To mark the first anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, St John the Baptist Church in Station Road, Harrow decided to extend its hours for mourners. Throughout the day, only a very few people stopped by to pay their respects.

Elsewhere, Harrow's own books of remembrance were reopened, in anticipation of a resurgence of grief. Again, there was relatively little interest.

We should not take this to mean that Harrow people have stopped caring about the princess or her family, but the signs are that the entire nation is suffering from Diana overload.

It is now time to take stock of the extraordinary reaction to Diana's death last year: crowds gathering like lost flocks in central London; oceans of flowers at Kensington Palace; the Royal family ordered to put its grief (or some semblance of it) on public display.

Certainly, it was a tragedy that a young mother should die in such unnecessary circumstances, but no less a tragedy than any untimely death of any human, anywhere in the world. Why, for instance, have so many tears shed for Diana, and so few for the famine victims of the Sudan?

The answer is that the image of Diana had been so firmly implanted by the media in the public consciousness that the concept of her death seemed impossible, unreal. And in a way, it was: far more pages and programmes have been devoted to her in the 12 months since her death than even the media feeding-frenzy surrounding her affair with Dodi Fayed.

Many will point to the way she used her unprecedented fame to advance causes like the banning of landmines. But there are thousands of charity workers who have devoted far more to a cause, with scant thanks. Many have died in thankless anonymity, in modesty which is key to the concept of charity.

When Diana was being buried, the confused, grieving masses were paying homage to Diana's fame as much as the woman herself. They were, in essence, worshipping the late 20th century's vapid ideals of fame and beauty. Now, as the Millennium approaches, it is time to move on.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.