Controversial Princess Diana tapes on her sex life will air on NZ television

Prime TV says it will screen controversial tapes of Princess Diana's private conversations with her speaking coach about her sex life with Prince Charles.

The channel says it has the NZ broadcast rights to the 110-minute documentary, which will screen on Britain's Channel 4 tonight.

Diana's brother Earl Spencer pleaded with Channel 4 not to screen the show, saying it will be hurtful to Princes William and Harry.

Channel 4 defended the tapes as "an important historical document" offering unique insights into Diana's life 20 years after her death on August 31, 1997.

British media have reported that Diana told her public speaking coach Peter Settelen that she and Prince Charles "didn't have sex for seven years" after Prince Harry was born in 1984. The couple separated officially in 1992.

Diana reportedly told Settelen that she asked Charles about Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he married after Diana's death: "I remember saying to my husband, 'Why? Why is this lady around?' And he said, 'Well, I refuse to be the only Prince of Wales that never had a mistress.'"

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.