Preparations for the 10th Anniversary Concert and Memorial Service

[Skydragon]

I think I already answered the question Why? She probably felt that the boys werent able to make preparations for the memorial service on their own. And was probably upset that she wasn't included on the decisions!

No, you just said "she he was one of Diana's closest friends I would think Rosa would have a small say in the arrangements for the memorial".
I can't understand your thinking for that - Family are the people who arrange such things, or do you think her sons wishes should be set aside to accomodate the 'feelings' of one woman, who was only a friend 10 years or so ago?

They are adults now and have advisors and family to help them!

 

[sirhon11234]

I stated in post 297. And where in my statements have I said that William and Harry's wishes should be put aside to accomadate the wishes of Diana's friends?

Well obviously it looks like she doesen't have a role in this memorial. Its possible that she's upset that she wasn't included in any decisions on the memorial service.

I said that I thought she would have a small say in some arrangements for the memorial since she was Diana's friend. I didn't say that she should have a say in the memorial. The only people who have that right are Wills and Harry!

 

[Skydragon]

I stated in post 297. And where in my statements have I said that William and Harry's wishes should be put aside to accomadate the wishes of Diana's friends?

"I would think Rosa would have a small say in the arrangements for the memorial".
That suggests, to me that you are puzzled that she was not asked and if you read every other response to your post, others also read it that way..
Monckton should have shown her 'friendship' by backing Di's sons in whatever they decided to do. William and Harry could not have listened to or accommodated the wish of every family member, let alone 'friends'.

 

[TheTruth]

No BBC in Italia !

Does anybody know if Rome has BBC since I might be there during the concert.

Just went to Florence this week and I switch through the chanels in the hotel . No BBC . Only CNN. Hope we can count on a dvd release ...

 

[Suonymona]

It would be smart (and profitable) but unless someone tapes it, converts it and sells it underground, the memorial, like her funeral and wedding, will remain undeciminated.

Which is sad because it would be a great way of getting her message out there and acquiring funds for her real charities (selling the DVDs).

 

[ysbel]

Which is sad because it would be a great way of getting her message out there and acquiring funds for her real charities (selling the DVDs).

Having not seen the memorial concert, I don't know how much of Diana's message will be apparent there.

Diana didn't really have a consistent message, some of it was good such as her work with children's charity, some of her message was less so when she publicly criticized the Royal Family.

She may nor may not have been justified; that's not really my point. But William as successor to the Sovereign's position has got to walk a thin line so that in honoring his mother, he honors the qualities in her that actually supports the monarchy and he needs to make sure that he doesn't inadvertently honor the qualities that his mother represented that can pull down the monarchy and William and Harry with it. Diana represented a lot of qualities and not all of them are beneficial to William's task as successor to the throne.

I think William knows the challenges. Too many people are using Diana's memory to attack his father, the Queen, and the concept of monarchy itself. These are things that are at the very core of William's being and he can no more likely discard them than he can discard the memory of his mother.

But he seems to be a very sensitive and emotionally mature young man and is able to navigate the dangerous waters of honoring both his mother's and his father's legacy.

 

[Suonymona]

Very well put.

And so this isn't a "me too" post, has there been an official announcement about what kind of media coverage will be allowed (video, no photos, only by certain agencies...etc, etc)?

 

[Jo of Palatine]

I think that Al-Fayed, as the father of the man who died alongside of Diana, must have been invited. He lost his son, and we must understand his grief. Sometimes, desperation push people to said awful things.

Vanesa.

But maybe her sons detested the way she had affairs with different men? After all, they had been introduced to Hasnat Khan and only a short time later their mother holidayed with another guy.... At least William was a teenager within adulescense then, Harry probably just starting that difficult period in a kid's life. Kids that age feel strongly about their parents and start to find their own position in life on passing judgment on their parent's life. I wouldn't wonder if William and Harry simply want to remember their mother without her lover attached to the event.

 

[ysbel]

I think that Al-Fayed, as the father of the man who died alongside of Diana, must have been invited. He lost his son, and we must understand his grief. Sometimes, desperation push people to said awful things.

Vanesa.

But maybe her sons detested the way she had affairs with different men? After all, they had been introduced to Hasnat Khan and only a short time later their mother holidayed with another guy.... At least William was a teenager within adulescense then, Harry probably just starting that difficult period in a kid's life. Kids that age feel strongly about their parents and start to find their own position in life on passing judgment on their parent's life. I wouldn't wonder if William and Harry simply want to remember their mother without her lover attached to the event.

The trouble is that al-Fayed is still saying these nasty things and he's causing all sorts of nasty legal challenges in the French and British courts.

I can't see Prince Philip actually paying for an event and inviting the one man who still accuses him of being a murderer.

I think people sometimes expect the Royal Family to be far too more forgiving than is humanly possible for a normal human family that's had its share of hurts, some maliciously inflicted by others.

If al-Fayed had had one minor lapse of sanity after his son's death and thereafter had conducted himself with dignity, I daresay the Royal Family might have looked over his transgression and at least extended an invitation to her memorial. Except for the incredible lack of judgment the couple displayed on the night of their death, there was no unseemly scandal attached to Dodi and Diana's being together. Some didn't like the fact that she was dating a Muslim but they didnt' like Hasnat khan either.

But as far as I know, al Fayed has never acted with dignity and decorum in his entire life, so why should he start now?

 

[ysbel]

Very well put.

And so this isn't a "me too" post, has there been an official announcement about what kind of media coverage will be allowed (video, no photos, only by certain agencies...etc, etc)?

Its going to be televised, right? Someone will have the television rights and can control the legal distribution but in the real world that doesn't mean much. You can get bootlegs of televised material on the Internet very easily.

 

[MARG]

I think that Al-Fayed, as the father of the man who died alongside of Diana, must have been invited. He lost his son, and we must understand his grief. Sometimes, desperation push people to said awful things.

Yes, I believe that the death of his son grieved him. That is perfectly understandable. But 10 years down the track he seems barking mad!

William and Harry are planning a 'private' memorial service and public memorial concert to celebrate their mother's life. Mr Al-Fayed has no place at either. The fact that Dodi died in the same accident is beside the point. He was merely the last in a long line of Diana's admirers, and as such, had little to do with William and Harry in the short time they knew him.

Would we expect the princes to invite the family of Henri Paul as well?

 

[Suonymona]

What about asking the one who survived and his family as well?

Its just ridiculous to expect these boys to reach out to someone who only wants to trash the memories of their mother.

I think the announced guest list is smart and bully for them on doing it their own way. THAT is Diana's spirit.

 

[Zonk]

If nothing else, during the ceremony I would think there would be an a tribute or something else acknowledging that other people (Dodi and Henri) died in the accident as well.

But it is a tribute to Diana and what she did for Britian (and the world). So really, its should be about her.

If things would be different, yes perhaps Mohammed might have been invited. But let's face it...he is a LOOSE CANNON. Now, I know he lost a son as well in the accident, so I (like it matters) have tried to cut him some slack in the grieving process...but some of his allegations are just CRAZY (for lack of a better word). I know this is not the thread to have that discussion so I will end it there. I will, however, say that everyone grieves differently and his presence at the memorial would cause undue attenton to his allegations.

As for everyone else, well Diana was and will always remain Harry and William's mother. I think they are old enough that they could have some say in her legacy as well as ways to celebrate it.

 

[Skydragon]

It is a service to remember Diana, as a mother, family member and patron.

Why on earth would anyone wish to invite the father of someone so fleeting involved in her life and heavily involved in her death?

 

[sirhon11234]

If nothing else, during the ceremony I would think there would be an a tribute or something else acknowledging that other people (Dodi and Henri) died in the accident as well...

Wonderfully said Zonk. It would just be inapropriate if Al Fayed would show up at these two events that are honoring The Princess of Wales' memory.
Fayed has made people think that he's insane with his accusations. He's not only caused embarrassment for the BRF but he's also calling Prince Phillip a murderer. Al Fayed needs to get a grip.

 

[sassie]

Al Fayed's accusations about Prince Philip aside, his claims about Diana's "pregnancy", her "engagement" to Dodi and that ridiculous statue inside Harrod's have shown very little respect for Diana herself or her memory.

 

[Suonymona]

Maybe thats the point. He feels his son was ignored as part of the "plus two" who died in the accident and is making a bigger connection to Diana than was possible, let alone fathomable, so that Dodi is not forgotten but embraced as the "future Mr. Diana".

Grief drives people to strange things. The worst have public forums.

 

[Iluvbertie]

What I don't get is why he isn't holding his own memorial service for his son.

There is nothing stopping him doing that.

Princes William and Harry are holding a memorial service to their mum and inviting people with whom they wish to share that service - not including the father of the man with whom she died makes sense to me with the allegations he has been making against their father and grandfather - two men the young princes clearly love and admire.

Al Fayed could have his own service and invite whomever he wishes, including the princes who may choose to attend or refuse as they see fit.

I don't understand why anyone thinks that Al Fayed should be invited to the service the princes are having for their mum.

The same with the concert - it is specifically for Diana. Al Fayed could do something like that for Dodi.

 

[Madame Royale]

What I don't get is why he isn't holding his own memorial service for his son....There is nothing stopping him doing that.

Absolutely, chrissy57!

 

[Skydragon]

The same with the concert - it is specifically for Diana. Al Fayed could do something like that for Dodi.

Without the Diana link, who would be interested in Dodi, apart from his family, if Dodi had been with Kelly Fisher in the car, would he even have made the news?

 

[ysbel]

I just moved a bunch of posts including my own to the Inquest thread because they concerned Diana's death more than her memorial.

I know these two subjects are going to overlap a little but it would be helpful if we kept straight which we are talking about at any point in time and make the posts in the appropriate thread.

I'm saying this to myself as much as everybody else. I totally forgot I was posting in the Memorial concert thread until I saw a similar but different discussion in the Inquest thread.

ysbel
British forums moderator

 

[Iluvbertie]

Without the Diana link, who would be interested in Dodi, apart from his family, if Dodi had been with Kelly Fisher in the car, would he even have made the news?

Surely AL FAyed has his own friends and family that would want to remember his son?

I know that I will want to have a memorial service to my mother later this year (the first anniversary of his death) and that only her family and close friends will be invited.

My point is that he could do that rather than piggy back the memorial to another person.

If he had died with Kelly Fisher in the car I still say that he could hold a memorial service and invite her family if he so wanted but that her family could hold one and not invite him.

It is not that Diana was a public figure that means a thing to me but that she is being remembered by her sons and the family and friends with whom they wish to remember their mother.

He could do the same.

But of course he wouldn't get the publicity that he wants in that case. But he can hold his own memorial service to his son if he wanted to do so.

 

[Skydragon]

Surely AL FAyed has his own friends and family that would want to remember his son?

Probably, but without Diana, who in the UK would have taken any notice of the death of Fayeds son?

 

[Skydragon]

Why Diana's memorial service is an insult to her memory

The venue is so small that most of her old friends don't expect to be invited. The address will be given by a cleric whom she hardly knew.

Why Diana's memorial service is an insult to her memory | News | This is London

What they don't seem to understand, is that with articles like this, especially the paragraphs complaining that the 'godchildren' did not receive all they were entitled to from her will, they are turning the memorial service into an insult. Her so called 'friends' should be ashamed of themselves!

 

[sirhon11234]

Diana's friends are going overboard with their complaints about the memorial service. I understand their discomfort of Camilla showing up at the memorial with Will's and Harry's invitation but that shouldn't be a problem. The Princess of Wales' relationship with Camilla should not affect william and harry's relationship with her. And its also possible that Camilla wanted to pay her own respects to The Princess of Wales.

 

[Warren]

Why Diana's memorial service is an insult to her memory | News | This is London

From Skydragon's link:
"These friends are perplexed and angry. They see the choice of the Bishop as, quite frankly, little short of an insult to Diana."

So "these friends" are in effect saying that William and Harry are insulting their mother. Hmm.

"... there is another, fundamental reason why her friends are shocked at the choice of Richard Chartres to speak at her memorial service. He has never been forgiven by most of the parents of Diana's 17 godchildren for failing to ensure, as one of the trustees of her estate, that her "letter of wishes" was carried out... The letter was ignored by Diana's executors -including her sister, Lady Sarah, and late mother, Mrs Frances Shand Kydd..."

If "these friends" consider the Bishop to be persona non grata and not to be forgiven, then, to be consistent, surely the same should apply to Diana's sister. Do they want Lady Sarah to be excluded from the service as well?

Ten years after the death, "these friends" are still squabbling over the division of Diana's estate. They appear more than willing to publicly undermine the Memorial Service so they can settle old scores. Talk about bitter and twisted.

 

[corazon]

for many people the camilla's invitation is an insult, for myself too for william and harry some reason have for do that.

Candle in the win will be in sale again for diana anniversary?


kensington will be open?

 

[Iluvbertie]

for many people the camilla's invitation is an insult, for myself too for william and harry some reason have for do that.

If I understand you correctly you are asking why William and Harry have invited Camilla to the service - that is simple - they love their father, Camilla loves their father, Camilla makes their father happy therefore they at least appreciate what Camilla does for the father they so clearly adore. Harry has also publicly stated that he and William 'love her to bits' when referring to Camilla.

Is it so strange to people that these young men, who know Camilla and their father, actually like her? Unlike most of us here who only know what the press have said about her, often based on the interpretation of Diana, William and Harry actually know Camilla. They want her there - that is all there needs to be said on the issue - Princes William and Harry are happy for her to attend and so she will attend - They don't have a problem with her and don't see her attending as an insult to their mother so why should we?

Candle in the win will be in sale again for diana anniversary?

Don't know.

kensington will be open?

Kensington Palace is open most days of the year so I would assume it will open on this day. I think it is only closed over Christmas (24th, 25th and 26th December) and on New Year's Day (1st January). As the service isn't on any of these days I would expect Kensington Palace to be open as usual.

 

[Suonymona]

I would not be surprised to see a lot of "official" merchandise re-issued.

I do expect Kensington to be open as Althorp and the fountain will be; it will be a big week for all tourist places with even a remote association with the late Diana.

 

[Warren]

for many people the camilla's invitation is an insult...

It's win/win for the Camilla detractors on this one: if she attends the memorial service, it's an insult to Diana's memory; if she doesn't attend, it's an insult to Diana's memory.
It must be quite pleasing for some to be able to have it both ways. Then again, diverting the attention from Diana to Camilla is somewhat counter-productive.