Respect for royal family at new low since Diana`s death

London: Princess Diana`s death has damaged the reputation of the royal family in Britain, with

"respect" falling sharply below 50 per cent for the first time in 10 years, according to a new poll. The `Yougov` poll has revealed the sharp decline -- from 64 per cent to 49 per cent -- among Britons on the tenth death anniversary of the Princess of Wales today, `The Daily Telegraph`, which commissioned the survey, reported here.

According to the poll, 48 per cent of the people in Britain do not believe the royal family has changed for the better as a result of the way Princess Diana had lived and died in a car crash in Paris ten years back.

While only six per cent Britons said their opinion of the Royal family had changed for the better, a clear 25 per cent of those questioned during the poll said it had declined over the past decade.

But it is the headline figure about respect falling below 50 per cent for the first time in an opinion poll "which will dominate the debate about the impact of the Princess of Wales on the royal family", according to the British daily. The poll also shows that 82 per cent of people in the country believed that Princess Diana had a "remarkable ability" to connect. A further 80 per cent said that "she genuinely cared about people who were ill, disabled or disadvantaged in some way".

The opinion poll has revealed that an extraordinary 89 per cent of people knew exactly where the members of the royal family were when they heard that the princess had died in the car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.

Despite a British government report concluding that the accident was caused by the Princess` chauffeur, Henri Paul, 43 per cent people still think Diana`s death was "suspicious".

Even a decade on from her death, the cause of the crash continues to provoke controversy, the poll shows. "The monarchy will look carefully at these figures because, as an institution, it cannot afford to be complacent. It has adapted in the past, it will continue to adapt, but it cannot move ahead of public opinion...," the daily quoted Vernon Bogdanor, a professor at Oxford University, as saying. Help the Age charity criticises memorial service

The memorial service to mark 10 years since Princess Diana`s death has draw harsh criticism from the head of one of her favourite charities, Help the Aged. Michael Lake, the director general of the charity, said on Wednesday night that rather than acting as a unifying event to mark the late Princess of Wales` life, the memorial service had re-ignited rows of the past. He said that the event was dragging the Royal Family through further controversy. "It has been a pity for her sons and it has dragged the royals through it again. Is now perhaps the right time to say let her rest in peace?" the Telegraph quoted Lake as saying. "I am a bit unclear as to why this event is happening - whether it comes from the Spencer family, whether it comes from her sons. I`m not sure who has generated the whole motion for having this. I am a little worried about the attitude behind it. What is next? A 15-year event? A 20-year event?" he added. Lake further said that some of the people invited were attending only for the "thrill" of being at the one-hour service at The Guards Chapel that has been organised by Clarence House. He even questioned himself over why he was attending. "I am there to represent the charity but I also have a horrible feeling that it is the thrill of being there and I don`t think that is what it should be about," he said. "You do wonder. There are people coming out of the woodwork claiming to be close friends of the princess and to know her well and it`s more about them and their desire to be seen there than it is about Diana and remembering her for what she was," he added. Lake said that people should focus on the praiseworthy works of Diana, and should not ponder over other insignificant matters. "It is a great pity that now we have these people who want to glorify her as a great person and, wittingly or unwittingly, they raise the spectre of the other stuff as well," he said. "She was a lovely person. She did great work for charity, which should be praised. She was a bloody good mother. Let`s focus on those things and not drag up the other stuff. Let`s forget it. Let`s move it on," he added. Bureau Report (with ANI inputs)