Thursday September 4 11:34 PM EDT 

Queen Elizabeth Aims to Heal Wounds

By Alan Wheatley 

LONDON (Reuter) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth will take on one of
the toughest tasks of her long reign Friday when she addresses a
nation distraught with grief at the death of Princess Diana. 

The queen will return from Scotland a day early to make the
television broadcast on the eve of Diana's funeral, which is expected
to bring more than one million people onto the streets of London. 

The hastily scheduled address will be a chance for the queen to repair
damage done to the monarchy by what critics say was a failure to grasp
how badly people were shaken by the death of their 'people's princess'
in a car crash Sunday. 

Press criticism of the monarchy as stuffy and out of touch reached a
crescendo Thursday, forcing courtiers to throw tradition to the winds
in an effort to stem the angry mood. 

As well as arranging the television address, the queen agreed to fly the
Union flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace Saturday and her
youngest sons, Andrew and Edward, went on an impromptu
walkabout with mourners near Buckingham Palace. 

The Times said Friday that never before will a broadcast by the queen
have been watched with such attention. 

"Although most of her audience would have preferred that the
decision be more spontaneous, they will be grateful that the Palace has
at last grasped the urgent need for a direct personal message," an
editorial said. 

"In her words tonight, the Queen will need to demonstrate that she is
listening to her subjects, shares their sense of loss, and harbours no
ill-will toward those who offer constructive criticism in a spirit of
loyalty," the paper added. 

The queen is expected to mingle with mourners Friday after signing
the book of condolence for Diana in St James's Palace, where her body
has lain since Sunday. 

Thousands of people continued to queue for hours for a chance to sign
the book and put down in words just what Diana's untimely death
meant for them. 

The Sun, with a record of breaking exclusive royal stories, said the
queen agreed to the broadcast only after an unprecedented showdown
between Prince Charles, who divorced Diana a year ago, and his
parents. 

The paper quoted a friend as saying Charles, often near tears, put his
foot down with his mother and Prince Philip, his father, for the first
time in his life. 

"'He stood up to them and advised them in a way he has never stood
up to them before. They have now seen the light. The light was
switched on for them,'," the Sun quoted the unidentified friend as
saying. 

Buckingham Palace, never as comfortable as Diana was in using the
media to express her feelings, said in an unusually frank statement
that the royal family had been hurt by suggestions that they were
indifferent to the country's sorrow. 

"The Princess was a much-loved national figure, but she was also a
mother whose sons miss her deeply. Prince William and Prince Harry
themselves want to be with their father and grandparents at this time
in the quiet haven of Balmoral," the queen's press secretary, Geoffrey
Crawford, said. 

Controversy over the response of the royal family cast something of a
shadow over preparations for Saturday's funeral service at
Westminster Abbey. 

No members of the royal family will read lessons at the service, at
which rock superstar Elton John will sing a specially rewritten version
of his 1970s hit "Candle in the Wind" -- an anthem to another
glamorous blonde icon who died tragically young, Marilyn Monroe. 

The song has been rewritten for Diana, 36, who comforted Elton at
the recent funeral of murdered Italian designer Gianni Versace. 

Instead of "Goodbye Norma Jean," he will sing "Goodbye England's
rose, may you ever grow in our hearts." 

He said he owed it to Diana to try to hold back the tears on Saturday.
"She kept...her cool for me...at Gianni's funeral and she held her
composure. I've got to do the same for her," he said in an interview
with ABC News to be screened Friday. 

As mourners started to queue outside the abbey, police in Paris
widened their inquiry into the fatal crash, which also killed Diana's
companion, Dodi Al Fayed, and their driver. 

They questioned three more photographers in their hunt for
"paparazzi" who fled the accident scene. 

Six photographers and a motorcyclist had already been placed under
official investigation for manslaughter over allegations that they had
pursued the limousine, possibly playing a role in its crash, and
hindered emergency services at the scene. 

Paris police have also begun questioning employees of the Ritz Hotel,
where Diana and Al Fayed had their last meal shortly before the
crash, police sources said. 

The driver of the car, who was killed in the smash, was an employee of
the Ritz, which is owned by Al Fayed's father, Mohamed. 

"The visits to the Ritz were routine, as is always the case in this type
of investigation," one source said.