HER FINAL JOURNEY; BRITONS BID FAREWELL TO PRINCESS DIANA.

Byline: Maureen Johnson Associated Press 

With timeless splendor, in a sea of tears, Britain bade farewell Saturday to its ``Queen of Hearts,'' a million mourners seeing Diana, Princess of Wales, to her final rest after a life of golden days, heartache and too few years.

``All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity,'' eulogized her brother, Charles, the ninth Earl Spencer.

And, speaking from the pulpit of Westminster Abbey, he was direct in pointing a finger at those he said caused her pain: a press that made her ``the most hunted person of the modern age.''

A stately procession had borne Diana's coffin to her Westminster Abbey funeral, passing at ``dead march'' step through hushed corridors of humanity, massed in central London to wish the much-loved, star-crossed princess an emotional goodbye.

Within the abbey's hallowed, soaring walls, black-clad ranks of royals, glittering rows of celebrities, and hundreds of ordinary people whose lives felt her human touch gathered to hear words of praise and prayer for Diana.

``Diana profoundly influenced this nation and the world,'' declared Westminster's dean, The Very Rev. Dr. Wesly Carr. ``Although a princess, she was someone for whom, from afar, we dared to feel affection.''

Amid the sorrowful tones of Bach, Verdi and Purcell, the 2,000 mourners also heard a grieving pop tribute from Diana's friend Elton John.

``Goodbye England's rose,'' he sang, ``... your candle's burned out long before your legend ever will.''

And the ceremonies Saturday, a day when this nation shut down as for the death of a true monarch, will clearly help make the legend of Diana.

Six gleaming black horses had pulled the gun carriage bearing the coffin down the city's boulevards and avenues. Slowly striding behind were her adored young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, heads bowed, and her former husband, Prince Charles.

Hundreds of representatives of the charities Diana championed, some in wheelchairs, also joined the procession.

The coffin was shrouded in the royal flag and topped with white flowers, one wreath each from her brother, Earl Spencer, and from William, 15, and Harry, 12. A card propped up on the flowers read simply, ``Mummy.''

Sobs and anguished cries of ``Diana!'' were heard. Some in the throng, often 50 deep, tossed flowers as the cortege passed. A banner read, ``No one can hurt you now. Just feel the love.''

But silence reigned, seldom broken by more than the clop of hooves and the bell's sad call.

Uncounted millions of others around world watched on television as the British people buried the earl's daughter and former kindergarten teacher who became perhaps the most-photographed woman on Earth.

As the day broke, cool and dry, central London was jammed along the 3.5-mile procession route. Some stood all night to claim prime places outside palaces and the abbey. Police forecast crowds of well over a million - and perhaps up to 5 million - outstripping the numbers who flocked to the capital for Diana's wedding to Charles in 1981.

After the funeral, Diana was being buried on an island in the grounds of the Spencer family's stately home, Althorp Park, north of London.

Saturday's ceremonies were closing a week of shock, sorrow, regret and recriminations.

In the six days since the 36-year-old princess's death in a Paris automobile accident, there has been a remarkable outpouring of public grief. Diana's astonishing popularity, which had troubled the royal family in life, was now humbling it in death.

``They (the royals) must get closer to the people to survive,'' said Doreen Duffell, who joined a subdued throng before the procession. ``Di was the only one who showed expression in her face. The expressions of the others hardly ever change.''

That very sentiment had led Queen Elizabeth II on Friday to shatter royal protocol by making her first live, televised address since the early days of her 45-year reign to pay tribute to her former daughter-in-law, describing her as a ``remarkable person'' whose memory would be cherished.

To many, the queen's address Friday was as much a peace offering to her subjects as a paean to Diana, whom she stripped of the title of Her Royal Highness after the divorce from Charles a year ago.

It was the queen who had insisted on the divorce, which Diana had publicly resisted.

Caught off guard by the enormous displays of grief over Diana's death, the palace executed a series of about-faces after widespread criticism that the royals had remained aloof.

And the show of public sentiment seemed to loosen up the 71-year-old monarch, who usually epitomizes stoicism, restraint, tradition and pageantry.

The queen normally speaks to the nation only on Christmas Day. This was the second exception in her reign; the other was on Feb. 24, 1991, at the end of the Persian Gulf War.

``The queen seemed drained and aged by the whole business and looked nervous,'' commented Amanda McManus, a London homemaker. ``I do think the queen genuinely admired her, and for the qualities the queen herself lacks.''

Diana herself had once said she aspired most of all to be ``a queen in people's hearts.'' And on Saturday, the multitudes crowned her - hundreds of thousands of mourners pinning simple playing cards to the chests.

Among the 2,000 guests gathered for the 45-minute funeral were first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, celebrity friends of Diana from the worlds of entertainment and fashion, and many others who had known her kindness.

The mixture of old and new in the service at the royal church - solemn choral music, Diana's favorite hymn, ``I Vow To Thee My Country,'' and an Elton John song originally written for Marilyn Monroe and reworked for his royal friend - reflected her life and passions.

On Friday evening, Charles, William and Harry visited the coffin at St. James's Palace, where it had lain all week, and then followed in a limousine its slow procession through the packed and hushed streets to Kensington Palace, where it remained overnight.

Diana was killed in Paris Aug. 31 with her new beau, Dodi Fayed, and their chauffeur in a high-speed flight from paparazzi photographers.

Supermarkets and museums closed Saturday, many sporting events were canceled, and even McDonald's restaurants shut down.`s

To the end, fame dogged Diana. Her burial place was separated from 20 generations of Spencers buried in the village church at Great Brington, near her ancestral home, for fear the hamlet would become overrun with sightseers and tourists.

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5 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) The King's Troop carries the body of Diana, Princess of Wales, into Westminster Abbey as her sons, brother and members of the royal family stand watch.

(2 -- color) From left, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman attend Diana's funeral Saturday.

(3 -- color) Prince Philip, front, Prince William, the 9th Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles walk through London behind the princess's coffin.

(4 -- color) The coffin bearing Diana, Princess of Wales, is carried into Westminster Abbey. Members of the royal family and Diana's borther walk behind the coffin.

(5 -- color) Members of The King's Troop accompany the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales. The coffin, enshrouded in the monarch's flag, the Royal Standard, passes Buckingham Palace in route to Westminster Abbey

Associated Press