CROWN TO DIANA'S STAFF: OUT
Buckingham Palace is handing pink slips to Princess Diana's loyal Kensington Palace staff and is removing its members from their homes, reports London's News of the World. The tabloid says Diana's household staff got the word just days after the princess' tragic death. Even Di's longtime trusted butler, Paul Burrell, is being fired after more than a decade of service. The dismissals will reportedly save Prince Charles $625,000 a year in expenses, which he had to pay as part of his divorce settlement. "They all knew they would go eventually," says one palace worker, "but the speed at which it happened has left them in a terrible state." The staff apparently has three months to clear out.

DIANA'S TITLE DEBATE
Hours after Princess Diana's funeral, reports the Associated Press, Buckingham Palace considered restoring her H.R.H. designation, but her Spencer "blood family" said she wouldn't have wanted to be known after her death as Her Royal Highness. (The H.R.H. designation is reserved for only the most senior royals. Diana received the title when she married Prince Charles in 1981, but she lost it when they divorced a year ago.) Some royal theorists are speculating that the House of Spencer is out to prove itself more popular than the House of Windsor.

EARL SPENCER'S GRATITUDE
Diana's brother Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, thanked people around the world for flowers and letters that "have genuinely helped us to mourn her death." He released photographs of the island carpeted in blooms. "The knowledge that Diana's life gave so many people so much can now be balanced by the hope that, in death, her legacy will be immortal," Spencer said. A note on the gate at Althorp Park thanked people and said messages attached to the flowers would be collected and retained.

DIANA SELECTED RING
Princess Diana chose the diamond-encrusted ring that Dodi Al Fayed gave her over dinner at the Ritz Hotel in Paris the night before they died, The Times of London reports. The paper quoted Monte Carlo jeweler Alberto Repossi as saying he did not know if Al Fayed intended it as an engagement ring. "These are the sort of intimate things of which one does not speak" with customers, it quoted him as saying. Repossi said Diana picked out the ring at his premises in Monte Carlo, and he sent it to Al Fayed to give to her over dinner on Aug. 30, according to the paper.

BODYGUARD'S CONDITION: UPDATE
Trevor Rees-Jones, the bodyguard who could help unravel the twisted trail ending in Princess Diana's death, is conscious and recovering from 10 hours of surgery to rebuild his shattered face, the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital said Monday. But his parents said he has a mangled jaw and will not be able to speak "for some time." Investigators looking at cellular phone records, meanwhile, have determined none of the photographers under investigation called emergency services when Diana's Mercedes crashed, police sources said. Judicial sources say the first person to give the accident alert was a passer-by.

SAFETY LESSON
Princess Diana was not wearing a seatbelt when the car in which she was riding crashed at high speed, said a French police source. "The only person inside the car who wore a seatbelt was the bodyguard, who survived," a senior officer told Reuters in the first official confirmation that Diana had failed to take a safety step which might have saved her life.

ROCK FOR DIANA
Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Sting are among 10 acts who have agreed to record a tribute album to Diana, the British tycoon (and the princess' friend) Richard Branson announced Monday. The album will also include the new version of "Candle in the Wind" sung by Elton John at Diana's funeral. Also to be on the CD: Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Seal, Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox and Bryan Adams. The album will be released before Christmas and proceeds will go to a charity fund set up in Diana's name.

SETTING UP MEMORIALS
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has appointed a government committee to decide on a permanent memorial to Diana. Suggestions include a children's hospital or renaming Heathrow airport in her honor. In America, the Fleet Bank has been designated as the one and only official collector for the Diana, Princess of Wales, Memorial Fund. Those wishing to donate may send to: The Diana, Princess of Wales, Memorial Fund, c/o Fleet Bank, P.0. 30596, Hartford, CT 06150.