The crisis of confidence was thrown into dramatic focus after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Many people were saddened or even offended by what was seen to be the family's slow response to the public mood that week.

In her broadcast on the eve of Diana's funeral, the Queen said that "lessons would be learned". A senior Palace source confided to me later: "We nearly lost it." What, therefore, is being done?

The way ahead

To start with, the re-examination had begun before Diana's death. Several years ago, the royal family set up a discussion procedure known as the Way Ahead Group. Senior members of the family, with the Queen herself in the chair, got together twice a year, during the holidays at Balmoral and Sandringham.

One of the first decisions was that the Queen should pay tax. Then, after the Windsor Castle fire of November 1992, it was agreed that the tax payers should not pick up the bill for restoration, but that Buckingham Palace would be open to the public in the summer and the money raised in that way instead.

The Way Ahead Group also examined whether the royal family was casting its net wide enough in its visits. Were there sections of society being "left out"?

There was a brisk spring cleaning of royal finances, with the appointment of a hot shot City accountant, Michael Peat.

The Civil List was cut back and now only the Queen, Prince Philip and the Queen Mother are supported by the taxpayer. Even royal travel was changed, with a budget now set each year and flights for visits abroad even put out to tender.

The Royal Yacht Britannia was scrapped and the Queen did not press for a replacement.

So a great deal was done long before Diana's death and indeed some people in the Palace felt that the worst was over. Then came the events of August 31, 1997.

The sudden outpouring of public emotion took royal officials by surprise. It was realised that all the changes which had been made were not enough.

"Touchy feely" future?

What the public appeared to want was a more "caring" monarchy, something in the style of Diana herself.

Their problem was that the royal family has been trained from infancy to hide emotion and to present the traditional stiff upper lip. Yet suddenly, people were demanding that the family became more "touchy feely".

The response has been to try to react in some way to this demand without throwing over all the old virtues. Prince Charles, who has a fine record of work among the young unemployed with his Prince's Trust, is now talking more easily with the media.

Two years ago, he managed to go on a trip round Central Asia for nine days without saying hello once to the small press party with him. On a recent visit to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, in contrast, he chatted away quite easily.

But, clearly, there is a way to go. The discussions among the focus groups have shown an ambiguous public response.

The royal family is felt to be an important part of British public life but is seen as too remote. So now we have the prospect of a super communications chief. His or her role will not be easy. The royal ship of state can only change direction slowly.

BBC News special report online: 
Death of a Princess: Six months on...

• The grief of millions
• On the Net: Truly the People's Princess
• "Why did Diana die?"
• Deaths a fertile ground for conspiracy theories

• The battle for Diana's lucrative legacy

The wreckage which still inspires new explanations

Sunday, 1 March, 1998, 15:21 GMT

Deaths fertile ground for suspicious conspiracists

Driver Henri Paul, photographed shortly before the accident

The words 'white Fiat Uno' could join 'grassy knoll' and 'Roswell, New Mexico' as universal shorthand for conspiracy and cover-up.

Soon after the accident, rumours and reports were heard of a white car zigzagging in front of the Mercedes in which Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed died, moments before the fatal crash.

The car has not been found, but that does not worry conspiracy theorists. They thrive on uncertainty. To them, even accepted facts appear as part of a grand cover-up.

Questions about the deaths abound in their minds, such as:

• What did Diana mean when she said, a few days before her death, that she would shortly do something that would shock everyone?
• How could it have taken nearly half an hour for the Mercedes to reach the crash site when the tunnel is only a couple of miles from the Ritz Hotel, especially as the car was travelling at high speed.
• Is it true that Paris was swarming with secret service agents and special forces during that fateful weekend?
• Wouldn't a Mercedes limousine have protected its occupants better from a crash?
• Did Diana actually manage to speak some last words while she lay dying in the hospital?
• Were there traces of drugs in Dodi's and Diana's blood?
• Isn't it strange that, after all the money spent on the investigation, the white Fiat has not been located?

But many theories go much more to the heart of the matter. Conspiracy theorists don't just ask questions, they provide answers too.

A new life?

A common notion is that the deaths were staged to enable Diana and Dodi to start a new life away from the world's prying eyes. This basic theory is embroidered by ideas that Dodi's experience at film production helped stage manage the event.

Security forces colluded to ensure that the press did not find out what was going on, the theories run. This would leave the couple free to marry and live together, probably on a private island, never to be disturbed again.

Some even suggest that with plastic surgery, the princess could return to look after her sons. "Look out for a similarly built nanny coming on the scene in the near future," one theorist writes.

Civil war

Some conspiracists speculate on who would have anything to gain from the deaths. The usual suspects are the Royal Family and the British Government (although the Israeli secret service, Mossad, is suspected by some).

Reasons include supposed hatred for Diana, resistance to the idea that the mother of the heir to the throne could be involved with a Muslim, and freeing Prince Charles to marry his friend Camilla Parker-Bowles. One particularly imaginative 'motive' includes wanting to avert a civil war (between Prince William and any future half-brother).

Dodi Fayed

Profit mongers

Another group which comes under question is the manufacturers of landmines, who found their business interests under attack from Diana's campaign against their products.

Or perhaps it was a business rival of Dodi Fayed's father, Mohammed Al Fayed. Some have even alleged that the British Conservative Party was behind the crash, in revenge for the dispute over the Cash-for-Questions affair in which Mr Al Fayed gave money to former Tory MP Neil Hamilton.

Yet most of these theories are advanced only by individuals who are doing a bit of kite-flying.

There was a conspiracy'

Mr Al Fayed himself, however, has been the most prominent character in the drama to say that he believes his son and Diana were not killed in an accident.

Under the headline 'It was no accident', he told the Mirror newspaper earlier this month: "I believe there were people who did not want Dodi and Diana to be together."

"There was a conspiracy and I will not rest until I have established exactly what happened."

Whatever the conclusion of the investigation - but especially if it backs the conventional accident explanation - it seems the conspiracists will not be alone in suspecting foul play.

BBC News special report online: 
Death of a Princess: Six months on...

• The grief of millions
• On the Net: Truly the People's Princess
• "Why did Diana die?"
• The battle for Diana's lucrative legacy
• the changing face of the monarchy

See also:

22 Oct 97 | World

Diana's lost ear-ring 'found in car' say police

31 Dec 97 | Europe

Fiat Uno may have been involved in Diana's death

18 Dec 97 | UK

Diana and Dodi chart the future in 'last interview'

25 Jan 98 | World

Egyptian sues British Queen over Diana's death

16 Dec 97 | World

Diana crash investigation to end with questions unanswered

01 Jan 98 | World

White Fiat seen near Diana crash site

01 Jan 98 | Despatches

New details of Diana crash revealed

04 Feb 98 | Asia-Pacific

Videotape link to Diana death crash

Internet links:

Diana Conspiracies

60 Great Conspiracies

The First Diana Conspiracy Site

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Top Diana stories now:

Remembering Diana

The grief of millions

On the Net: Truly the People's Princess

Why did Diana die? - The state of the investigation

Deaths fertile ground for suspicious conspiracists

The changing face of the monarchy

Videotape link to Diana death crash

Police in Australia have taken possession of a holidaymakers' videotape which has been linked with the investigation into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The video shot by two Australian tourists in Paris is reported to show a white car, which is rumoured to have been involved in a collision with the car carrying the Princess, just before it crashed.

But there's been no official word of what the tape shows.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Wednesday, 4 February, 1998, 11:10 GMT

Videotape link to Diana death crash

Police in Australia have taken possession of a holidaymakers' videotape which has been linked with the investigation into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The video shot by two Australian tourists in Paris is reported to show a white car, which is rumoured to have been involved in a collision with the car carrying the Princess, just before it crashed.

But there's been no official word of what the tape shows.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service