Diana tapes: my pain

A devastating taped attack by Princess Diana on Charles was played to millions on American TV today.

Her claims, never before heard, spell out in graphic detail how serious the divisions were between the couple.

The astonishing confession reveals in her own words what she claims was his cruelty towards her throughout their marriage.

Her comments will rock the royal family and will also seriously damage Charles's reputation as he tries to rebuild his image.

In the documentary, broadcast on the NBC network, she says he made her "feel so inadequate in every possible way" and once referred to her as "chubby". Diana tells how depression and the eating disorder bulimia ravaged her life.

The Princess also talks of her suicide attempts. She says that she threw herself down palace stairs, slashed her chest and thighs with a penknife, cut her wrists and threw herself into a glass cabinet at Kensington Palace.

Diana also claims that Charles expressed disappointment when Prince Harry was born because he hated his red hair - the 19-year-old is currently on his gap year in Africa.

The Princess also says that she had wanted Prince William's birth to be induced but had to schedule it around Charles's polo games.

The tapes, recorded in secret by Diana at Kensington Palace as she plotted to leave royal life, were used by author Andrew Morton to write his bestseller Diana Her True Story.

In the audio tapes, handed to NBC by Morton's publisher Michael O'Mara, Diana is heard saying: "My husband made me feel inadequate in every possible way and each time I came up for air he pushed me down again. I hated myself so much I didn't think I was good enough. The public side... they wanted a fairy princess, they want someone who touched them and everything would turn to gold. Little did they realise that the individual was crucifying herself inside because she didn't think she was good enough."

The broadcast comes weeks after the royal coroner ordered a fresh investigation into her death.

It also follows revelations that Charles will be interviewed by Scotland Yard Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, over a letter produced by Diana's former butler Paul Burrell in which she alleged her ex-husband was plotting to kill her.

Diana recorded the six audio tapes, as well as other video tapes used in the film, and handed them to her old Etonian friend Dr James Colthurst who in turn gave them to Morton. At the time the book was published in 1992 Diana denied collaborating with the author saying on the record: "I have never spoken to him." She was, of course, not lying as she had not given face-to-face interviews to Morton.

Her denial led to Buckingham Palace launching an attack on the authenticity, accuracy and motives of the book and denigrating his sources. In the documentary Diana tells how she was " terrified" about first meeting the Queen.

She claims how she got "cold feet" on the eve of the royal wedding, saying: "I cannot marry him, I cannot do this."

She says that on her honeymoon when she thought she was "the luckiest girl in the world" her hopes were dashed when Charles spent most of his time reading.

She was also devastated when she discovered Charles was carrying two photographs of Camilla Parker Bowles in his diary during the honeymoon.