The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 8

6 THE AQE MONDAY 1 SEPTEMBER Death of a Princess tlDQ OQQOOOGXD Aimstiralai pomurs nit its grief Gobbo, Kennett speak for us pathy to the family of Mr al-Faycd and the family of the driver. "This is an appalling waste of human life. She will be remembered affectionately by millions of people throughout the world." A spokesman for the Opposition Leader, Mr John Brumby, said Princess Diana would remembered for her "many great acts of kindness, particularly for her efforts to ease the pain and suffering of children affected by the weapons of piness in her life without in turn being pursued relentlessly. Whatever the official cause of this accident, it will put the spotlight on the issue of excessive public scrutiny, and not before time. "But the saddest thing of all is that two teenage boys will be devastated by the loss of a mother who was clearly devoted to them." The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tim Fischer, said it was a circumstance where "you can only mourn the loss of someone so young and beautiful and the other lives "I think Australians will have a particularly fond memory of Princess Diana," he said.

"Her visits to places like Alice Springs and Albury, to Sydney not that many months ago for a charity luncheon, and to many other places, capital cities throughout Australia, are visits which were very memorable and those thoughts will be uppermost, I think, in people's minds." Monarchists and republicans alike also expressed their sadness at the news. The executive director of Austra- years. Her last visit in 1996 was in aid of the esteemed Victor ('hang Memorial Foundation," it said. Mr Howard was criticised at the time for not attending the special function of that visit. "On behalf of the Australian Government I express my deepest sympathy to her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, and to other members of the royal family." Later, Mr Howard called a brief news conference to say the Government would make appropriate arrangements for representation at the funeral.

He said the Princess had devoted a lot of time to worthy causes, "particularly the worldwide campaign against the destructive force of "Many of her spontaneous gestures in relation to people with AIDS and people with leprosy, to people in hospital, won her a lot of understanding and a lot of affection," he said. Asked to comment on the Princess's significance in terms of making the royal family contem- By LAURA TINGLE and CLAIRE MILLER, Canberra The Governor-General, Sir William Deane, and the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, yesterday led the public outpouring of sadness in Australia for the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Sir William last night sent a message of condolence to the Queen. "On behalf of my wife and myself and all the people of Australia, may I express our deep shock and profound sympathy to you and the members of your family, especially Prince William and Prince Henry," it said. In Sydney, Mr Howard who heard the news on the radio quickly released a statement saying Diana's death "in such tragic circumstances will shock and sadden "It has ended at a young age the life of a person who held a particular fascination for many people around the world.

I know that many Australians will remember with affection the visits paid to this country by the Princess over the The Governor of Victoria, Sir lames Gobbo, last night wrote to the Queen expressing Victoria's condolences at the death of Princess Diana. Sir lames wrote that he and his wife were "stunned and The Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, said: "On behalf of all Victorians I extend my sincere sympathies on the death of Princess Diana to her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, Prince Charles and her family. We also extend our sym porary in the '90s, Mr Howard said he did not think it was appropriate to get into a retrospective at this stage. The Opposition Leader, Mr Kim Beazley, said her death was a great tragedy for the family and friends of Princess Diana and for the British people. "It is also extremely sad to the many Australians who have followed for so long her very It has ended at a young age die life of a person who held a particular fascination for many people around the world.

I know that many Australians will remember with affection the visits paid to this country by the Princess over the years. Her last visit in 1996 was in aid of the esteemed Victor Chang Memorial Foundation. Media is to blame, brother says lians for a Constitutional Monarchy, Ms Kerry Jones, said Princess Diana was never central to debate about a continuing constitutional monarchy in Australia, "but she promoted the concept of the Commonwealth wherever she "And as the mother of the future king of Australia, we are verv distressed to hear this news." A spokesman for the Australian Republican Movement said it was also deeply saddened by the The whole republican debate has had nothing to do with animosity or ill-feeling towards the royal family," a spokesman said. "Like every other Australian, our hearts go out to Princes Diana's family and the families of those killed or injured. The NSW Premier, Mr Bob Carr, yesterday said Princess Diana's death was a "shocking "During her recent visit to Sydney, the Princess of Wales demonstrated the warmth and ennrm which had won her a special place in the heart of Australians;" he said.

with AAP Disbelief, sorrow as word spreads By CAROLINE OVERINGTON She was so famous that just three words were needed: Diana is dead. Over and again it was said, as Melbourne absorbed ine terrible news. Diana is dead. You could hear it at the football. At.

the casino. At Southbank. In the streets. Mr Broderick Robarts heard it on the Princes Highway. "A passenger in the car next to me wound down his window and said 'have you he said.

"I was listening to FM. I hadn't heard, and then it suddenly tame on. Diana is dead. All around me people in their cars were looking shocked. It must have come' on all the stations at once.

"We were all sitting in our cars, looking at each other. There were all these white faces." One by one, as the news filtered on to the quiet Sunday streets, the flags of the city were lowered. At the Athenaeum Club, at 87 Collins Street, the doorman, Damian, took the initiative. "I wanted to do something," he said. "But you don't really know what.

I wanted to show her respect." A few minutes later, the flags at the Sheraton Hotel in Spring Street were also lowered. The general manager, Mr Gary Johnson, telephoned staff from home and said, simply: "Diana is dead. Lower the flags." Outside the tearooms at 'the Windsor Hotel, a woman stepped from a taxi, tears falling down her checks. She had heard it from the driven Diana is dead. A guard outside Government House, Mr Alan Bishop, heard at 10am that there had been an but not a death.

Four hours later, when he turned on the small transistor he keeps in his guard box to listen to the football, he heard it, too; Diana is dead. "I've been waiting for the instruction for the flags to be lowered," Mr Bishop said. "This is an extremely sad day." At Optus Oval the message that Diana was dead was displayed on the electronic scoreboard. The noise from the crowd was beyond description, the kind of noise that comes only with grief. Mrs Shirley King, who was shopping at Southbank, said the death of Diana was too shocking to properly absorb.

"We were standing in a market when we heard," she said. "One of the stall-holders told us. Her Husband had telephoned to telpher the news. We couldn't belleve lt. It just swept through the Diana is dead.

Diana is; dead. You could see It passing through the crowd, as people heard; 'put their hands to their mouths, then said it again. Mrs King's husband, Les, said he had hoped Diana would have been able to find some happiness. "She was treated very ba'dly In life," he said. "And what a' tragic way this is for her to die." Princess Diana last visited Melbourne for the bicentenary 'celebrations in 1988.

Cape Town, Sunday Princess Diana's brother, Earl Charles Spencer, said today he always believed the- press would kill his sister, but that he had never imagined they would take such a direct hand in her death. "This is not a time for recrimination, but for sadness. However, I would say that I always believed the press would kill her in the end. Not even I could imagine that they would take such a direct hand in her death, as seems to be the case," the earl told a news conference outside his house in Cape Town in South Africa. "It would appear that every proprietor and editor of every publication that has paid for intrusive and exploitative photographs of her, encouraging and ruthless individuals to risk everything in pursuit of Diana's image, has blood on his hands today," he said.

The earl, who moved to Cape Town with his family about 18 months ago, said that all those who had come into contact with Princess Diana over the past 17 years would share his family's grief. "She was unique," he said. "She understood the most precious needs of human beings, particularly those that suffered. And her vibrancy and sparkle combined with a very real sense of duty are now gone forever. "It is heartbreaking to lose such a human being, especially when she was only 36." public life," Mr Beazley said.

The Australian Democrats leader, Senator Cheryl Kernot, said the death of the Princess of Wales would "not before time" draw attention to the issue of excessive scrutiny of public figures. "This is tragic. No one should have to pay this price for fame," she said. "It is sad that the Princess of Wales was not able to pursue hap 0 I) News of Diana's death was broken to her mother, Mrs Frances Shand Kydd, at her Scottish home on the island of Seil. Today her parish priest, Father Sean MacAulay, of St Columha's Cathedral in Oban, said he phoned Mrs Shand Kydd, a Catholic, as soon as he heard early reports that Diana had been injured.

"I had been counselling someone who was talking about suicide," he said. "I walked upstairs and put the television on and heard that Diana was injured. "I phoned Frances at 4am, and Frances told me that Diana had been killed. She heard about it and then told me. "She had her friends with her who had driven down during the night to be with her.

"A mother losing her child is a terrible thing. 1 don't know how she feels, I had one minute speaking to her. "The death of a child knows no words we can say that will ever comfort a parent. It can only be compared to Our Lady losing her child lesus." Father MacAulay declined to comment on the details of his conversation with Mrs Shand Kydd but said she was not tearful. "Frances is a very strong woman, a lovely person.

A very resilient woman with a strong faith. "I expect her at Mass at 11am unless she is travelling. I don't know what her movements are." Reuter that's so deeply painful for us." Speaking in his constituency at Trimdon in County Durham, Mr Blair said all Britain sympathised with the Princess's sons, William and Harry. "She was a wonderful and a warm human being, though her own life was often so patched by controversy," he said. "She touched the lives of so many others, in Britain and throughout the world, with joy and comfort." Mr Blair last month hosted the Princess and her sons at a lunch at the Prime Minister's country residence, Chequers.

People everywhere, he said, kept faith with Diana despite her troubles and strongly applauded her efforts for charitable organisations. "They liked her, they loved her, they regarded her as one of the people, he said, "She was the people's princess and that's how she will stay, how she will remain in our hearts and our memories forever," Mr Blair said he had spoken today with the Queen and with Prince Charles. As she lost her royal status following the divorce from Charles a year ago, there was speculation today on whether Diana would be accorded a state funeral. There was no official word on what the funeral arrangements would be as preparations were being made to return the body to Britain from Paris. AAP Shocked Blair salutes "the people's princess' London, Sunday A visibly shaken British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, today paid tribute to Princess Diana, describing her as "the people's Mr Blair told reporters he felt utterly devastated by the death of the Princess and the nation was in a state of shock.

His voice choking with emotion, Mr Blair said he was "utterly "Our thoughts and prayers are with the royal family, in particular with her two sons, the two boys. Our hearts go out to them," he said. "We are today a nation in a state of shock, in mourning, in grief Mr Blair: "We are today a nation in a state of shock," Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales take a turn on the dance floor at the Hyatt on Collins hotel during the I9H8 royal tour of Australia. sister, says Duchess 0 slonate of humanitarians and someone so special, whose presence can never be replaced. Thoughts and prayers are with the family and particularly Prince William and Prince Harry." The duchess cancelled a trip she was to have made to the United States next week.

PA I've lost By SALLY NEWMAN, London, Sunday Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, said she had "lost a after hearing of the death of the Princess of Wales. The Duchess will fly back to England from Italy with her two daughters tomorrow, a spokes a woman from her private office said today. In a statement, the Duchess said: "The Duchess has lost someone she has always considered a sister and a best friend." The statement went on: "There are no words strong enough to describe the pain In her heart. The world has lost the most compas- 11.