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Flamme fatale: On place de l’Alma an oversized metallic flame holds vigil over the tunnel where Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed perished in a highspeed encounter with a concrete pillar on 31 August 1997. The statue has nothing to do with the people’s princess; it was, like her, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Erected by the Paris-based International Herald Tribune to celebrate its centennial in 1987, this replica of the flame from the Statue of Liberty’s torch was financed by well-meaning US–American friendship. With that in short supply, the edifice has always suffered from something of an identity crisis. Along came Di’s tragic rendezvous, and its tidal wave of flowers, candles, tokens and graffiti that damaged the statue’s gilded surface. In 2001 the Mairie restored the finish and cordoned off the pedestal. Council roadsweepers were initially overwhelmed, and leave the cleanup to two elderly volunteers who come daily to clear the bouquets. A lack of romantic frisson accounts for the continued popularity of Lady Di’s unofficial monument, which flickers obstinately away as if proud of its new calling as an iconic candle in the wind.
Take a look at the pictures I’ve taken on trips to Italy
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