In Belgium it was widely believed that the child murderers were protected by leading officials and politicians. In the same vein, it has been widely rumoured in Britain, and around the world, that Diana was killed by an officially sanctioned assassin in order to prevent her marrying a Muslim. The corollary of the suspicion of the authorities is an intense sense of alienation and powerlessness. The icon of the politics of emotion is the victim. Public grief for Diana was partly inspired by her high profile as Britain's best known sufferer.
People identify with the cult of vulnerability because they sense a shared experience of victimhood.
The common bond is that of suffering, and everybody who wears a ribbon becomes part of the same drama of victimisation. Through a collective display of emotion, an otherwise fragmented society achieves a temporary moment of unity. But the politics of emotion is not only a symptom of public alienation. It also expresses the problem of legitimacy experienced by modern political systems. At a time when collective reactions are rare, these expressions of 'suffering solidarity' are just about the only manifestation of national unity on offer, and the politicians, priests and the media have milked them for all they are worth.