Floral tributes and conspiracy theories

At the north end of Kensington Gardens yesterday afternoon there was little sign of remembrance. Groups of backpackers lazed in the sun, while on the noticeboard by the Queensway entrance was a poster for an exhibition: "A century of queens' wedding dresses unveiled". No mention, though, of the woman once destined to be queen. The gift shop in Kensington Palace reported no quickening in trade in Diana memorabilia. It seemed a perfectly normal late summer weekend, sightseers and roller-bladers outnumbering ordinary Londoners.

It was when you turned the corner towards the gates of the palace that it became clear that, five years after the death of Princess Diana, still they come. A crowd of around 200 milled by the gates. Teddy bears for the children of Great Ormond Street hospital vied with flowers, some in jars, some single stems in cellophane wrapping, and countless homemade collages of the late princess. "Diana we will never stop loving you. Thank you for making me a much wiser human being," read one above a picture of her with Mother Teresa, adorned with the caption: "Two of the world's greatest". One offering, both touching and disturbing, said simply: "Until next year, love u".

John Bull had come from East Ham, as he does every year. "She was lovely, beautiful, clean," he said. "But she was in the way, like the Kennedys, Princess Grace of Monaco, Marilyn Monroe. She was removed for a purpose," he hinted darkly. Who did he blame? "The three Ms – Muslims, the monarchy and MI5." His friend Denzil Brider agreed: "She was used and abused as a brood mare." Both were particularly angry about the proposed memorial to Diana in the gardens. "What is it?" asked Denzil. "A circular ditch. They're trying to piss on Diana's memory."

For them, and for others who had left messages tied to the railings, the villains of the piece were Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. "The only throne they should share," were the words on a large card, above a picture of a lavatory. Some thought had obviously gone into it; the artist had even included a loo brush by the side.

Curious elderly tourists pressed up against a French camera crew recording this eccentric English spectacle. "Oh look," said Jodie Schwarz from Buffalo, New York, of a photograph of Diana and her two sons. "That picture was taken by the Niagara falls. It's so sad, isn't it?"

Maurice and Gayle Crooke were over from Melbourne, Australia. Diana's death, said Maurice, might lead to "England becoming a republic before Australia. It'll quicken the process." They noticed the connection some posters made with the deaths of young Holly and Jessica: "It's the mourning thing."

John and Denzil were still there when I left. They were reminiscing about their visits to the shrine to Diana at Althorp, Earl Spencer's country seat. "When you get near to the island," explained John, "it's like someone puts a wet blanket round your shoulders and says shhhh." The monarchy has little or no hold over these two, but they'll be back for Diana next year.