BERYL REID (76), one of Britain's best loved comedy actresses, died yesterday. She had been ill with pneumonia for about a week after a recent operation on her knees. She had been suffering from osteoporosis for some time.
Miss Reid, who lived in Wraysbury, Staines, Surrey, became a household name as the schoolgirl Monica and char Marlene on the radio programme, Educating Archie. In 1985 she was made an OBE.
Princess Diana today pledged to be the "pensioners princess" - despite resigning as patron of Help the Aged in July. She addressed a conference in Rimini, Italy, after receiving a humanitarian award for her "Queen of Hearts" work with health care charities.
Later, Princess Diana comforted Professor Christian Barnard, South Africa's pioneering heart transplant surgeon, who momentarily broke down as he told the story of a young patient who died after he had regained consciousness to ask for some bread to eat. "He died with the bread in his hand," the surgeon said.
Girls and boys will battle it out for this week's number one single as The Spice Girls launch their latest song today with huge orders. Retailers have asked for 400,000 copies of Say You'll Be There. Only Boyzone's A Different Beat could pose any obstacle to the inexorable rise of the Spice Girls.