Fairyland and its Fairy Kings and Queens

'Fairyland and its Fairy Kings and Queens' is a review article of a collect ion of essays examining the responses to the death of Princess Diana, entit led 'After Diana: Irreverent Elegies'. The purpose of this article is to tr ace the origins of the Diana phenomenon, and particularly that variant whic h possessed the English political imagination in late summer 1997; and in s o doing to investigate further the cultural context of a constitution that is presently the subject of considerable debate regarding its potential ref orm. The first part will take a closer look at 'Diolatry'. The second part will then concentrate upon the ultimate Diana figure in English constitutio nal history, Gloriana herself, Elizabeth I. The third part of the article d iscusses the residual authority of monarchical iconography in the English c onstitutional culture. The conclusion will then suggest why, rather than te stifying to a supposed mood of fundamental constitutional change abroad in the country, reactions to Diana's death evidence the innate strength of a c onstitutional imagination that still craves the reassurance of its Fairy Ki ngs and Queens.