies. Her recent work to ban anti-personnel land mines gave her an even more mature and serious edge.

But the princess' most important legacy, Clinton said, is her children, the heirs to the British throne.

"We can only hope her work will go forward and that everyone who can will support her two fine sons and help them to have the life and the future that she would want."

Here, like the rest of the world, it seems Princess Diana did indeed become the queen of people's hearts.

CNN Correspondent Eileen O'Connor contributed to this report.