Organiser Jeff Hawkins: "The club will survive"

The North London Walking club which organised the six-mile walk along the route of Diana's funeral cortege had expected 15,000 people to take part in the event.

Rain hampered the fundraising event but those who took part also criticised bad organisation and a failure to properly publicise the walk, which was officially backed by the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

Some have criticised the glossy programmes

Walkers at Hyde Park, where the circular route began and ended, condemned the £30,000 costs, particularly the printing of 4,000 glossy 16-page programmes.

Roses and photographs of the princess were also handed out to those taking part.

The money spent was supposed to be recouped through a £5 registration fee, with any surplus going to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and two other charities.

Any loss incurred by the event would have to be borne by the club.

Many remember Diana as the campaigner to ban landmines

Organiser Jeff Hawkins pledged that the event would take place next year.

Half of the proceeds from the £5 entry fee will go to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, with the rest going to the British Heart Foundation and Clear Airways.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Prime Minister Tony Blair was ready to offer a formal public role to Diana shortly before she died.

A close friend of hers, businessman Gulu Lalvani, said: "I believe that Tony Blair was about to offer her a very important role.

"In fact, he told her at lunch that he had discussed it with Bill Clinton who was in London just a few weeks before.

Tony Blair: Said to have wanted important role for Diana

"He had this idea of giving her a role in some capacity and Bill also loved the idea," he told Sky News in a documentary marking the anniversary of the death of the Princess.

Mr Lalvani, 59, the millionaire owner of electronics company Binatone, hit the headlines in June 1997 when he was romantically linked with Princess Diana after they went to a nightclub together. However, he denied the suggestions and said they were just good friends.

A Downing Street spokesman said a formal role for the princess had not been discussed in government.

"We can find no record of Mr Blair and Mr Clinton discussing such a role for the Princess of Wales," he added.

The government also played down suggestions that any floral tributes to Princess Diana left at Kensington Palace in the days before the first anniversary of her death will be removed each night.

It had been suggested that flowers would be taken to hospitals and soft toys and dolls offered to charities, but that other tokens, including poems, drawings and tape recordings would be destroyed.