So an era has finally closed. I wonder how the royal family will cope now. According to reports a third of the population of Britain will genuinely mourn her, a third will feel a passing sadness and a third will think "so what" and wish that the televsion didn't spend so much time covering the event. The above postings show a mixed reaction. But to put things in perspective, she never had to dirty her hands to support the family and was raised and lived in the lap of luxury all her life. She was capable of carrying a grudge for practically ever and never forgave "Crawfie" for publishing her book on the princesses. If the report that Princess Diana described her as "the chief leper in the leper colony" is true then the picture of a sweet old lady is very far from the truth. Still she has passed on now and is a part of history. To describe the event as "sad" is a slight exageration. Now if she had been a young working class mother with two or three young children dependent on her - that would be sad.