 Diana spoke of her bulimia and depression |
Tapes on which Diana, Princess of Wales, tells of her attempts to commit suicide amid her marriage breakdown have been aired on US television. BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt assesses their impact.
Q. How did these recordings come to light?
In 1991/2 Andrew Morton was writing his definitive book on Diana, telling the world how the marriage was falling apart.
After her death in 1997 we learned the mainstay of that book was these recordings, made by an intermediary who went to Kensington Palace with Morton's questions. She gave her answers and they became the kernel of the book.
Q. Is there any new information here?
No, what we have is not that new in terms of information, we know the stories. What we have is a very personal testimony in her own words.
Q. What is the impact on Prince Charles?
It is not going to be a major scandal for him. His advisers would like people to think this is in the past, 'we know it already, let's move on'.
The problem is every time he tries to move on he has this shadow, this very public disintegration of a marriage.
Q. Will Clarence House advisers respond?
I think they will not say anything - if they do there is the risk of fanning the flames. This is a one-sided account of the collapse of a marriage by a woman at her lowest ebb.
Prince Charles' obvious response would be to give his point of view but then you enter into an argument with someone who is dead.
He has his children to think about, who care very much for their late mother, so he cannot go down that road.
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