IT'S WHY we have fairy stories. Nowadays we think of them as something sweet and saccharin to send our children off to sleep. But originally they must have had a much darker motive - to frighten children into staying safe.

Nothing in fairy stories is what it seems. The sweet old lady in the gingerbread house is a witch who will eat you for supper... the kindly woodcutter is an evil wizard who will whisk you away...the dancing shoes are bewitched... the rosy apples are poisoned... and even your dear old granny could turn out to be a wolf.

It's a frightening view of the world.

But for generations the stories have served the purpose of warning children. Don't judge by appearances. The kindness of strangers can - unfortunately - have an ulterior motive. Keep your wits about you. Refuse all food and drink. And remember the way home.

Makes sense, doesn't it? More sense than ever this week.

In the nicest possible way parents throughout the ages have fed their children's fear of the dark wood, the traps, the trolls. Not just to scare them witless but to keep them close to home and remind them that the world isn't always a safe place and even the kindest looking person might merely be pretending.

And now - understandably - parents will keep a tighter hold of their children, keep them close to home, not let them out on their own when they're ten years old. Or 11? 12? 13?

Which seems a dreadful memorial to two bright little girls. You have to allow children some freedoms, for how else will they learn to deal with the world and its dangers? Safety does not come with age, but with experience of the world.

Which brings us to the Sleeping Beauty.

Her father, you may remember, was so concerned for her safety that he didn't let her out of his sight until she was 16. Then what did she do? On her birthday, as soon as she had a bit of freedom, she went straight to the furthest turret and immediately found the wicked fairy. And because she had had no experience of dealing with strangers, she accepted the old crone's story at face value and would have been dead in an instant, until the good fairy commuted her sentence to a 100-year coma.

Which is not what we want for our children.

Fairy stories aren't just childish entertainment. They are distilled centuries of folk wisdom..

Maybe we should read them again with fresh eyes and hope for more happy endings.

KEN Wharfe - Princess Diana's police bodyguard - is the latest so-called loyal servant to spill the beans on his employer. He joins a long line - housekeeper, secretary, psychic healer, lover - who have put money above loyalty.

But what more is there to be said? We all know the princess was a confused and troubled individual. The least we can do now, if only for her sons' sakes, is to let her rest in peace.

Ken Wharfe will get a good police pension. He will get huge sums for his book. His motive, he says, is to "defend her reputation".

In that case, I'm sure, he'd be pleased to donate the royalties to a good cause.

MANY thanks to Maurice Bartle of Middleton Tyas near Richmond and Torill Andersen - whose name looks Scandinavian but who lives in Durham. They've been in touch to say yes, putting a deposit on bottles really does work.

In Scandinavia the system is so sophisticated that you can take a crate of bottles back, put them in a special slot in the supermarket wall and get your money back automatically.

"The whole system has been properly thought out," says Maurice Bartle. "Bottles are highly prized and you see very few lying about and virtually no cans are used. The only snag is that you keep finding those little crown bottle tops all over the place."

Torill also adds that there is a system of returning used batteries, computer printer cartridges and mobile phones.

Britain has a long way to go.

Published: 21/08/2002