Documentary EP Reveals How Princes William and Harry Agreed to Talk About Princess Diana
After the premiere of the documentary "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy," producers revealed how they got the Princes William and Harry to agree to join the show and candidly talk about their mother, Princess Diana.
On Monday, HBO premiered the "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy" landmark documentary in time for the upcoming 20th death anniversary of the late Princess of Wales.
Princess Diana died in a car crash when she was in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.
Executive producer Nick Kent revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that Princess Diana's sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, have always been "on board" in the making of the documentary.
"Obviously, William and Harry were on board very early on. Persuading Diana's friends and her lady-in-waiting [or personal assistant] to talk publicly for the first time and winning their trust was a challenge," Kent added.
Kent also stated that building the trust of the royal family played a key role in making "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy" happen. The fact that he and HBO have already made two other documentaries about the royal family before ("Our Queen" and "Our Queen at 90") certainly helped.
Meanwhile, when asked about the "ground rules" set for doing a very personal documentary about people from the royal family, Kent assured THR that the editorial control still remained "entirely with the production company and the broadcaster" and that it was something they would "never ever give up."
However, he added that the rules in making a documentary about the royal family mainly revolved around accuracy and making sure their security was not compromised by the details revealed in the show.
To avoid any content that would put the royal family's security at risk, Kent revealed that they held a special advance screening of "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy" for the family and the documentary was returned to the production team without additional notes or points that needed to be fixed.
The producers also asked Prince William and Prince Harry on the things that "they would be happy to talk about" at the beginning of the filmmaking process. Kent added: "When we approached this, we thought it was going to be very much rooted in how their charity work is a continuation of their mother's work."
"Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy" premiered Monday on HBO.