Princess's remembrance racket rolls on

Coming up to ten years after the untimely and dramatic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the constant cashing-in on her memory continues unabated. And, with the anniversary of the accident dawning on 31 August, the US media are already calling this 'The Summer of Diana'.

The media want us to remember her passing and celebrate her life, because it sells print and puts bums on TV-viewing seats in an era when they need all the help they can get.

Expect a spate of documentaries and 'dramas based upon real life events' over the coming weeks. Plus also, up to a dozen relaunches, reissues and new issues of books about The Princess.

Hollywood has jumped on the Diana bandwagon too. There was a bidding war over the script based upon controversial book, Diana And The Paparazzi, at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The desire to make the movie is now irresistable given the recent success of The Queen, and it's likely to have an all-star cast.

It seems that the House of Windsor don't want us to forget either, organising a tribute concert to ensure the continued support of her charities.

During Diana's lifetime she was, of course, a meal ticket for numerous journalists, photographers, 'royal experts' and indiscrete acquaintances and employees. Now, 10 years on, whilst the media can no longer rely on her for their daily bread, they certainly can count on constant snacking and a bumper nosh-up from time-to-time.

Meanwhile, a whole industry dedicated to exploiting her image has crawled out from under a rock. Sorry, that should read 'celebrating her memory' and 'emerged', shouldn't it?

Don't get me wrong, I am not a avid Royalist. But, I do think that anyone who claims to mourn her passing, really shouldn't be insatiably devouring all that the media offers. And, they certainly shouldn't be boosting the business of tasteless profiteering by buying 'memories'. After all, it's they that keep the cash-registers caching-ing over Diana's memory.