NEARLY four years have passed since Britain's greatest media superstar died amid a blaze of flashbulbs in a Paris subway. Diana's death provoked unprecedented scenes of mourning and outpourings of grief, and shook the Establishment to its foundations.

But time passes and memories fade. The world has moved on, the monarchy has steadied itself, and Diana has been sanctified and placed at the centre of her own museum: an icon from another century.

She will never be far away. A woman whose image could sell a million magazines will always be in the public eye. As with those other single-named stars, Elvis and Marilyn, Diana is a global industry.

Neither will we ever run out of reasons to remember her. The main ones are William and Harry, her greatest legacy. Prince William bears an uncanny likeness in looks and manner to his mother, and therefore carries much of the public's expectant affections.

Then there are the anniversaries. August 2002 will mark the fifth anniversary of her death.

A matter of weeks later, it will be ten years since the announcement of her separation from Prince Charles. With a timeline as brief and dramatic as Diana's, you are never far from a milestone.

But the two that are imminent are more poignant than most. This Sunday, July 1, would have been Diana's 40th birthday. It leaves us speculating how this emblem of youth would have made the transition into her middle years. Would she and Dodi have married? Would she have been granted her wish to be an ambassador for Britain?

How would she have celebrated: with Elton and her other show business friends, or just with the family - including her ex-husband and even, in a gesture of sensational reconciliation, with Camilla?

The other anniversary follows close behind, tottering in glass slippers. Twenty years ago on July 29, that fairytale wedding took place at St Paul's Cathedral.

Expect memories to be exchanged like kisses at a christening. Memories of a hot day huddled around the box; of that voluminous dress being unfurled from the confines of a golden carriage; of the bride and groom mixing up each other's many names at the altar (ah, now there was an omen, they'll say); of the last, national royal knees-up.

For the Diana devotees, these are emotional times. One man who has refused to let her presence wane is David Sykes. After Diana's death, he created a shrine to her from magazine photographs on his window at St Bridget Court, Clementhorpe, York. He named his home Allthorpe, after Althorp, in Northamp-tonshire, Diana's family estate.

The shrine is still there today. Mr Sykes regularly replaces pictures faded by the sun with new ones.

His home is permanently darkened by his tribute, but he has no plans to remove it.

He has only taken down the display once in four years, after it was attacked by vandals. "I must have had 60 people knocking on the door, asking me to put it back up," Mr Sykes said, citing this as proof that people have not forgotten the princess.

Diana touched something within him when they met during her visit to York with Prince Charles in 1981. He queued for hours at the railway station to await her arrival.

"A lot of people were there, waving little flags, but she spotted me in the crowd. She asked me if I was disabled. I said yes, I had epilepsy. She could pick up on those sorts of things."

In the aftermath of her death, Mr Sykes, 52, sent messages of condolence to Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, and to Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi, also killed in the crash. He received personal replies from both. "It has been comforting to hear so many heartfelt tributes to such a uniquely wonderful person," wrote Earl Spencer.

In his letter, Mr Al Fayed hinted at his belief that the car crash that killed Diana and Dodi was no accident: "Some newspapers seem determined to attack me for pursuing my quest for the truth. I believe that everyone in this country is entitled to know exactly what happened and I hope you will continue to support me."

Mr Sykes believes that had Diana lived, she would have married Dodi and continued her often unpublicised work with the needy.

"She was an angelic person," he said.

The Archdeacon of York also has vivid memories of Diana. The Venerable Richard Seed was vicar of Boston Spa when she visited Martin House children's hospice in the town in 1988, set up through his inspiration.

"She virtually invited herself," he said. "I don't think she was sent a formal invitation. The message was she was going to be in the area and wanted to call in.

"She came across as a very sensitive person on that day. We did some of the formal presentations with the Lord Mayor and so on, but what really impressed me was she spent quality time with the parents and children.

"She had a game of football on the terrace with some of the children. Just before she left, she let one or two of the children sit in the car."

Diana could clearly see the "inner torment that many of our parents were experiencing," said Archdeacon Seed.

"I only met her that once. She seemed to me to have a capacity to spend quality time with everybody she met. It didn't matter who you were, she was there to listen."

Young people in particular identified with her. "When she died I was still vicar of Boston Spa. The number of people we had through the church doors, signing the remembrance book, lighting candles, leaving flowers - I have never seen anything like it. A lot of those who came into church were her age group."

Would the princess have continued her charitable work had Paris never happened?

"I think she possibly would," said Archdeacon Seed. "I don't think she would have continued it in the rather high profile she used to do. I know she visited the Aids hospice in London fairly frequently and unannounced.

"This work seemed to be very close to her inner being."

Updated: 11:35 Wednesday, June 27, 2001