From here:

It’s 13 years since the start of the weirdest episode in recent British history: the mass hysteria that followed the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on August 31, 1997.

The Princess’s death was a tragedy, as were those of her lover and driver, but it was a tragedy for her sons and other loved ones. For the assembled mass of mawkish weirdoes who cried empty tears for this stranger, her death was nothing more than an excuse for an orgy of sentimentality.

I remember at the time feeling like a complete alien in my own country, almost as if an invading army had spiked the water supply and everyone had gone bonkers overnight.

Co-incidentally, Mother Teresa died around the same time as Diana; predictably most of the tears – then as now – were shed for the spoiled brat.

Perhaps the most fitting Diana tribute is the one by a Chinese underwear company showing a Diana look-alike in a bra and knickers. An apposite blend of the tawdry and sentimental – made in China.