Paris – At a golden statue of a flickering flame, fans of Princess Diana pay homage to her in Paris, leaving behind poems and prayers even now, 10 years after she died nearby.
A French child’s collage proclaims her “unforgettable.” An Italian fan scrawls, “I still love you.”
But contrary to popular belief, the statue wasn’t built for Diana; it was merely appropriated by her fans.
With the 10th anniversary of her death on Friday, a few fans say it’s time she had a Paris monument in her honor – something permanent, unlike the memorabilia swept away regularly by trash collectors – and they have begun a fundraising drive.
Dominique de Fontenay says he thinks about Diana when he passes through the Pont d’Alma traffic tunnel where she died in a car crash, and he is always struck by the lack of a monument.
“That seems shocking and flagrant, given Diana’s notoriety and the love that most people all over the world felt for her,” said de Fontenay, a 34-year-old event planner who conceived the project.
De Fontenay teamed up with a jeweler and sculptor, Xavier de Fraissinette, who sketched out ideas for a bronze statue of a suit-clad Diana reaching out to a small child holding a bouquet.
Diana died on Aug. 31, 1997, in a crash that killed her, boyfriend Dodi Fayed and their chauffeur, Henri Paul.
