I've been thinking about this "send a footman" comment - thinking rather than commenting so far because my initial reaction was something similar to the newspaper editor's, and because of the reaction here I decided I should probably think about it for a while before commenting.
But I have thought about it for a while now and on this point I'm still on side with the editor. Diana started toying with the photographers from that day on the riverbank when she directed attention to herself by hiding behind the tree and watching them with a mirror; I've never understood why she did that. She continued to attract their interest throughout the courtship. Then on the eve of her engagement announcement she was whisked away from reality into the safety of CH, and then there was all that hype and build up and then The Wedding that was watched by millions of people all over the world, myself included.
Diana became a fairytale princess and fairytale princesses are larger than life. I don't think you can reasonably expect people to swallow all the hype and watch your televised wedding and call you "your Royal Highness" and flock out to see you on parade and bow or curtsy to you, and still expect to be able to nip down to the corner shop for a bag of sweets without attracting the attention of the same cameramen whose attention had been intentionally diverted towards you by the RF's publicity people on such a grand scale.
I am not surprised the naive fairytale princess might still have expected to have things all her own way, but I'd be a bit surprised if her Majesty genuinely thought it was reasonable for Diana to want to keep doing such things. Although, of course, her Majesty has always lived in a world detached from that which is reality for most of her subjects.
You can't have it both ways. If you want to live in the rarified world of Royalty, or show business celebrity, you must expect people to be interested in what you do. After all, you have a symbiotic relationship with the media; you need media attention and invite it in respect of some of your activities. You have to compromise and sacrifice some personal freedom and try to come to a satisfactory, workable relationship with the media. Some people - probably most - manage that, but a few individuals don't.
If you are particularly interesting for some reason - like Diana and Nicole Kidman (I don't think Kate will ever be in this category) - the photographers are going to chase you taking photos, and as long as they and the magazines they work for keep getting away with it and don't have restraining orders made against them or get sued for trespass or assault, they'll keep doing it.
They don't behave like gentlemen. They chase you and run in front of you with their cameras aimed at you, and camp outside your door and chase your car on motor bikes and pester you with questions when you are on your way to your car.
Since they won't play fair unless made to, I think they need to be made to. Hence my comment about rules about distance like whales and dolphins.
I love watching royalty from afar and am a fan, but her remark deserved a response. We American savages, what can I say. 
