It has just been announced that Prince William and Prince Harry will host a memorial pop concert next year to mark the tenth year since the death of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

The concert playlist will be headed by Elton John and Madonna — why are pop stars so elderly these days? — and is expected to attract a crowd of 90,000. With those numbers, Hyde Park in London is the most likely venue.

For ten years, the two Princes have staunchly defended their late mother, in the face of a constant barrage of adverse “revelations” and betrayals from some of her “friends” and staff members. Perhaps now, they can draw a line under the event that has shaped their lives ever since.

Update : Some reports are saying that Wembley Stadium will be the venue, but the rebuilding of Wembley is not yet finished, and it’s unclear whether any events will take place there next year. Another report suggests that Beyonce may have accepted an invitation to sing at the gig.

The picture (left) was taken on the Orange River, Namibia, where Chelsy Davy is having a brief canooeing (or canoodling) holiday with Prince Harry.

The holiday was arranged to mark the end of Chelsy’s exams at Cape Town University, where she’s expected to get a double-first in her politics/statistics degree course. Harry is due back at his regiment, the Blues and Royals, next week.

But, can this be the same svelte Chelsy we saw earlier in the year at various polo matches in England? She certainly appears to have put on weight during her months of study for the exams.

Is she partying too much?

Ahead of a visit to Canada, the Toronto Star is singing the praises of Sophie, Countess of Wessex : “On Monday, the 41-year-old countess arrives for a three-day stay in Toronto that will include a dinner for the Munk Cardiac Centre and visits to various other sites in the University Health Network, of which she is patron.”

They certainly pile it on :

How often the 80-year-old Queen must gaze upon the one-time Sophie Rhys-Jones — the ‘lowest-born’ person ever to marry into the royal family — and think, ‘Not sure how, but one of them got it right.’ The one is Prince Edward, the youngest and least known of the Queen’s sons. In 1999, he married public-relations consultant Sophie, a tire exporter’s daughter with a striking resemblance to Princess Diana, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Sophie, mother of a 3-year-old daughter, has become a quietly hard-working Royal after early problems with her PR business, which went bust, an embarrassing meeting with a fake sheik, and nearly losing her life during childbirth.

She has become one of the Queen’s favourite companions and, like Princess Anne before her, admired for her low-key hard work and professionalism.

Prince Charles has added a blog to his long-standing website which has been completely redesigned.

I doubt you’ll be finding his posts on sites such as Digg or Netscape, though. A quick glance reveals there are some video clips with titles such as “Away Day: Tuesday 12th September 2006″, which shows Charles sitting in his office at Highgrove, his country home, before heading off to look at some Prince’s Trust charity projects.

Then on to the Birmingham Royal Ballet where the Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall watch a recital in the school’s new auditorium. Camilla agrees to become their new patron.

Somehow it doesn’t feel like a blog, more a PR exercise. Charles also gives us his “personal manifesto” and his views on everything from health, responsible business, faith, ethnic communities and farming.

On it he says he sees one of his roles as Prince of Wales to raise issues of national importance that might otherwise be overlooked.

He adds: “The Prince’s work aims to promote and protect what is good about Britain and its people. This will often involve The Prince acting personally as a catalyst to facilitate chance, to generate debate or to raise overlooked issues. In all these areas, the Prince aims to encourage a public debate over what he sees as vital issues to the health of the nation while avoiding party political issues. When issues become a matter for party political debate or the subject of Government police, The Prince stops raising them publicly.”

An expert estimates the cost of the redesign to be around £40,000 ($75,000). “The last time it was updated was more than eight years ago, which made it quite archaic. The Prince was very much involved in the project on a personal level and feels it is an important tool in explaining and publicising different aspects of his work. The video diary helps to make it even more accessible.”

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