The Memorial Service last Friday was a low key affair compared to the funeral and other events in 1997.

Diana was buried on my birthday. Some years earlier I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet her.

Indeed many years before I had camped out in London overnight ahead of her wedding to Charles.

Like many others I admired her fashion. She embraced issues such as landmines and HIV sufferers which some shied away from.

She provided a voice for the disadvantaged and vulnerable.

Last week Prime Minister Brown said her legacy "still inspires us all. In life, she was an extraordinary woman who gave hope to those she met and whose lifetime of service touched the lives of millions in this country and around the world".

It is ironic that she and Dodi had cut short a Mediterranean cruise and travelled to Paris to try to escape the paparazzi.

Yet, they died pursued by cameramen in cars and motorcycles. Today editors are still willing to pay huge prices for photographs and the public retain a fascination with the private lives of others.

Many reporters last week commented on the sheer ordinariness of the place where they met their death.

It is difficult to take on board that Diana was only 36 when she died, something that adds to the iconic status that surrounds her. Eighty nine per cent of people said they remember where they were when they heard she had died.

There was a massive public outpouring of grief. On the morning of her death the National Anthem was played on the BBC every 30 minutes. The unlikeliest people, including many from Northern Ireland, travelled to catch a mere glimpse of the funeral.

The floral tributes grew to a massive height. People queued for hours to sign their names in books of condolence.

Undoubtedly, Diana was a complex and flawed individual, misunderstood in many ways.

Her struggle with an eating disorder suggested underlying unhappiness. Maybe more should have been done earlier to recognise her difficulties.

The public reaction may have been due partly to shock that someone relatively young who they had become accustomed to seeing so regularly could disappear so quickly.

Her death may have served as a wake-up call to others about their own mortality.

In his recently published diaries, Alastair Campbell speculated on the impact of the media and public opinion in the events of the period directly after her death.

Tony Blair referred to Diana as the People's Princess. The Royal Family were considered out of touch when they remained at Balmoral and only appeared in London several days later.

They seemed fixated with protocol and oblivious to the public reaction when they refused initially for flags to be flown at half mast at the Queen's residences.

Diana's funeral sought to combine the traditional with a sense of her own individual personality.

Therefore there was an effort to ensure a racial mix and ordinary members of the charities that she supported were represented.