I walked into the local grocery store last night and noticed the vast array of tabloids conveniently located near the cashiers’ lanes.

Of course, I knew what to expect when I glanced at the headlines. There was the usual trash concerning the murders of Jon-Benet Ramsey and Versace, the mandatory article on Liz Taylor and some other crap.

But there was one headline that angered me the most. It detailed how psychics warned against Princess Di’s relationship with billionaire Dodi Fayed.

I left the grocery store feeling angry, shocked and incredibly sad.

Last Saturday evening (early Sunday morning in Paris, France) Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed and their driver were killed when the Mercedes in which they were travelling collided with a tunnel wall. Fayed and the chauffeur were killed instantly. Princess Diana died a short time later from severe internal bleeding, head trauma and cardiac arrest.

This news shocked the entire world. For over a decade, Princess Diana had infatuated the world’s population with her beauty, charm, humanity and generosity. She also entertained them with her personal problems.

Princess Diana had certainly led a tough life. Her marriage to Prince Charles crumbled after it was discovered that he had cheated on her. Additionally, her status as mother of the next king and member of the royal family earned her undivided attention from the media.

It was this media attention, especially by the commercial photographers termed “paparazzi” that ultimately led to this tragedy.

Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed were attempting to flee the paparazzi when the accident took place.

The couple’s relationship had been the hottest story of the summer for tabloids. Pictures of them kissing fetched several hundred thousand dollars from propagators of yellow journalism.

It was the paparazzi’s involvement with Diana’s death that angers me the most.

How many times did she tell them to leave her alone? I’m sure that the answer lies somewhere in the millions. Do you think they listened? Absolutely not.

I cannot fault Diana or Dodi for trying to flee from those blood-sucking photographers and journalists.

After all, it is human nature to desire privacy every once in a while. Unfortunately, Diana’s position in life made that impossible. Publicity was always something that she didn’t want, yet it was forced down her throat every day.

I find myself thinking about Prince William and Prince Henry deprived of their mother. This thought makes me feel enraged and desperately saddened.

They have lost the most important person in their lives. For what? So some scumbag could take a picture of her?

I hope that the paparazzi involved are all found guilty of manslaughter. I hope that they are all sentenced to die slow, grueling deaths.

I hope they feel the pain that William and Henry are experiencing right now. They deserve it and much worse.

They have murdered one of the most noble women in the world. I was always amazed at the hardships that Diana had the courage to overcome.

She always faced the most difficult situation with poise and good nature. Most of these experiences would have turned the average person bitter and hateful. Yet, Diana persevered and became a better person because of it.

There is no way that I can sum up all of the good deeds that she has done for humankind because it would take up this entire issue of the Daily.

But I would like to mention that she was a beacon of light in the often dark world of politics. She proved that not everyone could be corrupted by power. She also showed millions of people that they were important even if they weren’t part of the royal family.

Today, I feel very unhappy to be a member of the press. I have watched the way that my peers treated this honorable woman in life and I have observed the way they treated her in death.

It is enough to make me bow my head and cry. The mere thought of their lack of sympathy and respect makes me sick to my stomach. It is almost enough to make me want to quit writing altogether. I don’t want to belong to this soul-less group any longer.

We all owe it to Diana to stop the paparazzi blitzkrieg. Her death must be the last straw.

I ask you all to boycott the tabloids responsible for creating the feeding frenzy that intrudes upon any celebrity’s privacy.

I ask you to think about Diana’s death and how it signifies a bigger problem in journalism.

And I’d like to ask all of you to please say a prayer for Princes William and Henry. They are going to need all the support they can get in the wake of this terrible tragedy.

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Ben Jones is a sophomore in English from Des Moines.