Concert for Diana Mixed Corn and Art

The concert Princes William and Harry organized in celebration of their late mother’s 46th birthday was much like their mother’s life. It had a certain sparkle, it attracted a great deal of attention, and parts of it were downright wonderful. At the same time, it was a bit sappy and didn’t quite live up to the potential before it.

This journal is republican and prefers the Federal Republic of Britain to the United Kingdom. The Royal Family, as an institution, needs to go and the sooner the better. At the same time, the Windsor family is composed of human beings who suffer and enjoy that condition along with the rest of mankind. The concert needs to be seen in that context, organized by two young men with resources to put something like this together. With the proceeds going to the late Diana’s favorite charities, one can’t really grumble.

Stand out acts included Duran Duran, not because the Birmingham boys were all that good, but they were among Diana’s favorites (in fact, lead singer Simon Le Bon had been mentioned in the scandal rags as an “interest” of hers). “Sunrise,” “Wild Boys,” and “Rio” worked as ever, but it was most likely that their “Girls on Film” was withheld due to concerns over bad taste.

The English National Ballet danced Diana’s favorite, “Swan Lake,” reminding everyone of her devotion to the company as well as her rather pedestrian tastes in dance. The Andrew Lloyd Webber portion of the program, another of her faves, was exactly what one expects (and largely what one could do without). Video from President Clinton and Nelson Mandela tried to make more of her than she was (influential perhaps, powerful no). Fergie (of the Black Eyed Peas, and not the Duchess of York, with whom Diana had a falling out some time before her death) sang “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” which ranged from treacley to saccharine sweet.

Where the gig hit is stride was with Roger Hodgson, of Supertramp, getting Wembley moving to “Give a Little Bit,” Rod Stewart (another of Diana’s pals as well as musical favorite) did “Maggie Mae” and “Sailing.” Kanye West and P. Diddy (the former Puff Daddy -- Sean Combs needs to decide on his name) were clearly there for the princes and their generation, and acquitted themselves befitting two of hip-hop’s biggest names. Sir Tom Jones demonstrated how a vocalist can stay relevant despite aging; he sang a rocked-up version of his tune “Kiss” moving into “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” by the Arctic Monkeys, and Joss Stone joined him for a for a duet.

Sir Elton John had been expected to play “Candle in the Wind,” but he didn’t. He has not played it publicly since her funeral. That omission was symbolic of the last few months of her life. Princess Diana was a Sloane Ranger who married into something far beyond her ken. She was just figuring out her role when she died. As she got herself into the anti-landmine campaign, her work with AIDS and other diseases, she discovered that she was a celebrity able to cast the media light on global problems; in this, Angelina Jolie and Sharon Stone do much the same. To be honest, Jerry Lewis and Danny Thomas were doing it ages ago, but it took the late Diana time to find that that could be her contribution. She left the stage before she could really do her best work, and like Sir Elton, left everyone feeling that something had been missed.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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