Princess Diana died ten years ago, but Americans’ love for the People’s Princess goes ever on.
Hence NBC’s willingness to fork over $2.5 million for the U.S. broadcast rights to a tribute concert, organized by her sons Prince William, 25, and Prince Harry, 22, that will air on Diana’s 46th birthday, Sunday, July 1, at 8 p.m. ET.
The actual concert is a six-hour affair that will take place at London’s Wembley Stadium. It features artists that Diana cherished – Sir Elton John, 80s boy band Duran Duran and Tom Jones — and those from her sons’ generation: Black-Eyed Pea Fergie, producer-rapper Kanye West, Nelly Furtado and British pop tart Lily Allen.
The one-hour, edited concert will be hosted by Matt Lauer, who recently landed an exclusive interview with the princes. The interview, aired as a “Dateline” special on Monday, June 18, was seen by 12.2 million viewers, making it the highest-rated “Dateline” in more than two years. The special will be rebroadcast just prior to the concert at 7 p.m. on July 1.
The future King of England and his royal brother learned early to deal with a rabid press: their mother continues to be a media favorite a decade after her death. As they prepared to celebrate her birthday, the princes spoke about their mother, the “real” Diana.
“She was much more natural when there was no one else there and she could be herself,” said Harry. “She was quite good at acting. She was always trying to be as normal as she could in front of the cameras that she hated so much. There were a lot of times that she was very sad because she had been chased down the street by photographers.”
With this concert, the princes want to remind people of Diana’s vibrant life. Diana died on August 31, 1997, in Paris, in a car accident with her boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed. Though she was mourned by the entire world, her death especially rocked her countrymen, who left countless bouquets in front of Buckingham Palace. Diana’s charitable work for the poor of the world especially endeared her to the British. She was active with the Red Cross, campaigning against land mines, and also worked to stop discrimination against people with AIDS. It is in that spirit that her sons commemorate her with a birthday concert.
“She became so big because she wanted to give so much love and so much care to people who really needed it,” said William, who visited homeless charities with his mother when he was a child. “We wanted to mark [the anniversary of her death] in a specific and special way. [The concert] incorporates exactly what we feel she stood for in life and exactly what we feel she brought to the world.”
Proceeds from the Concert for Diana will go to three charities, including the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, which supports many of the princess’ favorite organizations. The other two were hand-selected by William and Harry: the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, Centrepoint, of which William is patron; and Sentebale, a charity founded by Harry and Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso to help vulnerable youth in the African nation.