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Was the Concert for Diana about Diana?

On Sunday July 1st I sat, almost, rivited to the TV, watching the Concert for Diana. It looked like a great and wonderful event. But after a while I started to wonder.

What exactly is this concert about?

  • Is it about celebrating the life of Diana? Yes.

  • Is it about great music from people I've never heard of? Yes indeed.

  • Is it about raising money for the charities chosen by Prince William and Prince Harry. Yes, and good for them.

  • Is it about the chance for me to yell at my TV as the commentators got the royals mixed up? I always enjoy that but no.


  • Listening to the commentators after a while, I got the impression that, on the face of it, the first three were the main points. But one issue seemed to consume the reporters after a while. And that was the attendance of Kate Middleton. Despite the break-up, Kate put on a brave face and seemed to enjoy the show. Sometimes the camera caught her animatedly talking with her brother, sometimes it caught her looking serious as she watched people that, maybe she'd never heard about either. The important point was, she was there. What did it mean?

    Unlike Chelsy, who had pride of place beside Prince Harry, Kate did not sit with William, she sat about two or three rows back from him. This seating arrangement was poured over by reporters, who tried to imbue this with significance. How else to fill their time between sets? Every wistful or affectionate glance at the back of William's head. Every non-glance from William. Did they make eye-contact? Did they talk to each other? Why is she sitting so far from him? Are they back together? If so, is this just a ruse on their part to fool us? Unqualified to speculate and lucky to get anyone's name right, the CTV commentator managed to corrall the ubiquitous Ingrid Seward for help. A big fish to catch on his part. If anything, wouldn't she know something? Alas she could not shed any light on the meaning or lack of meaning of this turn of events. One wonders what they would have done had Kate not been there? Maybe that would have been significant to them too.

    Personally I was surprised to see her there. I was also surprised to see where she was seated. Her spot beside William filled by a far less attractive male friend. But there was no royal pecking order here. Sitting just behind a group of unfamiliar, homely girls - who must have won a contest in order to be there - yet in front of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Kate looked like she'd been left out in the cold. Sure she had her family with her, no doubt for moral support, but still. Couldn't William have made some sort of show of it. Perhaps a consolation prize placement, down the row, beside Peter Philips? Either way people would have talked, but Kate might have looked less forlorn. Everytime the camera focused on her, I felt for her, I truly did.

    So what do we make of this? What should we make of this? In the grand scheme of things does it really matter? So many rhetorical questions. But one real question comes to mind.

    Was the Concert for Diana about Diana? Yes, I guess it was about that too.

    © Marilyn Braun 2007

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