Did Diana's Death Curb The Paparazzi?

A decade later, Diana remains the cover girl of all cover girls. The stunning princess who played her life in front of the cameras, from fairy tale, to catastrophe in Paris.

"Every picture of her is memorable," Steve Wood, author of "Lady Diana Spencer: Magic Moments," tells CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar.

Wood first snapped Diana before her engagement. He went on to take more than 80,000 other pictures of her.

"The press are all part of the package of the star, and she was the biggest superstar we are ever likely to know," he says.

As a superstar, the princess was more than tabloid fodder: she was a commodity. Pictures of her brought thousands of dollars for the photographers, and for the newspapers that published them.

As her private life unraveled, public interest in what she did, and whom she did it with, meant that she was bigger than ever.

"Now I can't tolerate it because it's become abusive," Diana once said in an interview.

But the truth was somewhat more complicated.

Ten years ago, in the last summer of her life, Diana first vacationed in the Mediterranean with her sons, and then, launched a very public love affair with Dodi Fayed.

All summer long, Diana had played a game with photographers making sure at least her favorites knew where she would be. By the time she reached that fatal Parisian plaza one August night, everyone knew that a picture of Diana and Dodi together, perhaps holding hands, perhaps kissing, would be worth a fortune.

"It was 'million-pound picture' time," said Wood. "It didn't matter how much money you spent on chasing her."

On Aug. 31, word spread that the couple were at the Ritz hotel. Their relationship was no secret, but Dodi decided to evade photographers.

Their speeding Mercedes was driven by a drunk driver. In the aftermath, the hunters became the hunted.

While the photographers were cleared, this week for the first time, a tabloid editor of the era admitted he felt huge responsibility for her death.

"My view is that if the paparazzi hadn't been following her, the car wouldn't have been speeding and you know, the accident may never have happened," said Phil Hall, editor of News of the World.

Asked if he thinks that, in the aftermath of Diana's death, any lessons were learned," Wood says, "They did change. London editors certainly started to think about the intrusion of photography and (that) we shouldn't photograph this or that."

Today there is no Diana. No global icon.

Instead, celebrity culture is dominated by women who are mostly famous for seeking to have their pictures taken. For the young women who date Diana's sons (who might one day become princesses themselves) there is still relentless scrutiny, coupled with unending public appetite.

For Diana's death, blame the photographers, blame the publishers and blame the public who buy their work.