(2 Sep 1997) English/Nat
At Westminster Abbey in London preparations are underway for the funeral of Diana Princess of Wales, which will take place on Saturday.
Large crowds are expected on Saturday along the route from the palace to Westminster Abbey, when Diana will be accorded a funeral fit for royalty.
Streams of Britons and tourists are continuing to pay tribute to the dead princess, leaving messages and floral tributes at St James' and Buckingham Palaces.
Diana, Princess of Wales' funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday at 1000 G-M-T.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said the arrangements, though not a full state funeral, were intended to reflect her unique status as a "people's princess."
Workman are already in preparation for what is expected to be a huge event to remember the "people's princess".
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"Basically all this area will be cordoned off just for the press, TV people, and all over there, around there will be tourists and local people."
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Britain will come to a standstill on Saturday for the funeral - hundreds of shops, theatres, cinemas, banks and radio stations have joined a ground swell of organisations planning to close or observe a silence on the day of her funeral.
Buckingham Palace has also announced that the nation will observe a minute's silence after the Westminster Abbey service, and Prince Charles has cancelled all public and private engagements through next week.
There are concerns over how to handle the (m) million or more people who are expected to be competing for a glimpse of Diana's funeral procession from St James' Palace to Westminster Abbey.
Diana's coffin is currently positioned in the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace.
People queued for hours to sign the book of condolences inside the Palace - throughout Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday.
Eventually extra books were provided to help speed up the number of mourners able to get through.
And people continued to arrive at St James' Palace later on Tuesday to lay their tributes to the princess.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles lived in an apartment in St James Palace after they married in 1981.
At Buckingham Palace too, the sea of flowers at the gates continues to swell.
Since the news of Diana, Princess of Wales' death, there has been a constant stream of people coming by to pay their last respects - some estimates put the number of bouquets at more than five thousand.
Buckingham Palace said Diana's Internet obituary had received 1.8 million (m) visits, while more than 60-thousand messages of condolences has been received by Monday afternoon.
The Palace announced on Tuesday it would be setting up a Princess Diana memorial fund for people who wish to make charitable donations in her name.
It said the fund was set up because the princess' charities were inundated with offers of cash as a sign of respect following her death on Sunday.
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund will be coordinated and administered at Kensington Palace, where the princess lived.
The charities to benefit will be decided in due course - Diana's favourite charities included AIDS, cancer, leprosy, and a children's hospital.
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