he mourners came to bid her goodbye and share their heartbreak. Some arrived as dawn broke yesterday over Boston's Trinity Church to make sure they would be a part of the memorial service at noon for Britain's beloved Diana, Princess of Wales.
An estimated 3,000 Massachusetts residents, New Englanders, and tourists, many clutching candles and bouquets of roses and lilies, converged upon the old church just hours after Diana's funeral in London. Two British flags flew at half staff over the Copley Plaza Hotel nearby.
''I have been up all night,'' said Susan Sutch, a British expatriate who drove to Boston with her two children from their Brentwood, N.H., home. ''All my family went to the funeral and I feel left out. I came here because I felt the need to be somewhere with people who understand, and to say goodbye.''
Some dressed up, others were casual. They were straight and gay, many wearing the symbolic AIDS ribbon. They spoke of efforts to help the homeless or people with AIDS or campaigns against land mines, all causes closely associated with the princess.
''She was royalty. She didn't have to do any of that work,'' said Wendy Fleming of Stoughton, who works for a radio station and had waited in line since dawn. ''I am so sick of hearing people say this is all overdone. We lost an extremely valuable friend.''
The service drew a half-dozen demonstrators in support of one of the princess's favorite causes, holding placards reading ''Honor Diana, Ban Landmines.''
''I never thought about mine fields before. She brought a lot of issues into the open,'' said Maureen Fabiszewski of Everett.
Valerie Souza, a college sophomore from Hopedale - her fuchsia-dyed hair and pierced lip a reminder of the vast reach Diana had over so many people - held a single yellow rose in her hand. The princess had long been her idol, she said.
''For me, she symbolized one of the few women who had so much influence,'' said Souza, 17, who considered flying to London for the funeral, but said she did not have enough money for a ticket. ''Being here is allowing me to be part of this. We are all sharing the same loss.''
Inside the church, more than 1,500 mourners sat or kneeled as the Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, Trinity Church rector, tried to find words to ease what he called the many troubled hearts.
Invoking the memory of both Diana and Mother Teresa, who died Friday, Lloyd said: ''This has been a remarkable week, for many sense that some foundation has been shaken. How can our hearts not be troubled when someone so full of life is gone?''
Some wept openly or simply bowed their heads as Lloyd offered answers to questions he admitted were difficult to ponder. ''It seemed that this larger-than-life woman tapped into a profound yearning in the souls of fellow human beings. We all yearn to know we are people of destiny. We all long to love and be loved. We watched Diana's quest for a love that would hold. We all stumble and make mistakes,'' he said, ''and Diana did that in front of the whole world.''
Lloyd's homily was part of a 90-minute service he designed with James Poston, the British consul general in Boston and a member of the Trinity congregation.
Outside the church, almost a thousand people had gathered to listen to the service on loudspeakers. The eerie silence of so many was broken only by the sobs of a few as a lone bagpiper's ''Amazing Grace'' filled the square. The piper, Iain Massie, a British subject, also played at Diana's wedding.
Usually bustling with tourists on Saturdays, the square grew still and somber during the prayers for Diana, who was killed last Saturday in a car crash in Paris.
Lisa Marie Walker stood crying.
''I really loved her, I really identified with her,'' cried Walker, who lives in Boston's South End. ''She was a real queen.''
Material from the Associated Press was used in the preparation of this report.
