Ten years have passed since Diana, Princess of Wales, died and Britain erupted in a febrile convulsion of grief and anger, but in some ways you would hardly know it.

The tabloids are still spinning breathless tales of conspiracy, cover-up and royal squabbling. “Document That Proves Diana Was Pregnant,” said a recent headline in The Daily Express, nicknamed The Diana Express because of its enthusiasm for even the most tenuous news about the princess.

“Charles ‘Hijacks’ Diana Memorial,” The Mail reported Sunday, in an article about fights over the guest list at the anniversary service, which is set for Friday at noon. (Elton John and Prime Minister Gordon Brown: in. Paul Burrell, Diana’s butler, who is now peddling products like tea sets and “Royal Butler” wine: out.)

The royal family is still fretting and bickering, still seemingly incapable of getting it right. After being attacked for deciding to attend Diana’s service, Prince Charles’s second wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, abruptly announced last weekend that she would stay away after all so as not to “divert attention from the purpose of the occasion.”