One of the closest friends of Diana, Princess of Wales has protested to Channel 4 about its planned broadcast tonight of private video recordings in which the princess revealed details of her sex life with Prince Charles.
Rosa Monckton said the programme, Diana: In Her Own Words, was “especially intrusive” as it would expose “what amounted to a therapy session” . The tapes date from 1992-3 when the actor Peter Settelen was coaching the princess, who died 20 years ago, on her public speaking.
In an email to David Abraham, Channel 4’s chief executive, Monckton wrote that Diana had made the tapes “in the full expectation that they would remain private. Given that their content is already known . . . the only novelty is the voyeuristic one of hearing
her voice in private conversation.”
Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, is also understood to have warned the broadcast would hurt her sons, Princes William and Harry. Apart from the mention of her sex life, Diana also talks about her love for her bodyguard Barry Mannakee.
Ralph Lee, deputy chief creative officer at Channel 4, replied that there was “strong justification for bringing this historical material to light”.