Diana on her 10th death anniversary remembered by whole world

Millions across the world are paying tribute to Princess Diana 10 years after her death in Paris crash. Britain is marking the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death with a royal memorial service and a string of other tributes to the "people's princess". With wrangling over legacy and conspiracy theories over her death still rife, Diana's sons Prince William and Prince Harry, her ex-husband Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II, will mark the tragedy with a solemn service in London.

Her sons, aged 15 and 12 when their mother died aged 36 after a high-speed car crash in a central Paris road tunnel, now are officers in the British army. They were to give personally-selected readings during the service at their regimental chapel. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the Anglican church, has written two prayers for the occasion. Among the 500 guests will be Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his predecessor Tony Blair, who famously described Diana as the "people's princess," and pop singer Elton John, who sang an adapted version of "Candle In The Wind" at Diana's funeral a decade ago.

But Charles's second wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall -- who Diana dubbed "the rottweiler" and blamed for her divorce from the heir to the throne in 1996 -- will not be attending. Although royal officials initially insisted she would be there, Camilla announced Sunday that she did not want to "divert attention from the purpose of the occasion," reportedly on advice from the queen. Camilla will be out of London on Friday and is set to jet off on a Mediterranean holiday without her husband soon afterwards, London's Evening Standard newspaper reported. Royal officials never officially comment on travel arrangements. Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Diana's lover Dodi Fayed, who also died in the August 31, 1997 accident, was not invited to the service. Al Fayed claims that Diana and his son were killed by the British establishment and senior royals in a conspiracy designed to stop the princess marrying a Muslim.

Last year, the former head of London's Metropolitan Police, Lord John Stevens, ruled out any plot and said the crash, which also killed chauffeur Henri Paul, was a "tragic accident". French investigators concluded that Paul, an employee of the Fayed-owned Ritz Hotel, was well over the legal alcohol limit when he drove Diana and Dodi to the latter's Paris apartment with paparazzi in hot pursuit. Al Fayed, who also owns London department store Harrods, is holding a two-minute silence in the emporium an hour before the memorial service Friday. Staff and customers are invited to join.

Diana's death generated an unprecedented outpouring of public grief in Britain. One million people poured onto the streets of London for the funeral and some say the episode changed the country. The tragedy also forced the royal family to present itself as a more open and inclusive institution. But a decade on, she still divides opinion between Britons who miss her empathy and glamour, and those who are uncomfortable with the sentimentality her death unloosed.

Australian feminist Germaine Greer described Diana as "a moron" this month, but prime minister Brown hailed her as "an extraordinary woman" who "still has the remarkable ability to move and inspire." A steady stream of Diana fans have been tying flowers and cards to the gates of Kensington Palace, her former London residence, where hundreds of thousands of bouquets were left in the days after her death. "She was a jewel in the crown," said Stephen Jones, who was there laying flowers with his wife and two children.

"She really shone, she was the sparkle which is now missing." "Field Of Flowers," a new series of sculptures there, echoes this through 10 golden dandelions 3.5 metres (11 feet) high, topped with 630 flower heads, each of which has been gold-leafed by a visitor. The palace is also hosting an exhibition in her memory, as is London's National Portrait Gallery. Diana's childhood home, Althorp, in central England, where she is buried, is breaking with tradition by opening to the public on the anniversary.

The BBC is re-screening her funeral in full on a digital channel, while two national newspapers, The Times and the Daily Mail, issued special Diana supplements Thursday. Another stream of Diana pilgrims is expected to go to the Pont d'Alma tunnel where Diana and Dodi died.