DATELINE–London

Claim crash was royal cover-up.

An increasing number of the British believe that the Princess of Wales is not really dead but simply in hiding. A recent poll conducted by the Times-Mirror found that nearly one third of its readers suspect the gruesome crash which claimed the lives of Princess Diana, her friend Dodi Al Fayed, and their driver Henri Paul on August 31, 1997, may not have actually killed the Princess.

The poll, which was published alongside a retrospective of Princess Di’s troublesome relationship with the media, has inspired a round of heated speculation among the top British tabloids. One such newspaper, The Reporter, has even begun to publish accounts of Princess Di sightings. When its latest edition sold out within hours of hitting newsstands, Buckingham Palace was forced to issue a statement denouncing the rumors as “cruel” and “irresponsible.”

Despite such official protests and continued reticence from the mainstream press, the number of stories claiming that Princess Diana is still alive continues to grow at the same time that the world commemorates the one-year anniversary of her tragic death. Almost all of these stories allude to a Palace campaign to remove Diana from the limelight. That plot, theorists speculate, culminated in a clandestine pact between the Princess and her estranged Royal in-laws.

“Perhaps there was money involved, or perhaps simply a chance to start a new life away from the press,” says Anu Chantha-Doyle, a staff writer for The London Post. “Who else but the Royal family could give Diana Spencer a private identity once again.”

Conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana are hardly new in the British press. Earlier this year, Dodi Al Fayed’s father, Mohamed Al Fayed, accused the British secret services of arranging the fatal car crash to prevent the mother of the future king of England from marrying a Muslim. There have also been allegations involving stolen jewelry, possible carbon monoxide poisoning and a mysterious white Fiat Uno.

But the possibility that Princess Diana may indeed still be alive has stunned a nation divided between those who are ready to put last year’s highly publicized tragedy behind them, and others who are still in denial over the death of their favorite celebrity. Outside of Kensington Palace, the former London home of Princess Diana, a ragtag group of devotees have begun to gather daily with signs that read “Tell the Truth about Diana,” “Princess Di Lives” and “Where is Lady Di?”

Skeptics are quick to point out that it would be nearly impossible for the most recognized face in the world to disappear and then resurface without being detected. The naysayers also note that if Princess Diana’s detractors at Buckingham Palace had wanted to get her out of the picture, they certainly wouldn’t have made her a martyr in the process. Andrew Boleyn, an expert on the Royal family, dismisses the rumors of Diana’s morbid disappearing act, matter-of-factly stating, “In time, Diana would have destroyed herself on her own… So there was nothing Prince Charles or the machinations of Her Majesty could do about it.”

Yet neither logic nor a casual acquaintance with the facts of the case can dissuade the tens of thousands who have bought into the ongoing speculation that Princess Diana may still be alive.

“One can understand how so many would want to believe the rumors,” explains Gregg Baldwin, a mass psychologist who teaches at England’s University of Sussex.

Baldwin urges the British press to take a less sensational approach to the current controversy, insisting that the “Diana lives” stories have a rightful place in the lore surrounding the late Princess of Wales. “After all,” Baldwin asserts, ” she was known to most of her fans as a celebrity, not a person. While the person has indisputably passed on, the celebrity remains. Why shouldn’t she be alive to her fans?”