Coming to terms with the death of Diana

They began clearing the vast mound of flowers outside Kensington Palace yesterday, with the freshest blooms going to hospitals and the more withered composted for the gardens.

Britain is slowly coming to terms with the past fortnight's events. Some of the tabloids have managed to still lead the paper every day on a Diana story, whether it is over speculation that she had become engaged to Dodi Fayed or anger about the booze and drugs cocktail now known to have been coursing through the blood of driver Henri Paul.

There is much talk of a memorial, but nobody knows where or in what form it will be. Some favour the equivalent of the eternal flame at Kennedy's grave at Arlington Cemetery in Washington. There is talk of a statue in Trafalgar Square. There is a suggestion the new capital of volcano-wrecked Montserrat should be named Port Diana, even that London's Heathrow airport should be renamed HRH Princess Diana International.

The Liverpool Women's Hospital is thinking of changing its name to the Princess Diana Women's Hospital. There have been calls for the famous Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London to do likewise.

There are suggestions that the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund might raise money towards another Diana hospital, for sick and injured children from overseas. One of the greatest memorials could be a Diana Treaty marking the international outlawing of land mines.

Walking down the Mall this week, past the thousands of mourners still arriving at the gates of the palace, I was reminded for a moment of Eva Peron. Here was a populist figure, someone people felt they needed to believe in. Eva Peron had many failings of course, but there are some parallels.

But then there are other icons too, people who died before their time and became legends. John Kennedy, Buddy Holly, Isadora Duncan, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe - who even died at the same age of 36. They were all stars who burned too bright and all attracted the myth they were too fast to live yet too young to die.