UK NEWS
15M SEE PRINCES' GREAT POP PARTY
BACK STAGE: Harry chatting with singer Joss Stone
By Richard Palmer, Royal Correspondent
Princes William and Harry partied with the stars after the concert in memory of their mother – and they had plenty to celebrate.
The concert proved a runaway TV ratings success watched by nearly 15 million viewers in Britain.
The show combined music from performers loved by the late Princess of Wales and her sons with televised tributes to Diana’s achievements. It attracted more viewers to BBC1 than the original Live Aid concert in 1985, organisers revealed last night.
It also brought in more viewers than the Live 8 concert in London two years ago and gave the BBC its biggest television audience since England’s World Cup tie against Ecuador on June 25 last year.
William, 25, and Harry, 22, were delighted with the response to the concert, performed in front of a 63,000 crowd at Wembley.
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Harry shares a joke with rappers Canye West and P Diddy
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Worldwide, it attracted an estimated TV audience of 500 million in more than 40 countries.
Clarence House officials declared the show a resounding success, despite technical problems that caused delays and forced Elton John to cut short his finale.
They predicted it will make substantial sums for Diana’s favourite charities when the figures are published next week.
A spokesman said: “We have had many, many emails into the office, all of them from people saying how much they enjoyed the show.
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We have had many, many emails into the office, all of them from people saying how much they enjoyed the show
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“We understand the viewing figures were extraordinarily high. The peak audience was nearly 15 million and we have been told by the BBC that the original Live Aid only got 11 million and the figure for Live 8 was 9.7 million.”
The show, featuring performers including Rod Stewart, Tom Jones, Lily Allen, Joss Stone, Duran Duran, the English National Ballet and rapper P Diddy, pulled in 60 per cent of the TV audience, attracting an average of 8.9 million and building up to nearly 15 million towards the end.
For the two young princes, it was a case of mission accomplished but William was far less successful in his efforts to hide his re-ignited romance with Kate Middleton.
The couple, who split up in April but have been seeing each other in secret in the past few weeks, sat two rows and several yards apart in the royal box to try to take the heat off their relationship.
While virtually everybody else swapped seats and chatted, they avoided any contact in public but, each time the royal party went to get a drink or snack during the intervals, William and Kate emerged together and walked back down the steps towards the box.
Coupled with the revelation that Kate, 25, spent Saturday night at Clarence House, it was further confirmation that the royal romance is back on.
Throughout the day, artists dedicated songs to Diana. Duran Duran played Rio in memory of “this country’s favourite Princess”.
Former England football captain David Beckham, there to introduce Take That, took the stage to huge cheers. He said: “She was the nation’s lady, the nation’s Princess, always has been and always will be.
“I think what the Princes have achieved here is truly remarkable and the nation should be so proud of them.”
Other presenters included Sienna Miller, Jamie Oliver, Kiefer Sutherland and Cat Deeley, and there were video tributes from Nelson Mandela and former US president Bill Clinton.
Video 
WONDERFUL SUNDAY
03.07.07, 2:03pm
WHAT A WONDERFUL WONDERFUL SUNDAY IT WAS . THE SUN SHONE DOWN OVER WEMBLEY THE STARS ALL GATHERED MILLIONS AND MILLIONS WORLDWIDE WATCHED THE TRIBUTE TO OUR PRINCESS DIANA .
DIANA WAS ONE IN A MILLION . AND SUNDAY PROVED SHE HAS NEVER BEEN FORGOTTEN AND SHE NEVER WILL.
HRH DIANA THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN...
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