It is 10 years since New Labour's landslide victory was followed by Princess Diana's death. The two events have always been connected, as a result of the 'People's Princess' speech, in which Tony Blair demonstrated his talent for amateur dramatics for the first time - and his skill at political manipulation.For a few strange and still largely incomprehensible days, large sections of the population gave themselves over to a collective outpouring of emotion that might have appeared in Charles Mackay's nineteenth century classic Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness of Crowds.For those few days it was impossible to escape the mountains of flowers, the media-orchestrated 'grief' and Elton John's mawkish dirge. Even normally intelligent commentators lost their bearings in this rarefied atmosphere. Some spoke of a republican 'floral revolution' against the monarchy. Others celebrated the fact that a population known for its reserve had discovered its feminine side and learned to cry. There was talk of a kinder, softer England, symbolised by Diana's pieta-like smile and also by Blair himself.Much of this was arrant nonsense. Even then there was an alarming conformity about the response to Princess Diana's death that made one think that much of the population had been taken over by alien seed pods. As the hapless royal family discovered to its cost, such a response not only expected but frequently demanded emulation.Indifference to Diana's death earned the kind of hostile attention that Meursault received in Albert Camus' The Outsider for not crying at his mother's funeral. Even people who had never mentioned, and perhaps had never even thought about, Diana in their lives looked aghast and even angry at any suggestion that she was perhaps not a particularly exemplary or admirable individual - beyond the fact that she was famous and photogenic.To express indifference to the People's Princess was an admission of cynicism or inhumanity. In these circumstances even the most convinced republican could feel some sympathy for the royals, as they were dragged by the tabloids and the tearful crowds to take part in Diana's secular canonisation.Was this bizarre melodrama an expression of crowd hysteria, the product of a lonely, atomised society steeped in too many soap operas, whose individual members wanted to experience a single moment of shared emotion? Was Diana the 'imaginary friend' whose photogenic smile transported millions back to childhood fantasies? Was it a confirmation of the cult of celebrity and the power of the media?Psychologists and sociologists may ponder such questions for years. But one thing is clear; the long-term historical impact of Diana's death has been absolutely nothing. So let us not pretend that Diana still matters for the truth is that for the overwhelming majority of us, she doesn't matter at all, and never really did.But while Diana's death changed nothing, it did coincide with a shift in British society. Ten years ago Tony Blair came to power promising to make Britain a 'beacon to the world'. Since then we have become richer, coarser, more selfish and cynical, prone to expressions of sentimental emotion and equally unpredictable outbreaks of brutality.It is a society where the national obsession with fame and celebrity is reflected in an endless array of wannabe TV shows and the glorification of the rich and powerful. Many of these tendencies were embodied by the devious ham actor with the trembling lower lip who ruled the country for the last decade. Now Blair has gone and the beacon that he promised, as Elton John might put it, has turned out to be just a candle in the wind.  FIRST POSTED AUGUST 24, 2007 

By James Elder

GOROMONZI DISTRICT, Zimbabwe, 20 July 2007 – With temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius, Lillian, 13, scoops water from a well. It’s just before six in the morning and she has 90 minutes to get the water back to her hut, collect wood, start a fire, make breakfast for her family and, finally, walk a kilometre to school.

Lillian’s father died in 2004 due to complications from AIDS. Her mother, unable to cope, abandoned the family a few days later.

“My dad started coughing, then he went to the hospital. The doctor said he had TB,” said Lillian. “After my father died, my mother woke up and ran away. When I saw she wasn’t there, I started crying.”

Grandparents burdened with caretaking

After their mother left, Lillian and her siblings joined their six cousins, whose mothers had already died from AIDS-related illnesses. Their 80-year-old grandmother was suddenly left responsible for the care of nine orphaned children.

“My children are all dead,” said the grandmother, Ms. Mwale. “Where can I get money from to care for all these grandchildren? These are hard times, terrible times.”

Unfortunately, Lillian’s life mirrors that of many Zimbabwean girls her age – children being looked after by ailing grandparents. There are at least 1.1 million children (and possibly as many as 1.6 million) who have lost one or both parents to AIDS in the country.

“My granny takes care of us,” said Lillian, her smile defiant. “She loves us too much, she gives us food to eat, she cuts clothes to make blankets. But she tell us, ‘My body is not strong.’”

Support for UNICEF programmes

Six out of every seven Zimbabwean adults who desperately need anti-retroviral drugs to treat HIV infection cannot access them. For children living with HIV, it is even worse – only about 1 in 16 has access to the life-prolonging drugs. Approximately 160,000 children in the country are living with HIV, and many of them have also lost parents to the disease.

As part of The Government of Zimbabwe’s National Plan of Action (NPA) for orphans and vulnerable children, UNICEF is embarking on a massive programme to improve the health, education, protection and nutrition of the country’s orphans and vulnerable children.

In recent years UNICEF has dramatically increased – from 50,000 up to 500,000 children – the reach of its programmes to assist Zimbabwean orphans. This increase in care has occurred thanks to the support of UK Department for International Development and the Governments of Sweden, New Zealand, Germany and Australia.

The support is far-reaching, from increasing school enrolment and birth registration for orphans and vulnerable children to supporting school nutrition programmes as well as improving access to health services and sanitation.

“Families and children such as Lillian are entering a new phase of hardship,” said UNICEF’s Representative in Zimbabwe, Dr. Festo Kavishe. “Their support to one another is stirring indeed; 95 per cent of this country’s orphans continue to live with their extended family. But this must not mask their suffering and the world’s responsibility to address it.”

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