Once known as "the heir and the spare," Will and Harry (at Sandhurst military academy in '06) are now seen as a new breed of royal. "They are redefining the role of prince," says Ken Wharfe, Diana's former bodyguard. Photo by: Tim Rooke / REX |
Now it has been nearly 10 years since Diana's fatal car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997, and in that time her influence over her sons – and indeed the monarchy – has become only more apparent. In one of their first joint ventures as adult members of the royal family, Will, 24, and Harry, 22, will host a star-studded concert to honor Diana on July 1 – her birthday – as well as a memorial service on Aug. 31. The princes intend to use these events, say those who know the young men, to make a statement about their mother's legacy. "It has come to haunt them that she has never been honored in a suitable way," says Diana's friend Vivienne Parry. "They are doing something the royal family should have done 10 years ago."
Yet the most meaningful tributes to Diana are her sons themselves. Each has in his own way absorbed the lessons she taught them and displayed the traits that so endeared her to the public. Like her, they have become thoroughly modern royals – bound to duty and the demands of the job but also connected to the world around them. With their commitment to charitable work, their relationships with women, their insistence on living as normally as possible, Will and Harry "are keeping Diana's memory alive," says a family friend.
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