Princess Diana Dies in Car Crash

Were the paparazzi stalking Princess Diana? Assuredly, in a relationship that both parties exploited. Is the driver of the Mercedes culpable because he was legally intoxicated? Most likely, although it can probably be fairly assumed he was speeding at the behest of someone inside the vehicle. But while blame is being ladled out, how about all the people around the globe who buy the trash the tabloids print? It’s a simple economic fact; the law of supply and demand.

RICHARD JACOBSON

Encino

* I have heard only criticism of the photographers. Countless millions of people are mutilated in automobiles, and we find fault with photographers. Perhaps if autos did not go 100 mph, and people knew how to drive safely, our streets and freeways would not be covered in blood. Let’s pass some new laws restricting photography, and then our cars will be safer.

JON HARTMANN

Los Angeles

* From what has been reported, I can only come to the conclusion that the sole responsibility for this accident rests with the chauffeur. When you are the driver of your car, taxi, bus, boat, airplane, the safety and well-being of your passengers is yours and yours alone. All else is incidental.

RICK LINDGREN

Rancho Palos Verdes

* Excuse me. Am I the only one, warm-hearted as I may be, who thinks Diana used poor judgment to allow a drunk to drive a car in which she was a passenger? She certainly paid the ultimate price. My heart goes out to those hurt most, her young children, and others whose lives she touched. There’s no tomorrow for us.

ROBERT ARONOFF

South Pasadena

* Who’s to blame for the death of a princess? Was it an inept driver? The bodyguard who didn’t? The chasing photographers? The media (tabloids) that buy the pictures? Or the buying public who want to see into a person’s private life and who revel in the humiliation of another human being?

The only thing I know for certain is that Princess Diana may not have been perfect, but she contributed far more than most to suffering humanity. She showed class, poise and brought a positive bright light to many dark places. To say that an angel has died would not be an understatement. I guess in the final analysis you could say that the forces of money and greed killed her. Too bad, for she will be sorely missed.

PATRICK STEEL

Westlake Village

* Sitting in her dining room at Kensington Palace across the table from the princess of Wales was an experience of a lifetime. She had invited me to share my expertise with her as a public speaking coach. What I received in our two-hour lunch was a lesson myself. A lesson from a master on how to completely charm and captivate.

In addition to her good works and genuinely caring heart, close up Princess Diana had the most amazing ability to look into one’s eyes and almost knock you over. And then, seconds later, her eyes would turn doe-like and this shy, vulnerable little girl would appear. And then, the 1,000-watt lightbulb would again appear. She would hypnotize everyone she met with this combination of strength and softness.

Diana felt the pain of being misunderstood very deeply. She knew she had a terrific mission in her life and, thankfully, toward the end the world began to sense it too.

I told her during our wonderful lunch, and subsequently, that she truly did have the ability to be the Queen of Hearts. Our sadness around the world shows that she was well on that path, and that with all the controversy surrounding her fascinating life, she had touched many, many hearts indeed. My greatest personal sadness is that she had to stop now.

RICHARD GREENE

Malibu

* Re “Suffering, Photogenically,” Commentary, Sept. 1: I agree with Alexander Cockburn that many public people, celebrities, politicians, and yes, Princess Diana craved the attention from legitimate press photographers and the paparazzi. Do you think Diana’s charitable and humanitarian work would have been known worldwide if the legitimate press and the paparazzi had not covered the events?

Alec Baldwin and Arnold Schwarzenegger recently had different run-ins with the paparazzi here in Southern California. (I don’t agree with the tactics used against Schwarzenegger and his wife by the paparazzi.) What these people need to remember is that this hounding by the legitimate press and the paparazzi comes with the territory of the profession they have chosen. What happens in several years when the press does not want their pictures anymore? Can these people survive without that? I doubt it!

What celebrities also need to remember is that the general public who buy tickets to their movies, concerts, buy the music CDs, videos and yes, even the tabloids are their employers. They foot the bill that allows these people to live quite lavishly.

I am a photographer who does event photography, usually with celebrities and people in the social set. I will be asked several times during an event after I’ve taken a photograph, “In what publication will this photo appear?”

GERALD H. CHAVEZ

Pasadena

* As a 20-year veteran journalist, I have often decried the unethical practices of paparazzi and tabloid newspapers. Now several people have died as a result of these practices. When are we journalists going to police our own? How many more tragedies must there be?

Perhaps a new form of labor organization should be formed, one that targets and disciplines those members of our field who hound people based on celebrity. Rest assured, my colleagues, if we don’t take such action now, the public will.

LUKE OWENS

Los Angeles

* I admired Diana for her active campaign against land mines and for her other charity work. Her death is a great loss to these causes and to her children. It is unfortunate that she and Dodi Fayed chose to have their driver attempt to set speed records to avoid the photographers in hot pursuit, resulting in the deaths of three people. They might have saved themselves by taking the bus and giving the poor driver the day off.

Does anyone know the name and address of the driver? I would like to send his family my condolences. Diana and Dodi are getting enough attention in death, as they did in life. Probably way too much for their own good.

ROBERT W. LOVELL

Huntington Beach

* Now that they have finally hounded Diana Spencer to death, those who hated her so much during her lifetime, from the royal dysfunctional family to the daily dysfunctional press, will be telling us how really truly very sorry they are. Really. Truly. Very. And so they are, the sorriest bunch of hypocrites in Europe.

JACK WRIGHT

Marina del Rey

* Diana truly was Britain’s ambassador to the world.

SUZANNE BRANINE

Sacramento

* In light of the tragic loss of such a dynamic human being who had so much to offer the world, we should create what I would call the “Princess Di Law” (in her honor, albeit too little, too late): Whereas any person of the press or freelance photographer who knowingly and willfully endangers the safety and/or well-being of anyone in the pursuit of photographs shall serve a minimum one-year prison sentence and pay a $10,000 fine.

JOHN IRWIN

Arcadia

* Although it is too late for the much beloved Diana, perhaps it is time for all hounded celebrities to adopt a common physical gesture (a la black activist Angela Davis) such as a raised fist in those instances when these animals are pursuing and surrounding for the kill, so that any and all pictures will reveal to the public when inappropriate and criminal behavior is being employed. Any such picture will tell us clearly the offensive nature of the attack, and sooner or later such pictures with a raised fist will become worthless to these greedy, insensitive proprietors.

Celebrities can do something for themselves. Do not expect these countries to legislate such behavior, insist upon it now! The public will clearly respond. We have lost too much.

RICK FELKINS

Lake View Terrace

* Terrible tragedy in Paris. Yes. Atrocious behavior by photographers. Yes. But: Why risk your life merely to avoid having your picture taken? We aren’t a primitive tribe convinced that a photo steals your soul. If celebrities would accept the fact that we live in a media-saturated society, camera smashing, photographer punching, deadly speeding could be replaced by slowing down and waving.

Allowing the market to be flooded by your picture may be the best way to devalue the work of the paparazzi.

GERALD ADLER

Los Angeles

* Here is a woman who seemingly had everything, but ultimately she had nothing, not even her life.

DEBBIE COVEN

San Clemente

* As a former British subject it was with great sadness that I heard of Princess Diana’s death. Her commitment to humanity was her greatest legacy, especially her sensitivity regarding HIV/AIDS. My heart goes out to her children. I will be sending a donation to the AIDS Services Foundation Orange County in her name. I am angry and saddened by her death and feel a need to do something that she would have appreciated. Thank you, Diana, for caring!

PEARL JEMISON-SMITH

Garden Grove

* Although it is a shame that the rich and famous must surrender their privacy and live their lives through the paparazzi camera lens, it is equally sad that so many people had a clear opportunity to avert this tragedy and nobody did.

ART VERITY