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Earl Spencer pays tribute to Princess Diana in new documentary

Earl Spencer opens up about Diana on her birthday

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Sophie Hamilton
Parenting Editor
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Earl Spencer has spoken about his sister, Princess Diana, in a new TV documentary, on what would have been her 56th birthday. The ABC documentary The Story of Diana debuted on Good Morning America on Friday and showed clips of Earl Spencer talking about Diana. On 31st August, it will be 20 years since the princess died in a car crash in Paris, aged 36, with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul.

diana© Photo: Rex

Princess Diana wouls have been 56 on Saturday

Earl Spencer said: "One of the reasons I want to talk now is because I think that after 20 years someone shifts from becoming a contemporary person, to one of history.” He continued: "And Diana deserves a place in history. This was a special person, and not just a beautiful one." He added: "Obviously 99.9 percent of the people had never seen her, or met her, but they felt something in her that was fascinating and intriguing, and a force for good," Spencer said.

earl spencer© Photo: Getty Images

Earl Spencer has spoken out about his sister Diana

He also spoke of Diana’s deep love for her children, Prince William, 35, and Prince Harry, 32. "Nothing in her life came close to the love for her children. They meant more to her than anything." The Earl reveals how Diana was ‘furious’ when reporters once portrayed Harry as insolent when he once poked out his tongue for a photo on the way to school. He said: "And it was this sheer dishonesty of it that they were trying to say he was this impossibly rude little kid whereas they had actually provoked it on purpose. Diana felt furious about that.”

READ: How Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer is honouring her legacy at home

The documentary, which is set to air in two parts in August, also includes an interview with Diana’s wedding dress designer Elizabeth Emanuel. She says in the programme of the princess: "She was a human being with all the vulnerabilities of a human being. It brought her very close to all of us."

diana william harry© Photo: Getty Images

Diana with a young Prince William and Prince Harry

On Saturday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry attended a private service to re-dedicate Princess Diana’s grave, to mark her 56th birthday. Prince George and Princess Charlotte were also set to attend the special ceremony at Althorp House in honour of their late grandmother. Kensington Palace said in a statement on Wednesday: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will attend a private service to re-dedicate the grave of Diana, Princess of Wales at Althorp House on Saturday 1 July. The service, which will fall on what would have been The Princess's birthday, will be conducted by The Archbishop of Canterbury and attended by her family."

"The Story of Diana: Part One" will air 9 and 10 August on ABC

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