BILLIONS WORLDWIDE TUNE IN FOR FAREWELLS.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Staff Writer

In what was probably the largest worldwide TV audience in history, an estimated 2.5 billion viewers in almost 200 countries watched the poignant funeral services for Princess Diana unfold Saturday at London's Westminster Abbey.

Among the unforgetable images relayed around the world were pictures of Diana's two sons, heads bowed before a coffin topped with white lilies and a simple card addressed to ``Mummy.''

Millions of Americans stayed awake until the wee hours Saturday to watch Diana's funeral cortege make its way to Westminster Abbey and finally through the crowded streets of London to her burial.

``In her life, Diana profoundly influenced this nation and the world,'' said the Rev. Wesley Carr, the dean of Westminster, in his opening remarks at the funeral. ``Although a princess, she was someone for whom from afar we dared to feel affection, and by whom we were all intrigued.''

Capping a week of nonstop coverage, the networks stayed up for the funeral services, which began about 3 a.m. local time. The ceremony, initially broadcast uninterrupted by advertising or much commentary, will be repeated today on some channels.

Just two networks - the BBC and ITV - had cameras inside the 900-year-old abbey and they supplied feeds around the world. Cameras operated under strict instructions not to show the royal family during the service.

Hundreds of pool cameras were also placed along the 75-mile route to Princess Diana's ancestral home, Althorp Park, where she was buried on a wooded island in the estate grounds. Diana, 36, was killed Aug. 31 in a Paris automobile crash while being pursued by photographers.

CBS and NBC used Elton John's funeral performance of a reworked ``Candle in the Wind'' as a falsely sentimental music video by mixing in stills of Diana from her travels.

Meanwhile, ABC flashed to pictures of people viewing in Atlanta, Hong Kong, Toronto and a British hospital, suggesting the international scope of the event.

In what was probably the largest international audience in TV history, an estimated 2.5 billion viewers watched in tiny towns in Thailand, on giant screens in New York, and throughout Europe. Domestic and international ratings figures will be released Monday.

The four main networks, plus CNN, C-SPAN, E! Entertainment Television and the local Spanish-language stations, supplied continuous coverage and commentary for the farewell to the princess. Radio stations broadcast the event in 44 languages.

Among the many dramatic moments were the words of Diana's brother, the 9th Earl Spencer, in a eulogy that lashed out at the paparazzi who dogged Diana's life as well as the tabloid media that seemed to be vying to ``bring her down.''

He said Diana ``talked endlessly of getting away from England, mainly because of the treatment that she received at the hand of the newspapers'' and called his sister ``the most hunted person of the modern age.''

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Photo

PHOTO Pedestrians watch Princess Diana's funeral, broadcast from London, on a giant TV screen in New York's Times Square early Saturday.

Associated Press