THE Royal Family have been heavily criticised for shutting themselves away behind the remote walls of Balmoral while the rest of the nation publicly mourns the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

No doubt they have been surprised at the scale of the demonstrations of grief.

But the public perception is that members of the Royal Family are showing themselves to be hard-hearted and that they are not mourning along with the rest of the nation.

We are sure they are in mourning - but they are not demonstrating it.

Is that because of a sense of guilt at the way the Princess was treated after she was admitted to the inner circle of the family?

Or is it simply the way they grieve, determined not to show their emotions in public and to maintain the good old stiff upper lip at all costs?

Whatever the reasons they have, once again, got it wrong.

As we said on Monday they failed to realise what a wonderful asset they had in Princess Diana when she was alive.

Now she is dead they have woefully misjudged the affection in which she was held by the public at large.

The most astounding sight in London right now is the bare flag staff on top of Buckingham Palace.

We know that in normal circumstances the Royal Standard flies from the staff to indicate that the Queen is in residence.

But these are not normal circumstances.

Surely there was a case for flying a Union flag at half mast above the Palace.

Thousands of public buildings, supermarkets, entertainment complexes and commercial premises across Britain are flying flags of some sort at half mast.

That Buckingham Palace, of all places, is the exception is an absolute disgrace.

Even the Royal Standard is flying at full mast over Balmoral.

This is to show the Monarch is still on the throne, but we would have thought that the tragic death of a much loved Royal Princess warranted a break with protocol.

The overall impression is that the Monarchy consider themselves to be bigger than the nation.

Many people in this country saw the Royal Family's treatment of Princess Diana as shoddy.

And their muted reaction to her death could well drive a huge nail in the coffin of the Monarchy.

When life has settled in 12 months' time it will interesting to see how the Royal Family rate in the opinion polls.

One thing is certain. No one within that Family will have picked up the standard the Princess carried so well.

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