Diana's logo spreads to tubs of margarine

THE FIRST consumer product bearing the official logo to commemorate Diana, Princess of Wales, goes on sale today - a tub of margarine.

Trustees of the Memorial Fund which approved the Flora "Thanks" promotion insisted it was a one-off move which would raise pounds 250,000 for the charity from sales of the tubs.

It is part of the Flora London Marathon fund-raising effort in which 600 runners, as Team Flora, plan to raise a further pounds 1.2m for the Memorial Fund. Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, now a Fund trustee, was one of the main figures in arranging the deal. He will be running in the Marathon.

Supermarkets across the country will be selling the tubs which have Diana's official signature in purple and the word "Thanks", instead of the brand name, along the side. They will be sold alongside ordinary packs for the same price.

Vivienne Parry, a trustee of the Fund, said: "It is not our intention to endorse consumer products - this is a one-off case related to the Flora London Marathon ... The manufacturers approached us and said they would be prepared to give us all proceeds from the sales. It is a very large amount of money."

Helen Park of Flora described the tubs as a "celebratory pack" to support next month's marathon. All the proceeds will go the Memorial Fund, said Ms Park, who denied the company would benefit from the association with the late Princess.

Meanwhile, the RAC announced that it wants to run a seatbelt campaign using the death of the Princess of Wales as a warning to motorists.

The organisation, which accepts it is dealing with a sensitive issue, is to ask Buckingham Palace and the Princess's family for approval to run the campaign, which would allege that the Princess could have lived if she had worn a rear seatbelt.