Talking Personally: Charles and Diana Lengthy and Intimate Interview (1985)

foreign they think they're doing fine for the photographer  Tim Graham but let's get ready for a better shot   did he do that again I think what do you say  One More Kiss One More Kiss please steady go go doing it right dude doesn't mean to do it all   right all right from father a young  pianist needs a cue on where to look   foreign in the drawing room at Kensington Palace The  Prince and Princess of Wales talk together   about their life and work their courses  and interests and back bears and their   family it's quite a family Time Prince  William's just off to school your all   highnesses everybody thought Prince William did  terribly well when he set off to school and you   said to him wave everyone goodbye and then he just  went away were you a little sad at that moment   well I I was because it's it's opening another  chapter in my life and certainly Williams but   he's ready for it he's very independent child he's  surrounded by a tremendous amount of grown up so   his conversation is very forthright uh and as you  saw is more than happy to go down those steps and   join the other children we do see a lot of  children but there's always this myth that   William being who he is hardly ever sees a child  but I have two sisters I have um the five children   between them and and I have lots of friends  who have children as well so we we get around   and he really does enjoy I mean what did he say to  you that first day when he came home were you just   so excited by it all and there was a tremendous  Spurt of conversation if you could understand that   you could understand anything he's trying to get  it all out but he just adores other children and   um very much an organizer which probably  might be helpful in future years   but um he he really loved it does he organize  himself is he yes he so organized that day that   he chose his shorts and shirts and it's best  to put him in that if you wanted to smile the   cameras he's very happy to do that and do you find  already that Prince William has a will of his own   well he said he certainly does I mean he's  a typical three-year-old because I work with   three-year-olds and very enthusiastic about things  pushes himself right into it he's not at all shy   and very polite extraordinary enough where else  um perhaps Harry is is more quiet and just watches   whether he copies William we wait and see but  he's certainly a different character altogether   the world sees your partnership the  Princeton Princess of Wales as a unique job   but what do you think the  nature of your job really is um well the difference of course that um I  dare say other people may think differently   from what we do but I think the first  most important thing really is that it's   not so much a job as as a way of life I think this  is the essential feature of the whole thing and   I mean I frequently read things saying why doesn't  he get a proper job or something like that and I   honestly personally believe that the whole  way of one's life is is part of the job   and one of the important things I think  is that it is more than anything else   the fact that one is trying to be ambassadors  I hope both of us for this country   and the way I think we live our lives in a sense  is is also that the role but it again I I don't   think I can say too often that the particular  position that that I find myself in and my wife   there is no actual laid down job or row and you  have to to a certain extent do as you think right   and fit uh be quite easy to do nothing in fact um  so it's really just a the way you feel that that   things should be done and above all else I think  it's the important thing is to is to serve this   country and and its people and the Commonwealth  but I do notice that one of your increasing   interests seems to be jobs for young people and  getting young people a start in a business life   very much so yes I I been very much involved in  this really I think since um those um brother   Dreadful rats intoxic um and elsewhere in  1981 which is the year we were getting married   and I thought rather seriously about things and  got together some of the people in my trusts   and we worked out a scheme because I felt very  strongly that we ought to try and find a way of   enabling young people in rather deprived parts  of the country in inner city areas and so on to   to actually start their own Enterprises because I  believe that there is a great deal of talent which   lies and underutilized and with a grant of about a  thousand pounds it's amazing what can be started I   went to give it to thousands of these grants to  to to to to one of these young people from from   London he seemed extremely well organized and had  started a carpet and mattress cleaning business he's done a lot of obviously very canning market  research because he discovered that by calling it   The First National cleaning company or something  that it gets at the top of the list of the Yellow   Pages if you have a number like first it goes  right at the top so it's the first one you look at   but man when you go out on your engagements  launching things and launching people and   so on it is a great responsibility but what do  you feel your role is what is your contribution   I feel my role is supporting my husband and  whenever I can and always being behind him   encouraging and also most important thing being  a mother and a wife and that's what I try to   achieve whether I do is another thing but I did  try but you are developing your own interests   and your own specialization yes but that's taking  time because I don't want to dive into something   without being able to follow it up nothing would  upset me more than just being a name on a top   piece of paper and not showing any interest at  all hopefully the organizations I'm involved   with see me two or three times a year if the  times you know I can I can do it I can fit it in   um I just would long to help in all sorts  of areas now when you go out and see your   Charities and see the good causes you were  struck first by the hospices weren't you yes   what particularly when you first went into one  what did you sense about it I'd always been led   to believe that it was possibly unhappy place  because patients went in there and not always   did they come out so it was Fascination on one  side and concern on the other and certainly after   I'd been around the first Ward I remember it  so vividly I was struck by the calmness coming   out of the patients in their bed and most of  them will have gone by now obviously and it was   confronting their illness they were so brave about  it and made me feel so humble I feel underdressed in the flesh   don't let junior might get a shot I've seen  enough photos I know there's too many of those foreign under pressure so a lot of our work goes into  it I mean how long does it take to make sure I do the teddies as well you know sorry  teddies I'm not going to show you the result it's a great demand yes so I can knit a dishcloth  only because it's Square oh it can't go wrong lovely seeing you and how are you  feeling oh I feel fine thank you okay since I've never seen one can you explain  them to me oh we're just having a move um is that your writing yeah yeah and  then someone takes that off yes yeah yeah maybe the princess will get you a  winner yeah give me a winner today well yeah I know let me know this is an institution which is  developing in this country and   you feel it deserves more support I think  the word institution makes it sound like   a hospital Long corridors it's not at all the  atmosphere itself is very welcoming one homely   and giving the person who's perhaps has four hours  to live or three weeks to live the best possible   feeling of security and understanding in  the situation that they can possibly give   and also Dr bernardo's with mentally handicapped  children you see I've got two very healthy strong   boys and it's not always the case with the  families I'm meeting through Dr bernardes and   I realized how incredibly lucky I am and I don't  know how I could cope if I had a child that was   handicapped or meant to handcap in some way so for  me I'm going out there to meet these children and   I'm learning all the time and trying to understand  trying desperately to understand how they cope nearly 19. it was a bit drumsy this morning it  was Ill yesterday does he go up and down someone   has a good day some days I had a fit yesterday  for sure and then he was allowed home and when   he has a fit do you know how to cope with  it if you're being taught himself yes yes   um given the rectal volume but he was at school so  they had to go to hospital and they don't do that   so I had to have to intravenous injection then  but it's just a bit grumpy and do they happen   quite often I know the the lensing now that the  parents have been having them but to use they does   have did have to go to hospital every time until  this new revention came you know it was introduced   you've also taken up the death yes and you're  learning the deaf and dumb sign language well I'm   trying I'm pretty hopeless at that but I I think  it's important to show them that you're interested   and you're not just breathing in and out having  seen them for a morning I've got all my senses   and they haven't they're missing one or two  and I'm learning how they adapt or if they've   been deaf and dumb since birth how they cope  and how they deal with the outside world who   don't always want to know about them perhaps and  do you practice the language does the prince help   you with your lessons I don't know if you'd  understand now I knew one and that's that   H H you know why because when I when I when I  had my tonsils out and I was very small I had   a Night Nurse it was called sister Hicks she  always used to come and see her sister Hicks   so I always remember that it doesn't get  me very far I'm afraid in my conversations but I look forward to her teaching me   she says I'm deaf anyway we've got now two  questions that everybody will want to have   answered what do you say mom when you read in the  papers that you are a determined domineering woman   I I don't always read that I'm I'm people  very willing to tell me that but I I don't   think I am I'm a perfectionist with myself but  not necessarily with everybody else and that   those stories arose a long time ago and have kept  coming out again and again but I don't think I'm   you feel hurt by them well obviously one does you  feel very wounded and if it comes out you think oh   gosh I don't want to go out and do my engagement  this morning nobody wants to see me help panic   but you've got to push yourself out and remember  some people hopefully won't believe everything   they read about you because there's far too much  about me in the newspapers far too much horrifies   me when there's something more important like what  goes on with the hospice or there's been a bomb   or something they'll put me on the front page but  there is a natural and continuing interest in you   for example have you actually tried to  change Prince Charles in any way since   you got married not at all I mean I mean  or two things I may make the odd tie or   something but nothing shoes we won't go any  further but that but but nothing dramatic well would you say that you had many common  interests would you say you had many mutual   friends yes we do but obviously there's not always  the time especially in a weekday just to see them   and I sometimes have my friends to lunch if my  husband's out or we have people to dinner whenever   we can but my husband goes to a lot of dinners  whereas the wives aren't required so we can't   always find a date to suit both of us but I enjoy  Polo enormously I mean I go to as many matches   as I can so the myth about me hating it is really  got out of control and other things that she does   the Opera things now the other question is about  The Prince and vegetarianism is that true sir are   you a vegetarian now I know I'm not a I'm not a  complete vegetarian no but I think um I started to   examine the things I ate slightly more  character than I had done before and   um this became slightly more conscious of of what  I was eating which I hadn't done and I actually   now don't eat as much meat as I used to I eat  more fish but the point I think is very important   about this is that um the extraordinary thing  that in a sense one should be accused of being   in any way interested in vegetarianism because if  you only ate meat and no vegetables nobody would   complain at all which always seems to me rather  illogical but if somebody only eats vegetables   or whatever and doesn't eat meat then all seems  to break loose I've never quite understood this   I think the important thing if you are going  to change they were dead in any way is to make   sure that it is adequately balanced and in order  to do that you must either get proper advice or   read the proper books so because if you do it  wrongly you don't get the right intake and I am   I should actually find I feel better if I don't  eat as much meat but it depends what you call   a vegetarian I mean you can be a vegetarian that  doesn't eat fish milk cream eggs but but you eat   all those things it's just perhaps not as much  meat as people would expect are you thinking   of following in his footsteps yeah it was always  been my idea I mean I I prefer fish than I do meat   so but it's uh I don't think I'm going  Dotty it doesn't cause any problems in   the family the children like what they get I  mean they you know they can eat what they like   of course some people say that you're so slim you  probably don't eat enough anyway when we go on an   engagement if it's a lunchtime one we often have a  buffy lunch so we can get around the normal amount   of people there sometimes are so it's impossible  to talk and eat at the same time so you end up   chasing a bit of chicken around the plate and  they're never getting anything yourself and by   the time you get home certainly there's no time  you're rushing off somewhere else but I'm never on   what's called a diet um maybe I'm so scrolling  because I take so much exercise I don't know   and you keep up your swimming do you yes I swim  every day sometimes twice a day so I've got the   time and do you have time to keep up your dancing  you're always interested in that I'm always I   actually wanted to be a dancer but I ever shot the  height by a long way and I couldn't imagine some   man trying to lift me up above his arms but I I do  it once a week if I can it's a combination of tap   Jazz and ballet and I really enjoyed enormously  and I think it's vital to switch off for one or   two hours every week now do you have any sense  of living in a state of rivalry with Princess   Anne as is said Time and Time and Time Again  none at all um princess Anne's been working   incredibly hard to say the children found and I'm  her biggest fan because what she crams in today I   could never achieve and we've always hit it off  very well and um I I just think she's marvelous   and the story arose obviously because she wasn't  chosen perhaps as a godmother for Harry which had   it had our child being a girl the possibility  was there but Harry arrived so we went to a man   do you think sometimes that newspapers as is  the way of life build people up and then just   as quickly knock them down well they they do  but there again it's their job isn't it really   um I came in on the scene and apparently could  do no wrong but it's quite interesting to see   that the niggly things that go on now that I  apparently perhaps could be doing wrong and I'm   sure I mean I'm not asking to be perfect I'm far  from it but I just like the chance and opportunity   to get involved in my various areas that I've  chosen without people talking about um being   a Shopaholic or something that's not important  but it is true if I may say that you know this slap onto a pedestal the moment that happens  along comes a separate Brigade that like knocking   you want a pedestal I mean it's it's human  nature I suppose so from that point of view   it's absolutely true what you say I think  isn't it well on your pedestal sir there are   people who say that some of your interests say  like alternative medicine are mildly eccentric   anyways I I think I'm becoming more  eccentric because I could end it probably   um well clearly I something like I prefer to call  it complimentions um can easily be considered by   people who don't think that it has any relevance  at all as eccentric I I can understand that but   um all I am concerned about is that complementary  medicine or other ways of of looking at the person   in other words looking at the person not so much  as a machine but as a whole person in the classic   ancient sense um is is very important and  I don't think we should forget this aspect   um and I I also feel there are certain aspects  of complementary forms of medicine which can have   a great deal of a value and effect for certain  ailments and all I am plea making a plea for is   a slightly more open-minded approach to this  sort of thing than to just shut it off and say   it doesn't exist you know because there are plenty  of cases in fact hundreds and hundreds of Thousand   Years where such forms of medical treatment have  worked there's no doubt about it but uh again it's   very easy to reduce my expressed interest in this  area to the level of absurdity um I would just   direct people to what I've actually said about  it rather than what is I am supposed to have said   about it or was supposed to be doing does that  extend to your interest in spiritualism mysticism well yes absolutely again it's it's   entirely I think the I've been riveted by the  by the way in which all this has developed   because I I have seen articles shown to  me saying that um I play with Ouija boards   which I don't even know what they are literally  I'd ever seen one and I you know and I spend my   entire time apparently trying to get in touch  with battened and all sorts of other people um the answer is I don't nor would I necessarily  want to it all stemmed from might as well said   might as well emphasize it because I'm  fed up with getting letters from people   all the time saying don't touch the  Ouija boards and which it's bad for   your health and it all started because  I happened to be redmi of the author brilliant writer and above all else a scientist  really And he as you know left a bequest in his   will I hope you don't mind me going on about  this um saying that when he committed suicide   with his wife that this money should go to found a  chair for the study of parapsychology in a British   University and so I ultimately as chances of the  University of Wales wrote to the vice Chancellor   when there was a severe danger of no University  taking up this offer ended going to this United   States and said you know I urge you to apply for  this it would be a great pity to lose it because   it's an interesting area to study scientifically  and um to my amazement the university Council   agreed made the application in the end they went  successfully went to Edinburgh University but   um there was a certain amount of publicity  about the fact that I you know suggested this   and it stemmed from that but what I  what I found so annoying is that uh   that it should be reduced  again to this level of token   I I'm not interested in the occult or dabbling  in black magic or any of these kind of things or   or for that matter a strange sort of forms  of mysticism I I am purely interested   in being open-minded and after all there's so many  inventions and things that have happened and been   proved scientifically in the past which everybody  totally pooh-pooed before they were proven and I   think that it is an area which is worth studying  sensibly and within the right scientific bounds   now there is one area where I suspect  there is one architect who doesn't think   you have an open mind and that's when  you have spoken about the extension to   the National Gallery the carbuncle now is  it part of your job to start controversy   I think so yes as long as it's  not party political controversy   I mean I I open myself don't I to every kind  of accusation I'm only too aware of that and   I don't do it like I take a deep breath a very  deep breath because I know what's going to happen   um it's just that I feel that certain things have  to be said and if you Scout around the issues all   the time how do we ever get anywhere in life do  you know what I mean and uh I just feel sometimes   not too often I can I can throw a  rock into a and and watch the ripples   um create a certain amount of discussion hopefully  to try and see whether something better can come   out of It ultimately with the architecture side of  things I happen to feel very strongly indeed about   our surroundings and and I discovered through  a little market research I did before I made   that speech talking to people generally that  a lot of other people who weren't architects   weren't Professionals in that area shared my  anxiety about the way in which things were going   and so I [ __ ] up my courage and I and I  sat down and I wrote this speech and I and   I asked people for help but uh I have since  as a result met a large number of Architects   and I'm learning a great deal as I go along  I've enjoyed myself enormously following that   particular foray and I've met the Architects  concerned of the National Gallery extension   um and I've had them to dinner here and  we've had some very enjoyable discussions   and I have told them that I totally sympathized  with the brief that they had that it was almost   impossible for anybody to produce something  reasonable in terms of design out of a brief   like that which required a gallery extension and  offices as well I mean it's almost impossible   since that time far enough that the controversy  has been I think a positively valuable thing   because it's starting people to think again  and the other point I also very much wanted   to make was that the actual level of patronage  shown in this country towards Architects is not   good enough really in America  they take much more trouble   and I think this is another point that Architects  have made to me since that speech that this is an   area that again needs needs to be emphasized  Alabama question of clothes and your clothes   so much attention public attention is  focused on them and so important to the   fashion industry in this country how much  time do you have to give to your clothes not as much as perhaps people think um  my clothes are not my priority I enjoy   bright colors and my husband likes  to see me look smart presentable   and I never I mean fashion isn't my big thing  at all um obviously if I'm helping the fashion   industry and helping the British side of things  before that's marvelous but I never tried to do   that and I do think there's too much emphasis  on my clothes but going away to Australia and   the United States that must involve quite a bit  of work well it was like when we first went on   tour after we got married I mean I'd had not  Dusty of clothes I mean had to buy endless   new things of course because I just didn't have  them because on a tour you change three or four   times a day you can sometimes and obviously I  had to buy new things and that was the problem   um the the arrival of all the new players were  causing tremendous criticism but what else could   I do I couldn't go around in a left skin something  I don't know I had to produce something that was   decent do you take his advice absolutely  but I mean I asked him but if this looks   right well that looks right but the chances  of turning up in what he said that's McNeil something else why do you ask me I don't know  but how would I do I do I think it's you know I   like seeing a lady well dressed and I was one of  the things I always noticed about it when before   we got married she had eyes or a very good sense  of style and and design which which I appreciate   I noticed um actually I like the architecture  buildings If You observe if you notice these   things and and she's always dressed very well I  think but what do you do about designers I mean   are they recommended to you or do you pick  up an idea here and there to go to the right   person when I first arrived um there were a lot  of people to help me and it's now really my own   choice but not I can't always wear what I'd like  to engage them because it's just not practical   you'd be amazed what one has to worry about  up from the obvious things like the wind   this is always a gale wherever we go and the  wind is my enemy there's no doubt about that   and you've got to put your arm out to get some  flowers so you can't have something too revealing   and you can't have hens too short because when you  bend over there's six children looking at Oscar   and it goes on like that you've got to close for  the job they've got to be practical and sometimes   I can be a little outrageous it's quite nice  sometimes now you see you're not all that Keen   on going shopping but you do like shopping is  that to get ideas it is but I I don't necessarily   go out shopping to find clothes it's close as  I said it's not my priority I go out to buy a   personal presence I go out to buy my children's  clothes and it's all normal things that a lot of   women do and I used to do it so why do I have to  stop it now unless obviously it gets complicated   um the interest but does it get complicated you  can't go shopping now can you as you're able to   do before you're engaged no certainly not and  nor do I have the time in which to to do it but   it helps me to see what's around not necessarily  clothes but books all sorts of things and it's   just nice to just keep in touch with everybody or  go out shopping with a girlfriend who wants to buy   something and wants me to come along but it's a  penalty of the job that you can't behave as you   used to I think that's probably just as well if  you are how I used to behave but did you know what   you were taking on in that kind of sense not being  able to just walk down the street no I didn't   did you find it difficult to adapt I did yes  purely because there was so much attention   on me when I first arrived on the scene  and I wanted to get my act together so to   speak and I had so many people watching  me and I just the pressure was enormous   but as years go on it gets better but it's  still you're still learning all the time   do you feel the two of you that you are in touch  with young people playing young people of your age yes I mean she's younger than me which is a great  thing by quite a long ways very bad luck on her   um because I'm sure it must be absolute hell  living with an ancient thing like me but um no   I I mean one of the things is that uh I trust  you keep me reasonably young in in some aspects   but I just I've had great fun the last few  years um since the status quo that group offered   the proceeds of their 21st birthday concert to  the princess trust and um as a result of that I   I've since then met an awful lot of groups and  then together we've met a lot and it has been   the greatest fan meeting a lot a lot of and and  hearing their music which I must admit I hadn't   heard much before um mainly because I don't know  the time faction things and I do like classical   music but I also like some some pop music not  all of it by any means do your tastes coincide   onboard music well yes sometimes yes not always  I mean for some some I I I'd imagine you don't   necessarily know well I've got a reputation for  liking all the people we go to concerts with but   we go and we hopefully it's going to raise money  for my husband's charities but um we are great   both of us love classical music and the Opera  in the ballet and go whenever we can to see it   and you're pretty sort of land when you want  to listen to music because you have your own   stereo headphones that you take with you yes  I have I'm a great believer in having music   Wherever I Go whether it's a headset or a radio  or a record player and it's just a big treat to   go out for a walk with music store coming out  with me and I I tend to listen to an enormous   amount of classical music whether it's Greek  recommend a novel Schumann and all my family   my side of the family very music orientated  and that's where I picked it up from I Love It   and you still play the piano yes I play that it's  nothing to get excited about by any means but   I really enjoy it's very therapeutic  it's lovely now you both like skiing   and yet every year it has become a regular  you don't appear to hit it off exactly eye   to eye on the slopes what is the secret of this  okay YouTube what if I can help it I suspect   most husbands and wives find that they often  have arguments but we don't I don't know but   occasionally we do because I mean I I'm you know  I'll go on longer sometimes just but I'm faster   there we are but to know I mean the other last  year there was it was really I think probably   because there was a total misunderstanding and  somebody had um had tried to arrange something   different differently to whatever we'd been told  and that's how the confusion is there well there   was no confusion on the day of the wedding and in  many many people's minds around the world that is   the image of the partnership at what stage going  to the cathedral actually during the service at   what stage did you get the idea that was becoming  an enormous success so that you could enjoy it   enjoy something like that it's terrifying  such a long walk up that half a start   no I'm only teasing um am I the radio came out  when you when you came out what did you say   you really want to know that I don't know I can't  remember what I said I must admit but all I can   say is that I just enjoy it enormously part of  because I'd always look forward to organizing the   whole thing I found we were carried Along on a on  this little wave of enormous friendliness and and   enthusiasm it was remarkable and I kept telling  myself anyway to remember this for as long as   I could because it was such a unique experience  even those responses that we noticed didn't come   out exactly right did you marry the right man well  a full name just quite something to get organized   and have you really endowed your wife with  all your worldly Goods what would I say   when I say some of my words I don't  know but that that was sheer nervousness   it'd be great trying to do it again  it's my father says that the whole time   and these are great occasions which you take part  in which you know other people enjoy and you'd say   when you go abroad you have to leave the children  behind now yes is that a wrench terrible wrench   obviously but um they must have a stable life  as much as we can give and obviously taking them   around the world isn't that they're very well  looked after here we miss them dreadfully but   we're coming back to them soon and coming back is  perhaps the best part of the day of course yes yes   very much so well we hope you will have two very  happy and enjoyable trips thank you very much yes that's that Prince William  thinks that's quite enough and Nanny Barnes brings in  Prince Harry for the picture um okay here we go that's fine and um but you can't control all of  the people all of the time I go back to uh maybe just  two of you just for a moment facing the prince for me but I'm sure Harry had a good opinion come on shall we play it again Harry right fine thank you um because I can't do it it's too heavy all right so it turns slightly towards me um all right another what's that way oh what's that is that a present knock knock under the tablecloth someone won't stir as quickly yeah what's up now mother may need a little powder  for her picture better test it first let's bring it over here do you know they're taking pictures out in the   rain too maybe a little bit no it's  not yes no no it's not look at it as well yes I like to do it is foreign foreign

Channel: ITN Archive

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Id: Xfwx72705G0

Length: 45min 5sec (2705 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 03 2022