Minister to end Diana dilemma

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell is to break the deadlock over the choice of a design for a fountain memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales, by making the selection herself.

She said today she would announce her decision on 31 July and work to get the fountain built would begin immediately.

Ms Jowell stepped in at the request of the committee set up to choose a design. The committee, chaired by Rosa Monckton, the confidante and close friend of the princess, reached deadlock after half its members opposed a decision in February to back a proposal by American landscape-architect Kathryn Gustafson.

The Culture Department asked Ms Monckton to resolve the dispute with a meeting last Monday, but revealed in the Evening Standard the members could not decide between Ms Gustafson's design and another, more avant garde proposal, from the British artist Anish Kapoor.

Now Ms Jowell will make the choice. She praised Ms Monckton's " energetic and dedicated leadership", adding: "It is now time to deliver a fitting memorial to the life of Diana."