Princess Diana has given marriage advice to her son Prince William from beyond the grave in a series of tapes apparently recorded before she died.
US magazine Globe reported the existence of the mysterious tapes on the weekend.
The publication claims Diana made the recordings for William shortly before she died in 1997 because she feared for her life.
In one audio clip, “Diana” urges William, “Cherish your children for me. Let them know I’ll love them and watch over them,” while in another she imagines his wife would be, “beautiful, smart and independent”.
“I know I’d adore you and we’d be fast friends,” the voice says of Kate. “You’d have to be someone truly special. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be William’s wife.”
The woman goes on to warn Kate about the pressures of public life and that being a future queen makes marriage harder.
Kensington Palace has refused to comment on the tapes, but one of Diana’s friends yesterday told The Mail on Sunday that the sentiments expressed in the recordings were “uncannily” like things Diana had told friends in the months before her death.
“Oh my God, I know her choice of words, the way she would say things and this sounds exactly like her,” businesswoman Lana Marks, who designed handbags for the princess, said.
“I knew Diana very well during the last 18 months of her life. Diana discussed with me in great detail what she wanted for William in terms of a wife, children — what she wanted for his future.
“When I hear the contents of the tape, they echo what she discussed with me in great detail. It is uncanny.”