The Queen and the Prince of Wales are deeply shocked and distressed by this terrible news. Other members of the Royal Family are being informed. - Statement from Buckingham Palace
To our Queen of Hearts. May you finally have found peace and happiness. You will never be replaced. - Message on a card left with a bunch of flowers outside Balmoral Castle
Born a lady, became a princess, died a saint. - Message on a card left outside Kensington Palace, Lony will remember her with the deepest affection and love and that is why our grief is so deep today. - Prime Minister Tony Blair
It's at times like this when politicians should pull together and sink our differences for a while . . . I think the whole nation is united in sadness and politicians should lead and respect that . . . She was a shining individual who will never be forgotten and I think that is how we should remember her. - Conservative Party leader William Hague
We liked her very much. We admired her work for children, for people with AIDS, for the cause of ending the scourge of landmines in the world and for her love for her children William and Harry. - President Clinton
She helped me to help the poor and that's the most beautiful thing. She was a very great friend, in love with the poor. - Mother Teresa
Princess Diana became the victim of an unceasing, gross and unscrupulous circulation battle in a section of the media. - German Chancellor Helmut Kohl
I shall be watching the situation and have to think what to do. But the immediate aftermath is not the right moment to make a judgment. - Lord Wakeham, chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, on the possibility of new privacy laws
She brought something special to our work each time she visited us. She could leave people who had been feeling quite ill, feeling very much better. - Michael Whitlam, director general of the British Red Cross
She was unique. She understood the most precious needs of human beings, particularly those who suffered. Her vibrancy, combined with a very real sense of duty, has now gone for ever. - Earl Spencer, Diana's brother
With the tragic death of Princess Diana, a beacon of light has been extinguished. - Former Prime Minister, Lady Thatcher
She was a huge support. She understood the enormous tragedy and human suffering caused by landmines and worked tirelessly to support our campaign. She was particularly good at talking to the victims themselves. - Fiona King, Save the Children
She was an international humanitarian and did not have an armchair approach. She was not afraid to go to dangerous areas to support the campaign. - Clare Crawford, Mines Advisory Group
She will be sadly missed as a warm, compassionate and caring person. - President Nelson Mandela
Mr al-Fayed is with his son in Paris. His thoughts are with the princess's sons and the rest of her family. She is irreplaceable. But he himself has lost his eldest son. He is quite sure this tragedy would never have happened if it was not for photographers. Mr al-Fayed's thoughts are also with the chauffeur's family. - Michael Cole, director of public affairs at Harrods
I am greatly shocked by this news . . . In the longer term serious questions will have to be asked whether the aggressive intrusion into her privacy has contributed to this tragedy. - Foreign Secretary Robin Cook
The mood here is one of total devastation. I shall remember her as someone who was total magic. When she spoke to you, your day was lit up. She was a beautiful woman who was loving and caring. - Capt Norman Lloyd-Edwards, Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan
We give thanks to God for the humanitarian work of the Princess of Wales and perhaps the words of our hymn Stand Up Stand Up For Jesus are appropriate. `Stand up Stand up for Jesus, In faith and hope be strong. Stand firm for right and justice, Opposed to sin and wrong'. - Rev David MacPherson, vicar of St Mary the Virgin church in Great Brington, Northamptonshire, church of the Spencer family
She was one of the first and most committed champions on this issue. It will be a struggle for the AIDS community to come to terms with her death. - Nick Partridge, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust
The Royal Standard is the flag of the sovereign and is never flown at half-mast, even when the monarch dies. As the heir to the throne immediately takes over in the event of a sovereign's dying, the flag is never flown at half-mast. - Buckingham Palace spokesman on why the flag was not at half-mast yesterday