New Princess Diana play delves into explosive secret recordings

The story of how Princess Diana leaked personal information to create one of the greatest Royal Family scandals is being turned into a play.

The Diana Tapes explores how journalist Andrew Morton received secret tape recordings from the Princess of Wales before publishing the explosive book, Diana: Her True Story In Her Own Words.

At the time of its release in 1992, Diana's marriage with Prince Charles had broken down, with the book's revelations causing even more of a media storm.

The publication revealed Diana had suffered from bulimia and had attempted to take her own life a number of times, described as "cries for help".

The Princess of Wales was said to have thrown herself down a flight of stairs when pregnant with William, while it was also revealed Prince Charles was having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.

The revelations and raw emotion changed public perception of the British monarchy.

The new play, written by Scottish playwright and actor James Clements, will premiere in New York in May before coming to London's Stockwell Playhouse in June.

Clements will star as Mr Morton while New York-based Venezuelan actress Ana Cristina Schuler will play Diana.

The play will move between Me Morton's office, the sitting room where the Princess recorded her darkest secrets to her friend Dr James Colthurst, and the seedy west London cafe where he handed the tapes to Morton.

It has already had a highly acclaimed stint at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2016.

The play is not the first time the book has been dramatised.

The year after it was published it was made into a TV film called Diana: Her True Story, written and produced by the book's author.