A "SYMPATHETIC account" of the love affair between the Princess of Wales and an ex-cavalry officer, Mr James Hewitt, was being offered to British and US television executives yesterday, `but it will not devastate the princess "in any way", according to the author of Princess in Love, the book that first detailed their affair.
Although Miss Anna Pasternak agreed that she and Mr Hewitt were negotiating television rights to an hour long interview, she said it would deal sympathetically with problems in the princess's marriage and explain why the affair took place.
"Mr Hewitt is very frank, honest and candid about their physical relationship in the same way the princess was in her Panorama interview," she said.
The interview with Mr Hewitt, in which he will describe teaching the princess and her two sons to ride and how their five year affair was conducted at Kensington Palace and Mr Hewitt's home in Devon, was filmed by a former ITN cameraman, Mr Sebastian Rich.
The networks keenest to buy the rights to the interview include CBS and NBC Superchannel. A spokeswoman for CBS News in London said there was a "scramble" to buy the Panorama interview with the Princess of Wales and this "is undoubtedly going to be the same".
A spokesman for a media magazine, Broadcast, said that selling an intimate interview with Mr Hewitt to television networks could fetch a "seven figure sum", but it would also depend "on what Hewitt has to say". He added that because the interview had not been produced by a major television company, it was likely to the "highest bidder".
While the divorce of the and Princess of Wales has been confirmed, the details of the financial settlement are still a matter of debate. The Princess of Wales's lawyer, Mr Anthony Julius, commenting on the public between Buckingham Palace and the princess following her decision to accept a divorce, said, he thought it was "unsafe" to continue negotiations unless the palace accepted agreements already reached on the terms of the settlement.
He also expressed bemusement at the palace's handling of the negotiations, details of which had already been agreed but were not being "accepted or acknowledged" by officials.
The financial settlement favoured by Buckingham Palace is in the region of £1 million a year paid to the princess, rather than a "one off" payment of £15 million, which would not include maintenance payments for their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. However, while the Prince of Wales is able to raise a substantial income from rents and commercial ventures from the Duchy of Cornwall, it is thought he would not be able to sustain the princess's lifestyle by this source, alone. The prince may have to turn to Queen Elizabeth for help to pay for the cost of the princess's household, including staff salaries clothing and entertainment, estimated at £750,000 a year.
Meanwhile, the Princess of Wales has agreed to a request from Queen Elizabeth that future negotiations with Prince Charles "will be conducted in private", according to her media adviser, Ms Jane Atkinson. The princess is understood to have accepted the request last night following pressure from Queen Elizabeth to reach a divorce settlement "both amicably and privately for the sake of the children".
Despite accepting the request, the princess has insisted in a statement from her private office that her version of the divorce settlement, agreed with Prince Charles two days ago, was released to the press because she knew "everyone would be waiting for my answer".