The Concert for Diana was a hit. It ranked #1 for NBC last night beating out all contenders.

The Diana tribute special featured big names in the music business and averaged 8.7 million viewers as well as a 2.1 rating/7 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by Nielsen Media Research.

63,000 filled Wembley Stadium to see an international lineup pay tribute to Britain’s Princess Diana at a memorial charity concert 10 years after her death, on what would have been her 46th birthday. The six-hour show spanned generations of performers, from veterans Elton John, who opened the show with ”Your Song” and Tom Jones (covering the Arctic Monkeys’ ”I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor”) to contemporary pop stars including Kanye West, backed by an all-female string section, a DJ, and red-clad dancers, Fergie, and P. Diddy, performing ”I’ll Be Missing You.”

Elton John, a friend of the princess who sang at her funeral, kicked off the show with “Your Song” in front of giant black and white photographs of Diana taken by Mario Testino that were beamed on to the stage backdrop.

He was followed by veterans Duran Duran, Status Quo, Bryan Ferry, younger acts The Feeling, Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas, Orson, Lily Allen and U.S. rapper Pharrell Williams as well as The English National Ballet, a favorite of Diana’s.

Today Lady Diana would have turned 46.

Tonight, her two sons are helping stage a benefit concert in her behalf. Proceeds from the concert will go to charities supported by the late Princess, and to charities of which the Princes are Patrons.

According to London’s Sunday Mirror, the young royals will cohost the one-off gig at the soon-to-reopen Wembley Stadium, allowing more than 90,000 revelers to share in the “upbeat” celebration—and benefit—in honor of the princess.

Proceeds from the massive to-do will be doled out to several charities—most likely including the homeless charity Centrepoint, which Diana worked closely with prior to her 1997 death, and William’s recently founded African conservation charity, Tusk Trust.

Here is a collection of quotations attributed to the late Diana, Princess of Wales…

“Family is the most important thing in the world.”
— Princess Diana

“Helping people in need is a good and essential part of my life, a kind of destiny.”
— Princess Diana

“HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug: Heaven knows they need it.”
— Princess Diana

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In 2002, the BBC conducted a vote to determine whom the general public considers the 100 greatest Britons of all time.

Some notable non-British entrants include two Irish nationals, (Bono and Bob Geldof), and Freddie Mercury, who was born in Zanzibar to Indian Parsi parents. Alfred the Great and Boudica are from an era where “Britishness” was a concept of the future.

The top 19 entries were exclusively of self-declared English origin (though Sir Ernest Shackleton and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, were Irish born, when it was still part of the UK. Wellesley was born to an English family long settled in Ireland). The highest-placed Scottish entry was Alexander Fleming in 20th place, with the highest Welsh entry, Owain Glyndŵr, at number 23rd. None were from Northern Ireland. Over half (60) had lived in the twentieth century.

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LOS ANGELES, Oct 1, 1997 (Reuter) - Elton John’s recording of “Candle in the Wind 1997,” which he sang at the funeral of Princess Diana last month, blew into the U.S. pop charts at No. 1 and smashed the record for first-week sales, according to data issued on Wednesday. The single sold almost 3.5 million copies in the six days since its release on Sept. 22, said a statement from SoundScan, a firm whose point-of-sale system monitors sales in record stores across the country.

The previous record was held by Whitney Houston’s version of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which sold 632,000 units during the week ended Dec. 27, 1992, SoundScan said.

In just six days, “Candle in the Wind 1997″ has become the third best-selling single of all time following the Houston song and Los Del Rio’s “Macarena,” which have sold 4.6 million and 4.2 million units respectively.

In the current charts, “Candle in the Wind 1997″ replaces Boyz II Men’s “4 Seasons of Loneliness,” which had sold about 170,000 units to get to No. 1 the previous week.

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