US rocker to make Diana and Charles: The Musical

HERE is some news likely to alarm Princes William and Harry: their parents’ tumultuous marriage and the untimely death of their mother, Princess Diana, are to be turned into a stage show.

A keyboards player with American rock band Bon Jovi, David Bryan, has co-written the musical, Diana, and it is due to be given its premiere in New York later this year.

‘People are fascinated by Diana and her legacy,’ says lyricist Joe DiPietro, who wrote the award-winning musical Memphis with Bryan.

DiPietro had the idea for the show while reading Tina Brown’s biography The Diana Chronicles.

‘I knew a little bit about her: the basic stuff — wedding, bad marriage, divorce and death,’ he says.

‘She was a blue blood, she was beautiful and she was a virgin, which was hard to find in 1980s London.

‘She was manipulated, used and misunderstood, but she rose to the occasion and then used her popularity to gain power.

‘The Royals never thought this uneducated woman could accomplish what she did.

‘I thought she’d make a wonderful lead character in a musical.’

Casting is just starting for Diana, as well as for actors to play Charles, the Queen and Camilla Parker Bowles. The show will be developed this summer. ‘With some shows, the doors open very quickly,’ DiPietro says. ‘They are opening very quickly with this one.’

The score will range from Eighties pop music for Diana, to punk rock for the paparazzi, classical for Charles and traditional musical theatre for Camilla and the Queen.

At the end of the first act, Diana sings a song called A Pretty Girl In A Pretty Dress. It captures the moment she realises she can turn the tables on the Palace.

‘She used her style and her smile and her beauty,’ DiPietro adds. ‘Charles was out giving lectures about how new buildings are ruining the world, and she’s being photographed in a cocktail dress.

‘He was born an old man. She became the world’s most beloved princess.’