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| S P E C I A L S: | Diana: A Remembrance |
| Diana: A Nation Mourns |
Blair proposes permanent Diana memorial
Thousands continue mourning
September 7, 1997
Web posted at: 1:00 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT)LONDON (CNN) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday that England should create a permanent memorial to Princess Diana, and he called on Britain to channel its grief into creating a better Britain.
"Let her legacy be compassion; let us be a better and more compassionate Britain," Blair said.
And in an interview Sunday with David Frost, Blair said he had envisioned a role for Princess Diana as a humanitarian envoy for Britain before her sudden death in a car crash a week ago.
"She had a tremendous ability, as we saw over the land mines issue. to enter into an area that could have been one of controversy and suddenly just clarify for people what was clearly the right thing to do," Blair said on "BBC Breakfast with Frost." "I felt there were all sorts of ways that could have been harnessed and used for the good of people."
Elton John: Leave princes alone
Pop star Elton John, whose revision of his song "Candle in the Wind" moved mourners worldwide when he performed it at Diana's funeral, also appeared on the BBC program. He admitted using a teleprompter at Saturday's service to make sure he wouldn't slip into the original lyrics of the song, written as an elegy to movie star Marilyn Monroe.
And he said that while entertainers are pursued by the media, they have little to complain about in comparison to Diana. "What I go through and what they (other stars) go through is nothing to what she went through. I just hope they leave Prince Harry and Prince William alone," he said.
Floral tributes still coming
Thousands of people congregated Sunday outside Kensington Palace, Diana's last home, not yet ready to let go after her elaborate funeral a day earlier.
They left new flowers on the ocean already there and formed long, patient lines to write in condolence books.
With the waist-high fields of floral tributes outside Kensington still growing, officials said fresh flowers will be given to homes for the elderly and hospitals at the request of Diana's family.
Dead flowers will be turned into compost to grow new plants in Kensington Gardens. A government announcement said the cleanup will not start before Tuesday.
British press introspective
The defiant words of a eulogy from Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, condemning the monarchy as stodgy and the media as hunters who pursued Diana to death, continued to resonate through the country. Would the passing of the "people's princess" change the monarchy, or the media?
While photographs of Diana still plastered the front pages of British newspapers Sunday, senior media officials and newspaper writers admitted that for them, life after Diana could never be the same.
In an editorial on Sunday, the Independent said newspapers could not excuse their actions by saying they were giving the public what it wanted. It would be like a parent allowing children to eat all the sweets they could, and arguing that it was what the child wanted, the paper said.
"But that also reveals an underlying truth. In our dealings with Diana we behaved like children and we never had enough of her. The paparazzi were chasing her on our behalf last Sunday morning because we did not know when to stop," the newspaper said.
The Observer also called for a "new balance" in newspaper ethics and said regulations should be passed to give celebrities some protection from media intrusion.
But Blair told BBC he had never been convinced that privacy laws would be proper or even useful. "It requires a degree of acceptance of what is proper conduct -- and not -- towards people," Blair said.
Blair comments on "change"... 
264K/27 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Blair also defended the monarchy, saying it constantly adapts to new realities. "Prince Charles' generation is not the same as his mother's, and William and Harry are obviously very much children of today," he said.
At St. Mary the Virgin Church near where Diana is now buried, Rev. David MacPherson had some words of consolation for those still mourning the princess.
"She is not here," MacPherson said. "She is with the Lord. You can be with her anywhere in the world."
Correspondent Bill Delaney contributed to this report.
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