Saturday September 6 8:04 AM EDT Brother Attacks Media Again at Diana's Funeral By Giles Elgood LONDON (Reuter) - Princess Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, delivered a bitter attack on the media at her funeral on Saturday, blaming the press for hounding her to her death. Friends and family, royalty and commoners paid moving tribute to Diana on Saturday at a service to celebrate a young life cut short that inspired millions. As the service ended, a minute's silence brought the nation to a standstill. Diana's coffin, draped in a maroon and gold Royal Standard and adorned with three wreaths of white flowers, was borne into Westminster Abbey followed by her beloved sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. The two boys, accompanied by Diana's former husband Prince Charles, Earl Spencer and Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip, had walked behind the coffin in the last leg of its journey to the Abbey. Millions had watched in almost total silence as the coffin on its horse-drawn gun carriage made its way through streets lit by late summer sunshine that contrasted with the sombre mood of the occasion. After readings by Diana's two sisters, singer Elton John, a long-time friend of the princess, took his place at a black grand piano to sing a rewritten version of "Candle in the Wind," his 1970s tribute to Marilyn Monroe and a young life snuffed out before full term. Both Diana and Monroe died at 36. "Goodbye England's rose; may you ever grow in our hearts, You were the grace that placed itself where lives were torn apart," the song began. The queen, her eyes red-rimmed, raised a hankerchief to her face, looking utterly distraught. In London's Hyde Park, tens of thousands followed the service as it was broadcast, sobbing and holding each other as "Candle in the Wind" played from huge speakers. As the notes of the piano died away, Earl Spencer delivered his own personal tribute to the sister he lost last Sunday in a Paris road crash pursued by a pack of paparazzi photographers on motorcyles. He referred more than once to the role of the press, making clear his bitterness at the role the media had played in her in Diana's life and in the circumstances of her death. He said the attentions of the media had turned Diana into "the most hunted woman on earth." Earl Spencer's remarks echoed his initial reaction to his sister's death last Sunday, when he said the media "had blood on their hands." He referred to his sister as "unique, extraordinary and irreplaceable" in a tribute that was greeted with massive applause from the congregation in the Abbey and from the crowds following the service outside. "She talked endlessly of getting away from England, mainly because of the treatment that she received at the hands of the newspapers," Earl Spencer said of Diana. "I don't think she ever understood why her genuinely good intentions were sneered at by the media, why there appeared to be a permanent quest on their behalf to bring her down. It is baffling," he said. "My own and only explanation is that genuine goodness is threatening to those at the opposite end of the moral spectrum. "It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this: a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age," he added. Earl Spencer said that, as the last year had demonstrated, Diana did not need the trappings of royalty to win the hearts of the world. The princess was stripped of the title Her Royal Highness on her divorce from Prince Charles just over a year ago. "She needed no Royal title to generate her particular brand of magic." The minute's silence was ended by the sound of the Abbey's half-muffled bells. Diana's coffin was borne slowly out of Westminster Abbey for the last time to set out on the long journey to the Spencer family home. She will be buried on an island in an ornamental lake in the grounds of Althorp, the house 80 miles north of London which has belonged to the Spencers since the 16th century. Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry were to join the family for the burial. The queen was not expected to attend. The coffin made its final journey in a hearse, rather than the gun carriage used earlier, representing the change from public to family ceremony. Crowds applauded as the hearse made its way through the streets of central London. Up to 6 million people were lining the streets of Europe's largest city. The only crowd to rival Saturday's was that for the 1981 royal wedding between Diana and Charles. But where there was joy and hope 16 years ago, now there was despair. Most spectators had earlier watched in silence as the cortege drawn by six black horses passed at a slow walking pace on the way to the abbey. Five hundred people who worked for or were helped by the 110 charities linked to Diana also joined the cortege half-way along its route. Some walked with sticks and others were in wheelchairs. At Westminster Abbey, ordinary people whose lives had been touched by that of Princess Diana mingled with political leaders and celebrities. Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of the Harrods department store and father of Dodi Al Fayed, who died with Diana when their car crashed at high speed in Paris last Sunday, looked grief-stricken as he made his way into the Abbey. Opera star Luciano Pavarotti, who had originally said he was too sad to come, arrived to a round of applause from onlookers. Also in the congregation were Hollywood stars Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Singer George Michael, without his trademark dark glasses, was also present. The Queen Mother, aged 97, was driven to the Abbey in a limousine. The royal family did not play an active part in the service, which began with prayers and a "bidding" by the dean of the abbey, Wesley Carr. "In her life, Diana profoundly influenced this nation and the world. Although a princess, she was someone for whom, from afar, we dared to feel affection, and by who we were all intrigued." "In her death she commands the sympathy of millions." Britain came to a standstill. Shops and banks closed until after the service and sports events were canceled. An eerie silence descended on deserted roads around the country. "Never before, in the long and often anguished history of the human race, has anyone been mourned as Diana is today. Never has there been such an aching sense of loss," said the Daily Express.