RICHARD KAY: The legacy my friend Princess Diana would really want?

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On the face of it, yesterday’s unveiling of Princess Diana’s statue was no more, and certainly no less, than was always intended – the celebration of a permanent tribute to an extraordinary woman who died too young.

Ever since her death almost 24 years ago, the clamour for a fitting likeness of the princess to go on display somewhere near her London home has never really gone away.

For many, the absence of any image at all of Diana in the official 2004 memorial fountain, opened by the Queen, only added to a sense of public disappointment, grievance even.

So now, finally, there is a lasting representation, appropriately sited in the Sunken Garden, a rather forbidding and dank spot when Diana lived at the palace – though now transformed – and which she used as an occasional cut-through to her front door.

But while the debate about whether sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley truly captured the princess’s ethereal elegance has only just begun, an unspoken sadness loomed over this simplest of ceremonies.

It was, of course, the presence of the two figures at the heart of it, William and Harry, who performed their duties as joint sponsors of this singular event, together pulling off the shroud that covered the statue – with professional aplomb but precious little exuberance.

That though is the role of the royals, to carry out their official duties with the maximum dignity and the minimum fuss.

For years, the Prince and Princess of Wales batted away speculation about their marriage with the most extraordinary display of apparent togetherness while being barely on speaking terms in private.

So yesterday it was the turn of Charles and Diana’s sons to present the most united of fronts in the face of the rift that has ruptured a relationship once so close that they knew what each other was going to say before they opened their mouths.

Not now, not any more. Only time will tell if that closeness will ever be repaired. Which was why the world was watching so intently yesterday for any chink in that royal armour which might indicate that their acrimonious feud can be resolved.

There was certainly an irony that the statue’s ensemble has Diana embracing three children while her own boys are warily distanced from one another. It also drew attention to the fact that her grandchildren were not among the handful of social-distanced guests at the unveiling.

Was this a gesture to Harry unable to bring his son Archie or newborn daughter Lilibet from California to London? All the same, the absence of George, Charlotte and Louis as well as their Spencer cousins only added to an occasion that seemed strangely muted.

If their matching blue suits and white shirts showed some element of collaboration, it was the body language between the two that turned what would have been their mother’s 60th birthday into the most anticipated royal event for months, attracting the mass ranks of television crews and commentators from all over the world.

You could not see the tension but you could feel it. All the same there was a sense of excitement as the brothers, without either of their wives, strode from the palace through the doorway their mother used to use, side by side. They were talking too, surely a good sign.

But had Harry, as he put it to Oprah Winfrey, just got his ‘game face’ on? He had actually only been at the palace for under ten minutes when he and William appeared. Their formalities must have been brief.

Ahead of them, their aunts, Diana’s sisters Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes and their uncle Charles, Earl Spencer, were wreathed in smiles ready to play their part.

After kissing Sarah and Jane on both cheeks, Harry, all hand gestures, lingered for a chat while William leant in to his uncle for a handshake. And while the Spencers were certainly doing their part to defuse any nerves, there was something familiar about this tableau: Harry the demonstrative one, his brother less so.

It was reminiscent of the memorial service 14 years ago to mark the tenth anniversary of Diana’s death. Then it was Harry speaking to the congregation of the ‘best mother in the world’, their ‘guardian, friend and protector’, as William nodded from the front pew of the Guards’ Chapel.

This time there were no speeches or formal tributes to be performed by one brother or the other.

Instead, a carefully-choreographed joint endeavour to remove the green canopy which had shrouded the statue.

Each had their own cord and as the statue was slowly revealed both boys concentrated on the task in hand.

It is more than four years since they commissioned the statue, a time when the crisis in their lives was some way in the future.

Many who longed for a statue of Diana at her glamorous height will wonder whether this flinty sculpture properly portrays one of the most famous, celebrated and animated women of the 20th century.

The sad reflection of one of her friends was that it had reduced her to resemble a primary school supply teacher in a frumpy skirt and blouse.

It also explains why in the aftermath of her death, her family resisted calls to put up a statue to her then.

As one of her circle told me: ‘We knew no one would agree what she should look like, what period of her life it should represent and in what style. Everyone saw her in different ways.’

‘Much better to wait for the boys to grow up and let them choose.’

There was one idea back then to have her with small children, but surrounded by them gazing up at her. It was vetoed.

No matter, it is the image William and Harry chose, remembering their mother at what is described as the ‘final period’ of the princess’s life when she had become a campaigning humanitarian.

The brothers drew their inspiration from a formal picture taken of them with their mother at Kensington Palace.

In it she is wearing a pale lavender blouse and a skirt with a large belt, which features prominently in the sculpture.

The picture was taken by the Earl of Drogheda – better known as the society photographer Derry Moore – and was used on Diana’s 1993 Christmas card.

At the time William was 11 and Harry nine. It was the first year the Prince and Princess of Wales sent separate cards.

But it was, crucially, also a time of happiness for the princess who was optimistic for her future – and that of her sons. They want the sculpture to reflect her ‘love, strength and character’.

I suspect my friend Diana would much prefer it if her beloved boys could show the love, strength and character to end their bitter divisions. Now that would be a real lasting legacy.