Diana's former home becomes scene of mourning
Britain's Kensington Palace has become a scene of mourning on the fifth anniversary of Princess Diana's death.
The palace gates, where thousands gathered five years ago in one of many spontaneous memorials to the Princess, have scattered flowers and cards on them.
Dedicated mourners and curious onlookers mingled under the bright morning sunshine at the palace gates, on which hung Union Jack flags, balloons and tributes from as far afield as China.
Most of the men and women who had come to pay their respects said they had done so every year since her death.
Pat Ardis-Neil, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne said: "I come down every year. People grieve and get on with their lives but she was so special. I think she could have done a lot more for the world had she been alive.
"Every time I see her on the television or in the newspapers I think I wish she was still here. I just think what a waste, I don't think she realised how much she was loved."
The 50-year-old, who is a carer for her autistic son, put a card on the gates which read: "Look after Holly and Jessica and send my love to the Queen Mother."
Frank O'Brien from Kilburn, London, said: "I come to the palace quite often and had made a special effort to come here this morning.
"When you come here you get the feeling that she is still here, you get a feeling of her presence."
The 52-year-old landscape photographer said: "I miss her immensely and it's still upsetting to think about it. She means everything and I think the world is a sadder place without her. When she was here you felt she could do anything to change the world for the better."
Gill Marseilles, from London, who had come to pay her respects, also carried a banner protesting against plans for a memorial lake in memory of the late Princess.
She said: "Everybody that comes here says the same thing. We want a fountain not a lake, and we want it here, not in Hyde Park."
She said people wanted to march to demand the fountain and that she would come to the gates every year until a fountain was erected.
She said she was the first person in London to lay flowers for the Princess when she came to Kensington Gardens at 5am after hearing news of her death.
The 61-year-old retired nanny said: "The way she brought up her boys was special and so refreshing. I hope she has left a legacy with them."
Jean Adams, 70, from London, put a bouquet of pink roses for the "English Rose" on the gate as well as lighting a candle. She had dressed in black to mourn the late Princess and was crying silently by the palace gates.
"She was a very good person and they are very rare," she said.
"This is the only way to pay your respects. This day is for that. I think she still needs love and support because people are still trying to tarnish her memory."
Judith Yeatman-Biggs, 48, an actress from Chelsea, said she had met the Princess many times at charity events.
"She was a wonderful mother and a free spirit. She gave to the world what she didn't have in her own life. She touched the hearts of people. She was an icon and a fascinating woman. She came down out of the palace to the ordinary people."
Freda Thatcher, 71, from Hampton, in Middlesex, said: "Princess Diana was something to look up to, someone incredibly special, good and kind to everyone no matter who they were. They say time heals but she is always there in the mind."
By this morning there were more than 150 bouquets on the palace gates, and cards with messages such as: "We will never forget you Princess, miss you, thank you for caring" and "To a humanitarian icon".
