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Messages of sympathy flood Web sites
August 31, 1997
Web posted at: 11:22 p.m. EDT (0322 GMT)LONDON (CNN) -- The British monarchy's official Web site carried the news of Diana's death with a photograph framed in black and the caption "Diana, Princess of Wales, 1 July 1961 - 31 August 1997."
The site -- set up earlier this year -- embraced Diana as a member of the royal family, even though she was divorced from Prince Charles last year.
On Sunday the family asked mourners to sign its online visitor's book and offer condolences.
"Thank you for your kind message of condolence for the sad loss of Diana, Princess of Wales," is the message people get when they click on the visitor's book.
Across the Internet, messages of sympathy and anger are flooding sites, making some of them difficult to get into. The messages come from all over the globe -- Australia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and cities across the United States.
One man called Diana "elegant, regal and beautiful." A woman wrote that she once spoke to Diana in a crowd and now grieves her as she would the loss of a close friend.
One site devoted to Diana the tabloid celebrity had a change of heart.
"Because of tonight's sad news, I have suspended this site," it reads. "It was a light-hearted view of Diana and no longer appropriate."
A couple in Allentown, Pennsylvania, set up a chat room, and the messages poured in:
"Goodbye Diana... ""Can't believe it..."
"Deeply mourned..."
"Wasteful death..."
The media came in for criticism and anger. Tabloid photographers chasing Diana's car in Paris have reportedly been implicated in the crash that killed her.
One person wrote: "The reporters should have died, not her. I hope someone does something about this sick press."
One woman posted this message to the CNN Plus message board:
"We are all to blame for Diana's death. Call it morbid curiosity. ... The public continues to require more and more information about people that we think we know. ... If we would stop our own urges to venture into the lives of the rich and/or famous, then the media would no longer have to supply for a demand. May God forgive us."
Correspondent Brian Nelson and Reuters contributed to this report.
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