NOW that most of the hysteria generated by Princess Diana's death has subsided it might be the right time to look at the incident in a more balanced way than most of the media seems to have managed during the past couple of weeks.

Before I go on I feel it only fair that I declare a non-interest in this matter... I didn't know Diana nor care about her for that matter. I feel sorry for her immediate family, naturally, but no more so than any other family I don't know.

The actions of all sides in scrambling to claim the moral high ground in this matter have been nothing short of disgraceful. Between them, members of the public and some connected with the Al Fayed camp, have behaved in a contemptible manner in rushing to blame the Press and paparazzi for the tragic accident. I don't know if they were to blame but I know that nothing has been proved - in fact available evidence suggests many other major factors should be considered before the lynch-mob kicks into action.

Our TV screens have been filled with members of the public sniping at techniques used by photojournalists as they go about their business and yet the streets were lined with thousands of people who, at the most intimate moment in anyone's time on earth, were snapping away at the funeral cortege - Diana's coffin was illuminated by a million flashbulbs from the intrusive public that loved her so much - straining at the barriers erected by the police. If that had been the paparazzi there would have been uproar. Also one man appeared before the BBC cameras to say how he had bad he had felt when his own father had died but it was 'nothing compared with this'. Are we such a vacuous nation that people can get themselves into such a state about someone they didn't know? And what little the public did know about Diana was mainly available via those awful paparazzo photographers

Al Fayed's press officer Michael Cole has also behaved, at times, in a shocking fashion. Stating that he would 'personally spit on the grave' of the drunken chauffeur Henri Paul - I bet that helped ease the loss for the loyal Al Fayed employee's family and friends.

The Al Fayed camp even dragged in a medical expert from Glasgow University who, without any evidence whatsoever, challenged the findings of the French pathologist (presumably also a player in the anti Diana-Fayed conspiracy) as it was of course further tests simply revealed more damaging evidence indicating that the deaths of Dodi, Diana and Henri Paul were attributable to the actions of an Al Fayed employee.

Earl Spencer's funeral address won him a lot of support from the public many of whom I presume are ignorant of his reputedly negotiating a photo-feature in a national magazine and to cast aspersions on the lifestyle of the Royal family is a bit rich when you've behaved as he has in the past.

Diana may have done a lot for charity but not as much as say Princess Anne has over the years - she certainly should not be deified in the way she has been. In addition to her good qualities it should be remembered that among other things she used the BBC cameras to tell the nation of her adultery. To mention the former Sloane in the same breath as Mother Teresa was bordering on the obscene. I don't remember the Calcutta-based nun prancing around on yachts dressed in designer jeans - she just got on with it in an unassuming way - the way that many care and charity workers over here do every day of their lives.

There's still a long way to go before we get to the bottom of what actually happened on that terrible day but I hope when the truth comes out that the hysteria among some of the public has been exorcised by the arrival of common sense and perspective.

Those who feel moved to help or offer donations to charity after the death of Diana should be encouraged to do so but don't be crass and do it in the name of Diana... do it in the name of humanity.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.