The princess speaks of Prince Charles's affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, her relationships with other members of the Royal Family and her suicide attempts. Network NBC is airing the video and audio tapes on Thursday evening (Friday in the UK). Andrew Morton used the audio tapes for his 1992 book, Diana: Her True Story.

Bracelet

According to reports, in the tapes Diana says: "My wedding day, I think that was the worst day of my life. "If I could write my own script I would have my husband go away with his lady." She tells how her public persona was often very different from her real personality. "The public side, they wanted a fairy princess to come and touch them, and everything will turn into gold and all their worries would be forgotten. "Little did they realise that the individual was crucifying herself inside because she didn't think she was good enough." She explains how a staff member in Charles's office told her that Mrs Parker Bowles had a bracelet that the prince had secretly given her. "It's a gold chain bracelet with a blue enamel disc - it's got a G and an F entwined in it. Gladys and Fred, they were their nicknames. And I was devastated," she said. A preview on the NBC website shows the princess saying: "I was trying to cut my wrists with razor blades... we were trying to hide that from everybody... I was just so desperate."

'Lighter side'

The seven hours of audio tapes were understood to have been secretly recorded at Kensington Palace, in response to written questions submitted by Morton. NBC said the one-hour video footage was taken by a "professional" associate of the princess between September 1992 and December 1993, when her marriage was in turmoil. A spokeswoman said the footage showed a "relaxed, candid Diana at times laughing and interacting with her young sons, illustrating the lighter side of a woman who maintained a very reserved public persona". The princess died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. A British coroner has begun a fresh investigation into her death. NBC is airing the two-part special on 4 and 11 March at 2200 Eastern Time, 0300 GMT.