Course to offer Diana 'therapy'

A WEEKEND conference is being held next month in the heart of rural Wales to try to help people to come to terms with the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Social workers, teachers and community leaders will gather in the hamlet of Bleddfa near the spa town Llandrindod Wells, to probe the Diana enigma.

James Roose-Evans, a non-stipendiary priest of the Church in Wales, who is holding the course explained that the "Diana Weekend" would explore the differences between the woman and the myth that has grown up since her death.

It would, he said, help to settle arguments about the princess's death and more importantly, he claims, assist those who continue to grieve to come to terms with the tragedy. "Potentially it will be a very rich, rewarding and useful weekend. Diana has become a phenomenon and it is an appropriate time to ask why this is so," Mr Roose-Evans said. One of the activities planned for the weekend is the construction of montages of newspaper and magazine photographs of Diana.

The event, to be held at the Barn Centre, is limited to 50 places, and the fee is pounds 60. The organisers claim that a queue is already building up, thanks in part to an advertisement on the Internet.

"The people coming are in professions that still have to deal with those who continue to grieve for the princess," Mr Roose-Evans said last week.

Bleddfa is a long way from the urban glamour that typified Diana's existence. It boasts an ancient church, a sub post office and a pub, The Hundred House Inn, which has two letting rooms. One has already been booked by a nun travelling from England to attend the conference.