Previously unseen tapes of Diana reveal more about the troubled princess
Princess Diana courted controversy through much of her adult life, and this continued even after she died in a car crash on 31 August 1997. Now, even as we approach the twentieth anniversary of her death, previously unseen tapes of Diana continue to add to the icon's enigmatic legacy.
These latest tapes, the subject of a Channel 4 documentary titled Diana In Her Own Words, are recordings made by Diana's voice coach Peter Settelen.
The revelations
Diana In Her Own Words has drawn a lot of flak, for exposing the princess' private life. However, in truth, there is very little that it exposes that wasn't already known. While alive, Diana's every move was reported, with desperate paparazzi stalking her everywhere she went. Her deepest, darkest secrets served as routine tabloid fodder, and this continued even after her death.
Thus, everything the tapes show has already been covered either through the media, or through the numerous books that have been written about the princess. What makes this different though, is that it is finally, as the documentary's name indicates, in her own words. It is Diana telling her own story.
In the tapes, Diana talks candidly about her “ very unhappy” childhood. She speaks of the abusive relationship her parents shared, describing the vicious fights she was witness too. She speaks about feeling unloved by her parents and inferior to her brother. For a woman who oozed confidence, these were some of her darkest days.
However, her own marriage to Prince Charles would prove to be as tragic. In the tapes, she describes her wedding day as “the worst day of my life.” She even talks candidly about her sex life with Charles, describing how infrequent and unsatisfying it was. Calling Camilla Parker-Bowles “his woman”, she goes on to say, “If I could write my own script, I would have my husband go away with his woman and never come back.”
Distraught, Diana sought help from her mother-in-law, the queen. However, her cries for hep were met with an unfeeling response. "I don't know what I should do", Diana beseeched the queen, only for the queen to respond, "I don't know what you should do."
The tapes
None of these tapes was ever meant to be released publicly. In fact, the tapes are extraordinary because it seemed implausible that Diana would be willing to record such candid confessions. In another documentary, Settelen explains that the only reason Diana agreed to do the recordings, is because, as he says, “The tapes were meant expressly for us.”
Settelen, a former actor, was introduced to Diana through her personal trainer, Carolan Brown, at a time when the princess was at an all time low. H er marriage had unravelled, and the papers were having a field day with it. With two young children to raise, she wanted to parlay her fame into something concrete and meaningful. Desperate to reinvent herself, she turned to Settelen.
After her first session with Settelen, one where he remembered her being a frightened women, he recommended recording her on video so that she could see herself. On 21 September, 1992, Settelen recorded his first tape of Diana. By December 1993, Settelen had around 20 such tapes.
While most of these tapes just documented Diana as she rehearsed speeches and practiced for interviews. However, as with seemingly anything related to Diana, Settelen also recorded moments which were equally candid and explosive.
In these moments of honesty, Diana spoke about her marriage, her children, her life growing up, and her struggle to conform to the rules of the monarchy.
Stolen, returned, revealed
In fact, after concluding their partnership, Settelen did not keep the tapes for himself. Instead, he returned them to the princess. After her death, some four years later, the tapes were found in the possession of Diana's one-time butler, Peter Burrell.
Burrell was prosecuted for the possession of Diana's belongings. Later acquitted after the queen's intervention, the videotapes in Burrell's possession were returned to Settelen who was deemed to be the rightful owner of the tapes.
While the tapes have only now been turned into fodder for a documentary, this isn't the first time they've been displayed. In fact, in 2004, excerpts from the tapes made their way to TV, creating such a stir that the BBC had to shelve plans for a larger documentary.
Now, as we near the twentieth anniversary of Diana's death, the predictable spree of documentaries on the late princess have brought the contents of these tapes out of the shadows once and for all.
