Chinese lingerie company's ad featuring Princess Diana causes outrage

Under the slogan "Feel the romance of British royalty", the ad features the "Princess" wearing a tiara, necklace and blue bra and knickers as she plays a cello to a child. The controversial poster has been splashed on giant billboards in shops and airports throughout China for millions to see.

The firm which has produced the lingerie, Jealousy International, is based in China's southern Guandong province. On its website, the manufacturer has a section on the "Diana" range with the further slogan "Free your mind, free your style" and confusingly describes Diana's taste as "French Romantic".

The apparent attempt to exploit the Princess' image is the latest example of how companies have sought to capitalise on her popularity. Britain has restrictions on using images of the Royal Family to promote products but is powerless to act against companies doing so abroad.

Clarence House, which represents Prince Charles, has declined to comment on the ad. But a British journalist who spotted the ad while at Shenzhen airport in the south of the country was appalled.

Sam Chambers, who has worked in China for a decade, was reported as saying: "I was just going to collect my baggage from the carousel when I saw it flash up on a rolling advertising screen and couldn't quite believe what I was seeing."

Mr Chambers added: "I thought, surely not, because it was rolling quite quickly. So I waited to check when it came up again and, sure enough, there was an image of Diana. It's all the more striking because today is the anniversary of her death."

Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997, in a car crash in a tunnel in Paris. Her boyfriend Dodi al Fayed and their chauffeur Henri Paul, who were with the Princess in the car, also died in the accident. The anniversary of the Princess' death was marked by her admirers who left bouquets of flowers outside Kensington Palace.


/Sky News/