When They Mourned Their Princess

Photographs of the millions of flowers, poems, and notes laid outside the gates of Kensington Palace following the death of Princess Diana have been gathered together for a book to be launched this week.

Flowers in the Park, a 96-page paperback, will document the floral sea that covered acres of grass outside the princess' former home, where scores of mourners kept vigil during the period between her death in a Paris car crash Aug. 31 and her funeral a week later.

Volunteers worked for three weeks to clear the bouquets after her funeral. Up to 15 tons of flowers left at Kensington, Buckingham. and St. James palaces were composted to regenerate the grass at Kensington Gardens, which was worn away by the thousands of people who came to pay their respects.

All proceeds from the book, which will be sold for about $16, will go to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.