Top Stars Salute Princess Diana At Tribute Concert
Waving their arms in the air and dancing with 70,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium, princes William and Harry celebrated the life of their mother, Princess Diana, on what would have been her 46th birthday Sunday (July 1) at a concert they organized. William, 25, rocked his hips as Canadian pop star Nelly Furtado belted out her song “Man Eater” — to the embarrassment of younger brother Harry, who shook his head and laughed.
Harry, 22, said they asked Elton John to play “Candle in the Wind,” the song he sang at Diana’s 1997 funeral in Westminster Abbey. Originally about Marilyn Monroe, its lyrics were reworked in tribute to Diana and it became a worldwide No. 1 hit that same year.
“This evening is about all that my mother loved in life: her music, her dance, her charities and her family and friends,” William told the crowd, thanking them and millions more who watched the show on television.
Diana died Aug. 31, 1997, along with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and their driver when their Mercedes crashed inside the Pont d’Alma tunnel in Paris with media photographers in hot pursuit.
The concert mixed rock, pop, hip-hop and classical ballet and featured some of Diana’s favorite acts, including Duran Duran and Tom Jones. In honor of her love of dance and theater, there was a performance of an extract from “Swan Lake” by the English National Ballet and songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Among the 24 performances were songs by Rod Stewart, Kanye West, Joss Stone, Lily Allen and Sean “Diddy” Combs, who performed “Missing You,” which prominently samples the Police’s “Every Breath You Take.”
Weeks of soggy weather lifted as the sun peeked out from behind gray clouds rolling over the newly built glass-and-steel stadium — Britain’s largest — which usually hosts soccer games.
William said the concert was a chance for people to “remember all the good things about her because she’s not here to defend herself when she gets criticized.” A memorial service is also planned in London on Aug. 31, the anniversary of Diana’s death.
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