DIANA had the potential to be a saint, a packed congregation was told at a special memorial service to the Princess of Wales.

More than 600 people of all ages gathered at Burnley Parish Church, St Peter's, to pay respects to the People's Princess - the Queen of Hearts.

Bishop of Burnley the Rt Rev Martyn Jarrett summed up the mood of the congregation: "Few, if any of us, are not moved by the seemingly pointless death of a young person in the bloom of life.

"Few are not moved by the sudden taking away of a mother from two boys in their early teens. Few are not moved by the accidental death, let alone the cruel hounding of two people who seemed to be on the verge of new, romantic happiness.

"Diana may not have been a saint in the narrow sense of that word but in another way she was. In so far as any of us mirror something of God, everyone of us has potentially something of the saint within our make-up. That is what we glimpsed a little of in Diana." The Bishop praised the way she made people feel about victims of AIDS and landmines. "She managed to make us understand that these were fellow human beings who need hugging and the generosity which flowed from it.

"Somehow Diana has given us a glimpse of a better way of valuing each other. Increasingly to show value towards each other would be the best memorial we could provide."

Describing her as a latter day Elizabeth Fry, the 18th century prison reformer whose work was often misunderstood, the Bishop said: "Diana was prepared to take on unpopular causes and, where necessary, challenge the establishment to which many thought she belonged."

He spoke of her unhappy childhood, eating disorders and difficulty with relationships, and said: "She was, in the language of our age, a 'wounded healer'.

"The fact that such a person, with all the hurts and failings we humans carry within us, could become such a beacon of outgoing care, is the inspiration and challenge that each of us can do the same."

The Mayor of Burnley Coun Enid Tate read the same lesson from 1 Corinthians as Prime Minister Tony Blair at Diana's funeral.

The service was jointly conducted by Methodist Superintendent the Rev Keith Richardson and Father David Lannon of St Mary's RC Church.

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