Inside U.K. A Year After Diana's Death Britons Show Some Healing By STEVE HILL	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
ダイアナ元妃の悲劇を乗り越える英国民 ダイアナ元妃が交通事故で亡くなってから、先月31日でちょうど1年ーーイギリス各地やパリの事故現場では、故人を偲ぶ礼拝が行なわれ多くの人が冥福を祈りました。しかし、月日が流れるにつれて、人々の中の『ダイアナ・ショック』も薄らいできたようです。

Exactly one year after the tragic events in Paris, many people in Britain are finally coming to terms with the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Twelve months ago, there were remarkable scenes of public mourning as millions of ordinary people tried to make some kind of sense of the loss of such a popular and high-profile figure.

Last month, however, it became clear that time has been a great healer for many who became caught up in the emotion and sadness sparked by her death. Crowds of people gathered to mark the anniversary at Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Spencer family estate at Althorp where Diana is buried and at Balmoral. But, significantly, numbers were much lower than a year ago.

A short distance from Balmoral a small crowd was outside Crathie Church, where news of Diana's death was broken to her sons a year ago, as members of the Royal Family arrived for a private service. But the number of local people and interested tourists failed to match that of the media representatives and camera crews.

In London, some 100 people maintained an all-night candlelight vigil at Kensington Palace, the princess' former home, while many people left bouquets of flowers, but nowhere near the scale of last year.

The Union Flag was flown at half-mast at Buckingham Palace, while a service of thanksgiving for the life of Diana almost filled Westminster Cathedral. A shrine to Diana and Dodi Al Fayed, her companion, who was also killed in the crash, was unveiled at Harrod's, attracting more visitors.

Poignantly, hundreds of people made their way to Paris to visit the scene of the terrible crash, with many taking part in another all-night vigil, which began at the exact moment of the accident. A Canadian artist lit 36 candle effigies of the princess at the unofficial Diana shrine close to the underpass where she died, to help illuminate hundreds of messages and bouquets. Others read poems that carried personal messages of tribute.

Now though, many people believe the time is right to move on and to keep the memory of Diana alive by concentrating on maintaining her great work for charities.

The princess was determined to do everything she could to rid the world of land mines, and there has been encouraging success, with many nations pledging to rid themselves of these indiscriminate weapons.

The French soccer player David Ginola, now playing in England, has become the new envoy to the International Committee of the Red Cross and is determined to keep the world's spotlight on the menace land mines pose.

Many millions of pounds have been channeled from the public fund set up after Diana's death to the charities that were close to her heart, and they will feel the benefit for years to come.

Princes William and Harry, though, want to get on with the rest of their lives. The pair have made a personal appeal for the nation to end the pain inflicted on them by constant reminders of the death of their mother. They made it clear through a spokeswoman that they are grateful for the sympathy shown by millions in the last 12 months and once again expressed their heartfelt thanks. But they added that they felt their mother would want them to move on and asked for people to allow her to rest in peace.

It was a theme also raised by Rosa Monckton, a close friend of Diana. She said on national radio that Diana would have been "appalled" at the events that have followed her death and she also called for British tabloid newspapers to stop exploiting her memory. When public interest fades in Diana and her extraordinary life, and in the circumstances of her death, which continue to attract wild theories of conspiracy, they may well decide to do exactly that.

Shukan ST: Sept. 18, 1998

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