Video pick: Sky Art's "The Book Show: 'Diana - Her True Story' "

"Andrew Morton’s controversial book ‘Diana: Her True Story’ surprised the world when it was first published. Now, in the book’s 20th anniversary year, Sky Arts determines how the publication’s revelations threatened the reputation of the Royal Family and irrevocably altered the relationship between press and monarchy.

In this exclusive Book Show special, Mariella Frostrup narrates the definitive story of Morton, his publisher and key players in the events leading up to the book’s publication in 1992. Through interviews, they look back at the influence this extraordinary book had on UK society, the press and within the Royal Family itself, who failed in their numerous attempts to stop the book from being published.

From press suspicion and character assassination to burglary and death threats, ‘Diana: Her True Story’ turned Andrew Morton’s life upside-down. In this candid interview he reveals how the opponents to his book attempted to discredit and destroy his reputation and how he struggled to cope under the pressure of the public reaction to his work.

Detailing in revealing insight, Morton explains how the Royal Family were suspicious of him from his time as the Daily Mail Royal correspondent and long before the book went into print. Following an investigation by Scotland Yard as to his insider sources, his office was broken into and his contacts documents and working files were ransacked.

The book’s serialisation in June 1992 by a cautious editorial team at The Sunday Times, created public hysteria as Morton was accused of orchestrating an elaborate hoax regarding the books’ revelations about an unhappy Princess Diana: her mental state, eating disorders, the breakdown of her marriage and her attempted suicides. He reveals how fellow journalists were briefed to write against him and leading retailers refused to stock the book. Morton received the protection of armed guards following death threats from an Irish terrorist group.

'Sky Arts has built a reputation for bringing its customers closer to writers, authors and books on television.” comments James Hunt, Sky Arts Channel Director. “Andrew’s story is fascinating and this Book Show Special will reveal in illuminating detail the repercussions this extraordinary book had on society and in shaping how we view the Royal Family today.' "

From the Royal Archives: "A personal loss: A grieving Princess Di flies to the bedside of a friend dying of AIDS"

Source: People Magazine

IT'S NO SECRET THAT PRINCESS DIANA IS less than thrilled by summer vacations at Balmoral in Scotland. But when she interrupted her family holiday there on Aug. 20, it wasn't just the standard royal getaway. Learning that her close friend Adrian Ward-Jackson, 41, was in the terminal stages of AIDS at St. Mary's Hospital in London, Di left Prince Charles and the children behind and anxiously rushed to his bedside.

Over the next three days, Diana visited Ward-Jackson, a successful art dealer, at least twice a day. As the end neared, the Princess settled in for an eight-hour bedside vigil on Aug. 22, during which she stroked her friend's hand and comforted his family. When an aide asked her when she planned to leave, Diana replied, "How could I leave him now, when he needs me most?"

That night she left the hospital at 10 P.M., instructing nurses to call her if Ward-Jackson's condition deteriorated. Sadly, the end was nearer than she imagined—just three hours later he died. When she was notified at Kensington Palace, Diana rushed back to the hospital at 1:30 A.M. and paid her last respects by kissing Ward-Jackson lightly on the forehead. She stayed with his grieving family until 8 A.M. "She proved to be a very, very special friend of Mr. Ward-Jackson," said a nurse. "Those last hours would have been much harder for him but for her support and kindness."

As patron of the National AIDS Trust, Diana has never hesitated to confront prejudices about the disease. In fact, in 1987, when ignorance about AIDS was still rife in Britain, she made the point that the disease was not easily transmissible when she extended her ungloved hand to grasp that of a patient at Middlesex Hospital. "Shaking hands with an AIDS patient is the most important thing a royal's done in 200 years," commented journalist Judy Wade after the event.

But Diana's visits to Ward-Jackson were more than symbolic. Over the past five years, as their interests and social orbits overlapped, they had developed a warm friendship, sharing a passion for ballet. "They were really quite close," says Marguerite Littman, founder of the AIDS Crisis Trust, of which Ward-Jackson was deputy chairman. "Adrian was heavily involved in fund-raising. The Princess came to all the galas."

Ward-Jackson enjoyed a discreetly gay lifestyle, sharing luxurious homes in London and New York City with companion Harry Bailey until Bailey's death from AIDS last year. When Ward-Jackson was diagnosed HIV-positive, he kept his illness secret from all but Diana and his closest friends. As his condition worsened, Di frequently visited him at home, reading to him for hours and holding his hand.

In her grief over Ward-Jackson's death, the Princess's commitment to AIDS patients is expected to deepen. "Diana has long campaigned against the stigma and ignorance faced by AIDS patients. But yesterday [with Ward-Jackson's death] she showed the very real depth of her caring nature," editorialized the Today newspaper. "When we see her hold a hand, it is not from duty but because she really does care.

MARY H.J. FARRELL
TERRY SMITH in London

Source: People Magazine (first published September 9, 1991)