Princess Diana Remembered
BBC Honors Princess Diana
BBC America marks the eighth anniversary of the death of Princess Diana with a special evening of programming. Diana's Legacy premieres on Saturday, August 27,
Diana's Legacy tells an almost unbelievable tale of revenge from the grave. It reveals how Diana, in preparation for a custody battle, collected a series of secret recordings and letters. After her death, items from her private collection were somehow released at the precise moment when they would be the most damaging and embarrassing for the Royal Family. Diana's Legacy also shows how the Royal Family has struggled to re-invent itself in the wake of her death, borrowing her PR moves.
With excellent breeding, fairytale-princess looks, and a flawless reputation, Diana was the perfect match for Charles. But shortly after their wedding in 1981, in fact on her wedding night, things started to unravel when it was clear that Charles was still very much clinging to his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. After fifteen years of a broken marriage, Diana began to set the stage for a divorce. Concerned about retaining full access to her sons, William and Harry, Diana started to collect damaging evidence, compiled journals, and taped potentially damaging accounts of her life with the
She recorded a shocking confession from George Smith, a member of Charles’ staff, which portrayed a household dangerously out of control. She hid away the tape, but five years after her death, the interview would be known to the world, triggering a public scandal. Diana also wrote in a journal that Charles was tampering with her car brakes in an attempt to get rid of her, “My husband is planning an accident in my car-brake failure to make the path clear for Charles to marry.” Six years after her death in a car wreck, her butler would produce this note, shocking the world, and reopening her case file.
Despite the rocky relationship Diana had with her in-laws, Diana's Legacy shows how the
Diana's Legacy premieres on Saturday, August 27,
The premiere of Diana's Legacy on BBC
In an attempt to prepare Prince William for his future role as king, Diana took him on a royal meet-and-greet when he was only seven years old. This would be one of many international trips planned to expose her sons to the world. She taught them to speak for the suffering by bringing them along on visits to AIDS hospices and homeless shelters. In an effort to break them out of the cloistered palace mold, Diana arranged for them to be educated with other children instead of at the palace. The princess took them to the supermarket, McDonalds,
The value of this training was evident when the world saw two composed and generous boys sharing in the grief just days after their mother’s shocking early death. All of the preparation for their lives in public service” how to greet an eager mob, how to work with the press, how to act on official visits helped them cope in public after her death.
Prince William and Prince Harry premieres on Saturday, August 27,
Diana's Legacy and Prince William and Prince Harry will be followed by an encore presentation of William’s Women. Prince William is a real catch, attracting the attention of the most desirable women worldwide. He’s gorgeous, rich, famous, and has a bright future ahead of him as the King of England. It comes as no surprise that William has turned the heads of women like Britney, Beyonce, and Baby Spice. But it takes more than beauty, wealth, and celebrity to catch this prince charming; his partner will have to bear the weight of the Monarchy. In William’s Women, royal watchers speculate on who will be the wife of William, and therefore, the future Queen of England. Join in on the speculation with those in the know, including the author of William &
The encore presentation of William’s Women airs on Saturday, August 27,
http://www.bbcamerica.com/britain/princess_diana/princess_diana.jsp
