A painful battle royal

WHEN public interest in the royals vanishes, the monarchy will have had its day.

That truth is the backdrop to the fierce debate over Channel 4’s decision to broadcast tapes in which Princess Diana discusses her failed marriage and Prince Charles’s infidelity.

The hurt of their sons, William and Harry, is easy to grasp ahead of the 20th anniversary of their mother’s death. And nobody would want the dirty laundry of parents displayed in public.

On the other hand, these tapes were aired long ago on US TV and it would arguably be wrong to stop a British station broadcasting them when the accounts help understand what was close to a constitutional crisis.

The Royal Family wants to shape how Diana is remembered and the monarchy viewed. A large section of the public wants to listen to her unvarnished, painful testimony as preserved for posterity in those recordings. The conflict between the two cannot be resolved.

What was said and done cannot be erased. Agreement is impossible but public interest in the royals is as intense as ever.