I’ve heard the comparison today a few times, and as far as mass funeral media spectacles it appears appropriate–to a point.

But  I’d say Michael is getting short-shrifted  in the comparison.

Diana was born into her fame and dazzled the world with her beauty and humanity.

Michael was born with such immense musical  gifts that simply  had to be shared with the world. For once, here was a man whose overwhelming talent warranted extreme celebrity.  It was the music that fueled  his ginormous fame and touched all our hearts.  When the music  stopped, the notoriety and scandals took over. But all that noise is temporal, merely yesterday’s tabloids.

It’s the music that  will live forever, to be discovered by future generations. You can’t  stop the music.

That’s the tragedy with a life cut short.

Mere celebrity warrants 15- minutes of fame. No more.

But there was never a 15-minute clock on Michael Jackson.

With his infinite talent, celebrity truly was royalty.