
DATE: Monday, September 1, 1997             TAG: 9709010110

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A8   EDITION: FINAL 

SERIES: DIANA: A PRINCESS LOST 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE AND ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITERS 

                                            LENGTH:  132 lines

VIRGINIANS, TOO, GRIEVE FOR DIANA SHE IS WEPT FOR, PRAYED FOR, AND HONORED AS A WOMAN ``SO GENUINELY CARING.''

Most passers-by at Norfolk's Otter Berth took only passing note of the unfamiliar red, white and blue flag at half-staff next to the Stars and Stripes. But Millicent Howe could hardly take her teary eyes off it.

``My son rang me to tell me the news'' late Saturday that Princess Di had been in a terrible accident, Howe said. ``I sat up all morning watching your television.'' But word that the Princess of Wales had died ``simply did not take hold.''

Not until Howe, 47, was heading back to her daughter's home from an early-morning Sunday church service, not until she looked up and saw the Union Jack, hanging limp in a windless sky.

``It was so kind of someone to think of us. It was very generous to make the gesture,'' Howe said when told the British flag doesn't usually fly there.

``I came here on holiday,'' she said. ``Now I wish I were home.''

Diana ``was a wonderful, caring, strong lady,'' Howe said. ``Her life was not perfect. It was unfair of all of us to expect it should be. But she did so much for so many.''

While Howe and other British subjects around the world were were expressing their grief on Sunday, many of their American cousins were expressing anger and repulsion at a news media that many feel literally hounded Diana to death.

``I was very upset at the way she was killed, indirectly, I guess, by the press,'' said E.B. McCaskey of Norfolk. He was among many attending the late-morning services at Christ and St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Norfolk - a service dedicated to ``the soul of Diana, Princess of Wales, and her troubled spirit.''

Virgil Laws of Norfolk called her death a ``terrible tragedy'' that he said he hoped would lead to efforts to stem the media frenzy that surrounds some famous people.

Otherwise, said Errol Lewis of Norfolk, ``You can't live any kind of normal life with these photographers closing in around you.''

B.J. Taylor of Norfolk said Diana's death was a sign that ``we've lost what is truly important'' as a people: ``Our lives together as families and communities.''

Adriana Hoggard, who married her husband, Horatio, about the same time that Diana wed Charles, had a more simple response: ``I'm saddened, very saddened.''

The Rev. Gordon D. Davis of Christ and St. Luke's said he would remember Diana ``for the wonderful things she did, such as when she hugged that AIDS patient. Then the world knew that you could not catch AIDS by touching someone.''

He said such compassion on her part helped make Diana ``the rising star of the royal family.''

Skip and Victoria Holcombe, out for a walk around The Hague on Sunday morning, said they were stunned by the news of Diana's death.

``She was a woman of so many different natures,'' Victoria Holcombe said. ``She was oh-so-beautiful as a bride and at all the official functions. But she never seemed to act like she was above the common citizen. She was so genuinely caring. And her dedication to her sons, even after the divorce, was heartening.''

Her husband nodded. ``We were talking about how this is going to affect Americans and wondering why we care so much,'' he said. ``I guess it's just that she was sort of our princess, too.''

At the B. Dalton Bookseller in Lynnhaven Mall, assistant manager Traci Hagood said every book in the store related to the Princess of Wales sold within 15 minutes of opening Sunday morning.

Coincidentally, B. Dalton had launched a nationwide promotion on books about British royalty that Hagood had set up on Saturday morning. By Sunday afternoon, the only thing left on the display were a couple of books about the Duchess of York and the wives of Henry VIII. Even magazines containing articles on Diana sold out.

``We have nothing left. Everything is gone,'' Hagood said. ``We have a waiting list on anything about Diana. Anything. Children's books, photography books. Anything.''

Hagood said the bookstore's phone began ringing at 11 a.m. Sunday, an hour before opening time, with people wanting to put books on reserve. Others lined up outside the store, prompting her to open 30 minutes early.

Hagood said she was going to try to locate more books on Diana to replenish the store's stock, but added that she expected distributors to have little left to ship.

The assistant manager did buy a copy of Royalty magazine for herself, one that featured a picture of a solemn Diana on the cover. Flipping through the magazine Sunday afternoon, Hagood paused at pictures of Diana dressed in stunning evening gowns on one page and in protective gear near a minefield in another.

Hagood said that she wasn't a royalty watcher, but that she saw greatness in Diana's work and in her courage.

``She had so much to do,'' Hagood said. ``So much to do.''

At the White Horse Pub in Pembroke Mall, the menu runs from Welsh rarebit and bangers and mash to meatloaf and Buffalo wings. The television was tuned to a football game, but the patrons didn't mind talking about Diana.

``I think it's a great loss that she's gone,'' said Ken Kempf, a home repairman from Virginia Beach. ``She had a lot she was doing for the world, not just England. Her compassions were stronger than most.''

Amy Belvin, a manager at the pub, likened Diana to ``an English Jackie Onassis,'' But, Kempf added, ``in some ways, she was also Florence Nightingale.''

British Vice Adm. Ian Garnett, deputy commander of NATO's Supreme Allied Command Atlantic headquarters in Norfolk, said news of Diana's death came as ``a great shock'' and brought him ``a great sadness. It is a tragedy. And the suddenness of it makes it all the harder to bear.''

He agreed with others who compared the British reaction to Diana's death to that felt by Americans upon the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

``John Kennedy was enormously popular in this country - and love is probably not too strong a word to use,'' Garnett said. ``In many ways, Princess Diana was equally popular in the U.K.''

``Here was a young lady who was full of life, deeply involved in many causes, so full of compassion,'' Garnett said. ``It is such a waste for her to die so young.''

Garnett said both Kennedy and Diana had a unique ability among those who walk the world stage to touch average people and instill within them a sense of hope.

``There was enormous hope during President Kennedy's time in office; there was so much people were looking forward to him achieving,'' Garnett said. ``Princess Diana, too, engendered great hope for achieving things around the world.''

Although Garnett had never met the princess, he had seen her.

``When I was in command of the frigate RMS Amazon, we were selected to be the guard ship for the royal yacht Britannia during (Diana's and Prince Charles') honeymoon in the Mediterranean,'' he said. ``We could clearly see each other across the intervening water.'' ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot

Positioned between the United States and Virginia flags, a British

flag was flown at half-staff Sunday at Town Point Park in Norfolk

after the news of Princess Diana's death. Expressing sadness and

shock over the news, local residents had kind words and fond

memories of Diana.

TAMARA VONINSKI/The Virginian-Pilot

Traci Hagood, assistant manager at B. Dalton at Lynnhaven Mall,

said books related to Diana were gone within 15 minutes of opening

Sunday.