Brother of Princess Diana in battle to stop video diary broadcast

Earl Spencer pleads with broadcaster Channel 4 not to show the tapes because of the distress it could cause Princes William and Harry

The documentary is due to be broadcast three weeks before the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales

The brother of Princess Diana is embroiled in a row over plans to broadcast his sister's video diaries on British television.

Earl Spencer has pleaded with Channel 4 not to show the footage, in which she is said to reveal intimate details of her failed marriage to Prince Charles and criticises British Royal Family.

The 90-minute documentary, Diana: In Her Own Words, is due to be screened on August 6, three weeks before the 20th anniversary of her death.

It shows the Princess of Wales at her most vulnerable and friends of the Earl have revealed he believes broadcasting the videos is a betrayal of her memory and privacy.

He is thought to have contacted Channel 4 on behalf of the Spencer family warning that broadcasting the tapes would cause distress to her sons, Princes William and Harry, according to reports.

However, the broadcaster has refused to back down, claiming the excerpts are "an important historical source", the Mail on Sunday reports.

In a statement, it added: "We carefully considered all the material used in the documentary and, though the recordings were made in private, the subjects covered are a matter of public record and provide a unique insight into the preparations Diana undertook to gain a public voice and tell her own personal story, which culminated in her later interview for Panorama.

"This unique portrait of Diana gives her a voice and places it front and centre at a time when the nation will be reflecting on her life and death."

The footage, which was recorded at Kensington Palace in the early 1990s, has already been aired in the U.S. when NBC broadcast a documentary in 2004.