By Deborah Cole 

BERLIN (Reuter) - Rock star Phil Collins, one of Princess Diana's favorite
musicians, said Wednesday he would not attend her funeral Saturday because he
preferred to mourn her death away from the media spotlight. 

Collins said he feared the funeral in London, where at least a million people
are expected, would turn into a media circus. 

``I won't be going,'' Collins said in an interview with Reuters. ``I'm not
good at funerals anyway. The feeding frenzy that goes on tends to obliterate
true feelings.'' 

He said he has disliked paparazzi since he was a target himself during his
messy divorce in 1994. 

Collins played at Diana's 30th birthday party and knew her from their shared
charity work. 

He said he was deeply moved when he heard the news of her death Sunday and
said he would miss the energy she brought to supporting charities. 

``Obviously, it's a tragedy,'' said the singer, who was fighting hard to
choke back tears. ``Sometimes it just becomes too much. But I don't need to
go on television to say how I feel.'' 

Collins was in Berlin to announce the launch of a charity project ``Youth
Action Europe,'' which is expected to donate more than $1 million to support
programs for disadvantaged youth across the continent. 

Journalists at an earlier news conference were warned beforehand he would
break off the briefing if anyone asked any questions about Diana. 

But in a later interview, Collins said he was happy he could draw more
attention to charity causes with his celebrity. 

Collins said he had had a generally good relationship with the media, but
said some reporters had invaded his privacy when he was going through a
divorce in 1994. 

``I went through a very public divorce which was terribly painful for all the
people involved, he said.  ``I have pretty low opinion of those kinds of
journalists and any human being with a head on his shoulders has those
feelings too.'' 

Reuters/Variety