ABSTRACT
The kind of things ordinary people said about Diana when interviewed by the media largely reflected the other things other people had been reported saying about her. The relation between the media and the people was in fact more subtle. Many people were puzzled why so many, including sometimes themselves, were affected by the death of a woman they had never met, and why even those who had not themselves been Diana fans found themselves shocked and moved. Semiotic analyses, including analyses of the narrative forms in which Diana presented herself and through which the public followed her, often deconstruct the Diana sign on the assumption that it has no 'real' content. Though millions of Britons mourned the passing of Diana, including people from all walks of life, all ages, and both genders, the mourners were not a representative sample of the British population.
