From QEII to Elton, royal politics almost overlooked
LONDON (Hollywood Today/AFP) 8/25/07 – Royal politics are in play but family ties will mostly prevail. Princes William and Harry are to give readings at the service marking the 10th anniversary of their mother Princess Diana’s death next week, royal officials said Saturday.
The hour-long service will be attended by Queen Elizabeth II, Diana’s first husband and the princes’ father Prince Charles, his second wife Camilla, and the Spencer family.
Camilla’s inclusion has raised eyebrows as she continued an affair with Charles during his marriage to Diana, but she has said she has been invited by her stepsons.
Among the celebrity guests are Elton John, who sang a revamped version of his 1973 song “Candle in the Wind” at Diana’s funeral, the photographer Mario Testino, pop singer Cliff Richard and film director Richard Attenborough.
The princess’s brother Earl Charles Spencer, whose eulogy at her funeral was seen as an attack on the royal family, will not be speaking, although he has helped William and Harry with the arrangements for the service.
The venue has been chosen because it is the chapel for the Household Division of the British army, of which both princes are members.
The prince brothers, aged 24 and 22, usually mark their mother’s death in private but will this year address a congregation at the Guards Chapel at the Wellington Barracks at the official commemoration of her life.
Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, will also speak at the service, which will be broadcast live on television, 10 years to the day since she was killed with her partner Dodi Fayed in a car crash in Paris.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will join his predecessor Tony Blair, whose tribute to Diana as the “people’s princess” soon after she was killed struck a chord with a grieving public, and ex-premier John Major.
Also on the guest list are 12 of Diana’s godchildren, her godparents and all the bridesmaids and pageboys at her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles at St Paul’s Cathedral as well as more than 100 people she met through her charity work.
They will hear two special prayers written by the leader of the world’s Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, as well as a selection of Diana’s favourite hymns and music.
Those not invited include Fayed’s father Mohammed, the millionaire owner of upmarket west London department store Harrods. He maintains that Diana and Dodi were killed as part of an establishment plot spearheaded by senior royals.
But his daughter, Camilla, is on the guest list as Dodi was her half-brother, along with former members of Diana’s staff.
Also absent will be Diana’s ex-butler Paul Burrell, who was accused by the princes of a “cold and overt betrayal” for publishing a revealing book about life serving the princess.
William’s on-off girlfriend Kate Middleton and Harry’s partner Chelsy Davy will not be present.
A spokesman for Clarence House, Prince Charles’s official London residence, said when the event was announced that the service would be a “personal and a family occasion”.