Abstract

As modern cultures become more secular, celebrities seem to fill the roles once occupied by the gods of old. Sometimes the differences between the two start to blur. Some people insist Elvis never died. Or was that Jim Morrison? The recent tributes to Princess Diana ten years after her death show that she is starting to ascend into the celebrity pantheon. Has Diana be­come a new kind of saint? If so, what does that tell us about some people’s need to have someone to revere—pre­ferably someone who did not live out a normal life-span?