Princess Diana's close friend has revealed to Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking why she has spoken out against airing a controversial documentary exposing secret tapes made by Diana and her voice coach.
Rosa Monckton, an English businesswoman and charity campaigner, is the second person to plead with the UK's Channel 4, after Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, also demanded the show be scrapped believing it will be hurtful to princes William and Harry.
Channel 4 has been in correspondence with Diana's brother and will proceed with the decision because the recordings are "an important historical source". But Monckton told Hosking she believes the network's decision is "entirely motivated by money".
Monckton admits she feels there is a "zero per cent" chance Channel 4 will decide not to play the tapes, but still wanted to "make the point".
"I feel very strongly that I owe it to my memory of Diana to fight on her behalf," she told Hosking, who echoed her opinion and voiced concern about the documentary airing in New Zealand.
Monckton says people shouldn't watch the programme because the sessions set to be aired were immensely private, a form of "therapy" for Diana.
Putting the pressure on the network, Diana's friend asked decision-makers to consider the case as if it were their own wife or daughter's therapy sessions being "suddenly exposed to the nation".
"Diana absolutely saw a distinction in her life between her private life and her public persona and there was a very firm line for her and I think that this crosses it absolutely," she told Hosking.
Monckton says despite her plea she holds little hope the network will reverse the decision. Photo / Getty
Asked if she agreed with the claim the tapes were "of historical importance" she replied: "I don't at all" and "there are some things that should just never see the light of day".
"Nobody should look at them. Nobody should be discussing them. We shouldn't even be having this conversation now. They should just be packaged up and sent around to Kensington Palace."
Hosking queried whether she felt the British public would back her thinking to which she said it would probably be 50/50. The public, Monckton believes, are partially to blame for the pending exposure because of their ongoing demand for details of Diana's life.
"There still is an insatiable appetite for anything to do with Diana and the press therefore crossed the line to feed it."
As the 20-year anniversary of the Princess' death looms, it is her legacy rather than her private life that should be the focus, believes Monckton.
"We should be looking at her legacy as Princess of Wales, at her legacy as a world stage humanitarian.
"We shouldn't be having this prurient look at her private life and her private anguish.
"What was extraodinary about her was that she overcame all of these things while in the public eye. She was an extraodinary woman and that's what she should be remembered for: the power of her spirit."
