Princes hope Diana concert will polish her memory

LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) Britain's Prince William and Prince Harry are worried about the public beginning to think negatively about their mother and hope a pop concert next month will help restore memories of her.

In an interview with the BBC ahead of a concert on July 1 to mark the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death in a car crash in Paris, her sons said they were keen for people to focus on the good things about their mother.

July 1 would have been the princess's 46th birthday.

''After ten years there's been a rumbling of people bringing up the bad and over time people seem to forget -- or have forgotten -- all the amazing things she did and what an amazing person she was,'' William, 24, and second in line to the throne, said.

''We felt that this was the best way of bringing that back to life and letting people remember all the good things about her because she's not here to defend herself when she gets criticised and so we want to do that instead....'' Harry, 22, said he thought the concert, which will include performances by artists such as Elton John, Duran Duran, Rod Stewart and Tom Jones, was the right way to celebrate Diana's life as she had loved dancing to pop music.

''She was a happy, fun, bubbly person who cared for so many people,'' he said.

''It's the perfect opportunity and to celebrate her life with a concert with music and people just smiling and having fun, hopefully which is what they're going to be doing, waving their arms in the air.... like they just don't care!'' Diana died on August 31, 1997 as she was being driven with her boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed at high speed through a tunnel in Paris.

Interviewed by US network NBC in an interview released earlier this week, Harry said he thought his mother's death would always remain a mystery.

''Whatever happened in that tunnel ... you know, no one will ever know. And I'm sure people will always think about that the whole time ... I'll never stop wondering about that.'' Reuters AKD VP0128