One of the many spontaneous memorials to Diana

Public Grief Intensifies

There is a strange silence, not usually associated with crowds so large. A strong smell of candle wax mixes with the sweet smell of flowers as individuals light flickering flames and lay bouquets in memory of Diana Princess of Wales.

Thousands continue to gather outside the grounds of Kensington Palace, Princess Diana's official London residence.

The Palace entrance is now a sea of colour as visitors from all over the world lay their floral tributes. Their thoughts are captured on sympathy cards written in many different languages.

It is almost impossible to estimate just how many people have made the journey to London, but there is little doubt about the strength of feeling that is now being displayed.

"I'm lost for words," one mourner softly admitted as she placed her single red rose at the gates of Kensington Palace. "She'll never be forgotten," replied another, as a child kneeled down to offer her gift of commemoration, a small teddy bear.

The paths leading towards the black gates of Kensington palace now contain a constant steam of mourners, slowly shuffling forwards in a silence of deepest respect.

Around the grounds of the Palace, the smell of burning candles grows stronger minute by minute, and each tree has become a memorial to a Princess the people regarded as their own.

An old lady approaching the main body of the flowers outside the Palace entrance may have spoken for all the mourners when she added: "If only she could come back and see how much we love her."

Few people in the world could have created such an intensity of feeling, and all those who now choose to pay their respects to Diana seem, somehow, to have lost a valuable friend.

The grief is certainly collective as young and old bow their heads in front of a building that has become synonymous with Diana's glamorous image.