Monday September 8 2:16 AM EDT 

Crowds Continue to Pay Their Respects to
Diana

By Paul Mylrea 

LONDON (Reuter) - Crowds of people in London continued to pay
their respects to Diana late on Sunday as Britain came to grips with
the aftermath of her funeral and the critical fallout for the monarchy
and the press. 

People continued to add flowers to the countless bouquets carpeting
the ground outside Kensington Palace, Diana's London home, as
hundreds of people queued into the night to sign books of condolence. 

As Britain began to come to terms with the vast outpouring of
national grief at Saturday's funeral for the "people's princess," Prince
Charles appealed to the media to leave his and Diana's sons alone. 

The media, stung by an emotional speech by Diana's brother, Earl
Spencer, implicating them in Diana's death in a high speed car crash
in Paris, vowed they would respect the privacy of Princes William and
Harry. 

But, homing in on the other target of Earl Spencer's funeral oration,
they warned that the royal family had to bow to the people's will and
modernise or fade away. 

"Unless those in authority act quickly, the bitterness that is also a
legacy of last week's events may fester...," Monday's Times said in its
editorial. 

"The lessons for the palace of last week's near-fiasco are
incalculable." 

The Independent's columnist, Polly Toynbee, added: "Something
snapped last week in the relationship between throne and subjects.
For the first time in modern history the crown was openly challenged
and forced to respond quickly and ignominiously to the people... 

"A fatal combination of loss of nerve within the Royal Family and
growing unpopularity among the people, may yet mean that this queen
will be our last." 

Prime Minister Tony Blair, seen as a key behind-the-scenes
influence on Queen Elizabeth and central to her decision to ease
protocol after public anger at her apparent coldness, stepped in to
support the monarchy. 

The Labour premier, whose party had until the campaign which led to
their May election triumph been cool in its support for the royal
family, said: "The Royal Family's been through a very hard time this
week. 

"I think the criticism of them has been very unfair." 

But minority Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown said that the
monarchy could never be the same. 

"I think there's a sense in which the terms of the relationship between
government and the governed has altered in the last week," he told
the BBC. 

And Blair spent time on Sunday closeted with the queen at her
Balmoral country estate in Scotland discussing the future of the royal
family. 

Money poured into a fund set up in tribute to Diana, although
organizers could not confirm reports that 150 million pounds ($238.5
million) had already arrived, saying figures would only be known later
this week. 

"Goodbye English Rose," the funeral anthem to Diana by pop star
Elton John, was also expected to rocket to the top of the charts when
it goes on sale this week. 

The rewrite of his 1970's tribute to Marilyn Monroe, which reduced
William and Harry to tears during the Westminster Abbey funeral on
Saturday, is expected to raise 10 million pounds or more for charity. 

The emotional focus on Monday remained the princes, however, with
most people backing the call by Charles for 15-year-old William and
Harry, 12, to be left alone to come to terms with their bitter personal
loss. 

The heir to the throne took the boys back to his country estate at
Highgrove after Diana's very public funeral and private burial on the
Spencer family estate. 

"The Prince of Wales wants some time and space for the boys so that
they can come to terms with their loss and prepare for the future,"
said Charles' spokeswoman. 

"The last thing they need is to face a blast of flash-guns when they go
back to school." 

The mass-selling tabloid Sun newspaper said it would comply,
pledging in an editorial: "The Sun, for its part, has no intention of
carrying photographs which invade the privacy of Princes William
and Harry." 

Its rival The Mirror, claiming Spencer's criticism had not been aimed
at a paper which had always been "almost entirely supportive" of
Diana, said it too would work with the Press Complaints Commission
(PCC) to avoid paparazzi photographs of the princes. 

But Lord Wakeham, the chairman of the PCC, said he would start
talks with tabloid editors soon to review the industry's code of
self-regulation.