Princess Diana was remembered as "the best mother in the world" by her son, Prince Harry, as family and friends gathered in London Friday for a noontime service to solemnly mark the 10th anniversary of her death.
"She'll always be remembered for her amazing public work," Prince Harry said in a personalized reading for his mother. "But behind the media glare, to us, just two loving children, she was quite simply the best mother in the world."
Prince William also read a passage from the bible for his mother, known to many as "the people's princess," at the Guards' Chapel near Buckingham Palace.
Harry said his mother never allowed her love for her children to go unspoken.
"She, like our father, was determined to provide us with a stable childhood," he said. "To lose a parent so suddenly at such a young age... is indescribably shocking and sad.
"It was an event that changed our lives forever, as it must have done for everyone who lost someone that night."
He said it was important now to remember his mother as she would have wanted: "fun loving, generous, down-to-earth and entirely genuine."
The Queen led a delegation of 100 members of the royal family to the service, including Prince Charles. The group did not include Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who had originally been invited.
There was a public backlash after Camilla -- credited for breaking up the marriage between Diana and Prince Charles -- was invited.
Also in attendance were Sir Elton John, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former prime ministers John Major and Tony Blair and Canadian singer Bryan Adams.
The service included classical music from Diana's favourite composers Rachmaninov and Mozart.
There were also four hymns, including Diana's favourite -- I Vow To Thee, My Country.
Diana's sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, also gave a reading during the service.
Public mourning
Meanwhile, the public gathered outside the Guards' Chapel Friday morning. Still, the crowds were meager in comparison to the masses who lined the route of Diana's funeral procession a decade ago.
Mourners also gathered outside the gates of Kensington Palace, her former home, to tie bouquets, poems and pictures to the gates.
There were also tributes laid outside Althorp, where Diana is buried, and at the gate where she was born -- Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
The royal family had previously refrained from any public remembrance of the death of Diana.
This year, however, her sons took the lead by organizing the memorial service and a concert last July in her memory.
Diana was 36 when she died following a car crash in Paris in 1997. Her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and chauffeur also died in the crash.
With files from The Associated Press
