The event I choose was Princess Diana's death, which may seem trivial but Diana's life and death actually had a profound impact on British society and politics. The picture is of the thousand's of flowers left by mourners at the gate of Buckingham Palace, in the week following her death. Diana's impact rests in a series of small revolutions.

Diana speed up the modernization of the British monarchy; did mcuh to tear down predjudices about AIDS; raised awareness about eating disorders; and united land mine opposition. The traditional British social pattern of supressing every emotion was undone, with Diana unknowingly acting as a catylst after her death. The customary emotional detachment vansihed as mourners were overwhelmed by grief. Even a decade after her death, Diana remains a presence in British society.