Big H - I am not having a go at the poor girl. Feeling sorry for her losing her father at 8 years old is quite right and is a natural human reaction.

Parading her in front of millions of people, to publically lay bare her grief, and encourage an outpouring of group hysteria is mawkish sanctimonious sentimentality.

Not to put too fine a point on it, there are many other orphans in the world who have lost their parents and we should feel just as sorry for them, despite the fact that their fathers may not have been 'famous TV personalities' That alone does not make her grief worse or better, nor more or less deserving of sympathy.

That will be a view not shared by everyone. It is, however, my feelings about it.

My (personal) feeling is that grief and loss are private emotions, felt internally by people in different ways and to different degrees. I object to PC society telling me how I should feel about things and what degree is acceptable.

I am sure that ol' Steve Irwin was a good bloke and did good TV shows. I think it's a shame that I won't be able to watch any more new ones, but I didn't know the guy nor his family and don't understand why we should feel especially sad about one more death which was an accident. Lots of orphans are created by deaths which are not accidents and it would be better if the world got a bit more upset about them?

I understand some people will be gutted as they will have connected with Irwin in some way. But I doubt whether it is really the case for the thousands of bandwagon-jumpers seem to have clambered aboard this one.

I will be gutted when Muhammad Ali dies, for example. But not Richard Hammond particulary. Each to his own?