It’s hard to believe isn’t it? I’ve heard it a thousand times since it happened and I still can’t believe it. I saw the papers, watched the news and heard it on the radio and it still didn’t hit me. She was so young and so beautiful and for her to die in such a tragic way has made me ponder just what it is that I do for a living.

Princess Diana had it all. Money, fame, fortune, and thousands of lenses peering at her twenty-four hours a day. She could not go anywhere without the constant bursts of flashes tickling her eyes and the never-ending shouts of, "Diana! Diana! This way! Look this way!" No matter that she was the most photographed person in the world, all those photographs just weren’t enough. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but was it worth three lives?

When I first heard that Diana died, I couldn’t believe it. I thought she was immortal, I saw her as someone who would never die. While I don’t believe that you can have royalty in the 1990’s. I saw Diana as someone who could be a symbol of peace and unification for the world. Here was a woman who, even when she was a Princess, made her children wait on line to buy food just like everyone else. Yet, when she and Prince Charles separated, she was no longer a Royal Princess, she was "Princess of the World", a title she held with such grace and beauty, that she captivated all five billion of her subjects.

I’m very proud of being a journalist. When someone asks me what I do, I am always proud to tell them – I’m not feeling very proud now.

Journalists can sometimes be very overbearing, unfeeling, and downright selfish when it comes to getting "the big story". I am proud to say that I am not, nor have I ever been, a "tabloid-type journalist". I have never written stories called, "They Blew His Head Off" or "Killed For Three Bucks" nor have I ever taken a photograph of a celebrity in a "compromising position".

To my journalistic colleagues, I can only say this, try to remember that, while our job is to bring the news to the masses which requires being aggressive, try to realize the feelings of those you interview and remember that they are people too.

To Princess Diana, I can only say rest in peace. Although I never met or photographed you, I will always carry your picture in my heart.