In the immediate aftermath of the Paris car crash that claimed the lives of Diana, 36, and her companion Dodi Fayed, the entire nation appeared to be convulsed by grief.

Yet just 24 months later, both the press and the vast majority of Britons have all but forgotten their beloved ``People's Princess'', who has slipped into quiet obscurity as the second anniversary of her death approaches next week.

``The myth is fading,'' said the editor of one of the biggest-selling dailies, which did much to elevate Diana to the status of an icon.

On August 31 this year, the only public site which will commemorate Diana's death two years ago to the day is Harrods, the luxury London department store owned by Dodi's father, Egyptian multi-millionaire Mohammed Al Fayed.

Harrods' main window willdisplay a replica of the two-and-a-half-metre (eight foot) high bronze memorial first unveiled last August, which is now a permanent fixture in the store's basement.

But except for Harrods and her former London home, Kensington Palace, which is also expected to attract a trickle of diehard Diana fans and the curious, there will be no other place of pilgrimage for the dead princess.

The British royal family, which last year held a special prayer service for Diana at their private chapel outside Balmoral, Scotland, on August 31, will merely include her in their prayers at this week's regular Sunday service.

The low-key approach to the second anniversary of her death reflects the final disappearance of the mass worship of Diana that swept across the nation as shocked Britons grappled with her untimely demise.

During the week that followed the princess's death, 1.3 million bouquets were laid at the steps of royal palaces and people queued for 16 hours to sign books of condolence.

But visitors are nolonger crowding to Althorp, Diana's ancestral home in central England where she is buried on a small island on a lake in the grounds of the family estate.

When Althorp opened for business last month, 25,000 tickets were still unsold. Last year millions of people swamped ticket hotlines before the estate opened for the first time, and 150,000 people crowded in over two months.

``Last year the princess was in the newspapers all the time. It hasn't been like that this year,'' the princess' brother, the Earl of Spencer, commented ruefully.