Leading article: Diana: rest in peace

More than a year away from the 10th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the machinery of public grief is already clanking into gear. The publishing industry has at least a dozen books aimed at what is now the Diana niche market planned for publication next year. Television companies are working on a similar number of documentaries. A feature film is even said to be in prospect, with John Travolta and Robert De Niro, it is claimed, having been approached to take part.

We do not always agree with the pronouncements of members of the Royal Family. But on this occasion we wholeheartedly support the appeal by princes William and Harry to the media around the world to leave their mother's memory alone. Nor do we always praise the restraint of our colleagues and competitors at the other end of the British newspaper market, but we do note that the photographs of Diana taken as she was dying have not been published in this country.

There is a profound reason why this phrase is so often used of the dead, and it should be respected in Diana's case too: may she rest in peace.