Princess Diana’s full secret tape archive is finally being opened up, and a new documentary will use unheard audio
A full archive of Princess Diana’s secret tapes has been handed to one production company for a three-part documentary due next year.
A set of previously unheard recordings made by Princess Diana is set to reach the public in a new way, with a documentary team getting access to the full archive for the first time. The material, first used to help create a bestselling book, will now form the backbone of a three-part series due next year.
What’s changing with the tapes
The key shift is that one production company has now been given the complete collection of Diana’s recordings in one go, something understood to be a first for the archive.
Those tapes were originally passed to journalist Andrew Morton and used in the making of the 1992 bestseller Diana: Her True Story. Now, the recordings are being used for Diana Unheard, a three-part documentary from Love Monday TV.
The series is set to be released next year, which marks 30 years since Diana’s death. It also means audiences are expected to hear material that has not been publicly heard before.
Why the producers think the audio matters
According to the team behind the series, the aim is not to reopen old battles but to let Diana speak for herself.
Producer Kerene Barefield said the recordings challenge the version of Diana that many people have seen over the years. In her view, the audio does not present a woman defined only by sadness, loneliness or manipulation, but someone brave, purposeful and fully aware of what she wanted.
Barefield also said the tapes reveal a more personal side of Diana. She pointed to moments of laughter in the recordings and said the middle episode goes back to Diana’s childhood, including details that may surprise viewers. She said those sections suggest Diana’s sense of drive and agency were there from an early age.
Why the release is drawing extra attention
The documentary is also likely to be watched closely because producers say the recordings cover some of the same territory explored in Earl Spencer’s recent book, Swan Song. That could add further context to claims he has made about King Charles.
Spencer has been in a public dispute with Buckingham Palace after alleging that, following Diana’s death in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, Charles said: “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough”.
Last month, the Palace answered with a statement saying it does not comment on books as a matter of principle, but added that the King is mindful that “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
Diana Unheard is not the only project tied to that anniversary. Prince Harry is also reportedly working on a documentary to mark Diana’s death, although no official announcement has been made.
