Princess Diana describes herself as a "rebel" who barely knew Prince Charles before they married and later "played with fire and got very burnt" in the extraordinary trailer for her bombshell tapes.
The Princess of Wales laughs uproariously, blushes and also looks close to tears in the footage set to be broadcast in Britain for the first time on Sunday, reports the Daily Mail.
Channel 4 has been accused of paying "blood money" for "deeply personal" tapes of Princess Diana and that the content about her troubled marriage to Prince Charles will be incredibly hurtful for her family, including her sons William and Harry.
Supporters of its broadcast, including some of her closest aides who spoke to producers, insist it is an important historical source about her life.
In the trailer Diana describes herself as a teenager and says: "I was a rebel. I always did the dares. I always did the opposite to everybody else.
"I wasn't academically interested at all. I just wanted to be with people, have fun. You know, look after people, things like that. I got the prize for the kindest girl in school".
In the recordings, Diana discloses intimate details of her failed marriage to Prince Charles. Photo / Getty
Her interviewer Peter Settelen, then says: "Doesn't sound much like a rebel?", to which Diana smiles and responds: "I know, but it was underlying. It was always there".
In an exchange about her future after leaving her Kent school she tells Mr Settelen: "I knew that something profound was coming my way".
Diana also talks candidly about her marriage and "odd" sex life with Prince Charles, and would sleep together once every three weeks but it stopped when Prince Harry was born.
In the Channel 4 trailer she says: "We met 13 times and we got married. I was brought up in sense that when you got engaged to someone you loved them".
In the tapes she confesses to falling in "deeply in love" with police protection officer Barry Mannakee, who was killed in an accident in 1987, which she describes as "the biggest blow of my life".
The Princess later reveals that she thought Mr Mannakee was not the victim of a tragic accident, but something more sinister, and was "bumped off".
In the trailer she says: "I should never have played with fire, but I did and I got very burnt".
Diana described her sex life with Prince Charles as 'very odd' during a taped session with voice coach Peter Settelen. Photo / Getty
Prince William and Harry will not be upset by the release of the Diana Tapes, her former bodyguard said today.
Ken Wharfe, who was in charge of her round-the-clock security at home and abroad for six years, insists Diana's children will understand that footage is of historical importance and should be shown to millions on Sunday.
But Mr Wharf told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show today: "I don't share the view that princes William and Harry will be upset by this. They, like all members of the royal family, do read newspapers and are very aware of current affairs, and will see this for what it is".
He added: "Once this programme is shown then people will generally realise how historically in context it is. I heard somewhere should it be 30 years, 40 years or fifty years before this is shown. That's irrelevant".
When asked about people "cashing in" on Diana again he said: "I lecture all over the world spreading this message about how important the role of Diana was in the 20th century and this is the continuation of that because it is important that the public have this information because Diana was an iconic figure".
Princess Diana's mood could be worse than "Boudicca with a headache" because she was "trapped with the knowledge that her husband loved another woman", one of her closest aides said today.
Patrick Jephson also claims his former boss' fiery temper meant she "could sometimes burn uncomfortably hot" as he backed the broadcast of the infamous Diana Tapes this weekend.
They were recorded during Diana's speech coach sessions 25 years ago and show her speaking candidly about her upbringing, her courtship with the Prince of Wales, her troubled marriage and her public life.
Mr Jephson, equerry and private secretary to the Princess for eight years until 1996, says the films are part of "historic records" and should be shown.
Despite claims Channel 4's decision is "deeply hurtful" to her sons William and Harry he says the footage of Diana shows a "Princess finding her voice".
He told Radio Times magazine that he had "better reason than most to know that the Princess could be a mercurial and impulsive figure, in whom the flame of an angry fire could sometimes burn uncomfortably hot".
Diana revealed that her and Charles went from having sex "once every three weeks" to it fizzling out all together. Photo / Getty
Mr Jephson compared Diana to Boudicca, who led the ancient British uprising against the Romans in around 60AD.
He said: "On a bad day - and luckily they were few - you'd think Boudicca with a headache might be an easier boss.
"But guess what? She had every reason to be angry, trapped with the knowledge that her husband loved another woman."
Defending Sunday's broadcast he told Radio Times magazine: "Bewitchingly, they reveal a thoughtful and often funny Princess finding her voice as the teller of her own story.
"It was this rare ability to infuse her public speeches with disarming personal candour that made Diana such an effective communicator.
"One of the reasons we remember her, and still want to hear her voice, is that she spoke not with technical fluency but with an authenticity that came from the heart (or gut, if you prefer).
"Her audiences instinctively recognised that what she was telling them owed far more to her own emotions and experience than to the efforts of her speech writers."
He added that the tapes were "legitimate additions to the historical record".
During the lessons, which took place between September 1992 and December 1993 at Kensington Palace, Diana opened up to her voice coach Peter Settelen.
Channel 4 has defended the tapes, never before broadcast on British TV, describing the material as an "important historical source".
It said that "the subjects covered are a matter of public record and provide a unique insight into the preparations Diana undertook to gain a public voice and tell her own personal story".
The 83-minute video, which was sold to NBC for an estimated £700,000, was one of several made by Mr Settelen as he coached Diana on public speaking.
They were made between September 1992 and December 1993. Diana and Charles officially separated in December 1992.
Mr Jephson said Diana had a temper but was right to be angry. Photo / Getty
The tapes disappeared from Diana's apartment at Kensington Palace after her death in 1997 but were discovered four years ago in the loft of her former butler, Paul Burrell.
Mr Settelen fought a bitter legal battle against Diana's family for ownership of the tapes, which were finally handed back to him in September this year.
In an interview to accompany the tapes, Mr Settelen says Diana came across as a "frightened woman" who was "shellshocked by a bad marriage".
Paul Burrell has become the latest former member of her inner circle to criticise Channel 4's decision to screen a documentary featuring private tapes.
The former butler, whom Diana called her "rock", described the programme as "seedy" and like "raiding her diary".
Mr Burrell, 59, has made thousands in lucrative deals in the 20 years following the death of the Princess of Wales.
Princes William and Harry accused him of betrayal, after his book, A Royal Duty, was published in 2003.
But yesterday Mr Burrell said airing the tapes, of private conversations Diana had with her speech coach Peter Settelen, would upset William and Harry.
He told ITV Yorkshire: "I think those tapes were made privately for the Princess' own use... I don't think they should be broadcast. It's almost like raiding her diary. That's wrong... It can only upset Prince William and Prince Harry.
"I understand that there is a thirst for new information but I think it's a step too far. We all need to draw a line underneath it, remember the good times... It's not going back into the past and delving through laundry and seedy tapes and thoughts that were never meant to be made public."
In an outspoken statement in 2003, William and Harry, just 21 and 19 at the time, said of Mr Burrell's book: "We cannot believe that Paul, who was entrusted with so much, could abuse his position in such a cold and overt betrayal.
"It is not only deeply painful for the two of us but also for everyone else affected and it would mortify our mother if she were alive today."
Mr Burrell, who the following year took part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, insisted his book was "nothing more than a tribute to their mother".
Yesterday one of Diana's close friends, Rosa Monckton, called for a boycott of the "intrusive" Channel 4 documentary, Diana: In Her Own Words, which is due to be screened on Sunday night.
Mrs Monckton, 63, who has written to Channel 4 to protest, told The Guardian: "It was very wrong of him [Settelen] to ask all those leading questions and it was naive of her to have agreed to do it.
"But nonetheless it was like a therapy and therapy should remain private."
The Queen's former press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, has also criticised Channel 4, accusing the broadcaster of exchanging "grubby blood money" with Mr Settelen.
The recordings contain revelations about Diana's bulimia and intimate details about her relationships with Prince Charles and others. Channel 4 said: "The excerpts from the tapes recorded with Peter Settelen have never been shown before on British television and are an important historical source.
"We carefully considered all the material used in the documentary and, though the recordings were made in private, the subjects covered are a matter of public record.
"This unique portrait of Diana gives her a voice and places it front and centre at a time when the nation will be reflecting on her life and death."
Writing in The Sun, Ralph Lee, Channel 4's Deputy Chief Creative Officer, defended the impending transmission.
"The decision to show the tapes has proved controversial but they are an important part of the historical record.
"We are confident the fleeting debate around the ethics of airing these tapes to mark this landmark anniversary of her death will be far outlived by the significant public interest in broadcasting the tapes and understanding both Diana and the Prince of Wales."
