Unseen Princess Diana Angola Landmine Footage Released After 27 Years
Previously unseen footage of Princess Diana taken during her controversial landmine campaign trip to Angola has been released for the first time, nearly three decades after her tragic death. The remarkable behind-the-scenes video captures Diana's historic January 1997 visit, which occurred just eight months before she died in Paris.
Political Controversy and 'Loose Cannon' Criticism
The footage forms part of a new episode of ITV's Reporting History and reveals Diana directly addressing the political storm surrounding her humanitarian mission. Conservative government ministers at the time spearheaded significant criticism, with one leading political figure dubbing the princess a 'loose cannon' who appeared to endorse Labour Party policy through her calls for a global landmine ban.
Earl Howe, then junior defence minister for the Conservatives, reportedly described Diana as 'ill-informed on the issue of anti-personnel landmines.' The Conservative government's official stance maintained they would only agree to a global ban if all countries unanimously consented.
Diana's Direct Response to Political Questions
In the remarkable sit-down interview with ITV News' Africa Correspondent Steve Scott, Diana, then 35, was asked whether she envisioned taking a 'new hands-on role' following the trip. When Scott queried about asking 'that question about the political role,' Diana quipped: 'I would have thought that was the most important question.'
Despite hesitation from her team, with one individual heard saying 'No, not the political one,' Diana insisted on answering. Holding her hands up, she responded: 'No, no, I mean the one saying I'm not a political figure,' before flashing a brief coy smile.
The Historic Landmine Walk and Detonation
The footage also captures the iconic moment when Diana, dressed in full body armour, calmly strode down a path surrounded by landmines from East Germany, Russia and China alongside mine removal expert Paul Heslop from The Halo Trust charity. Heslop later revealed: 'My mind was in overdrive trying to make sure I wasn't going to be the most famous person in the world the next day for blowing up the Princess of Wales.'
Diana remotely detonated a live landmine on January 15, 1997, declaring 'one down, 17 million to go' as she pushed the button. The Daily Mail described her famous walk as an effort to 'focus worldwide attention on the menace of anti-personnel mines and the plight of their victims.'
Humanitarian Impact and Emotional Encounters
The princess was brought to tears when meeting 16-year-old Sandra Thijika, a landmine explosion victim who waited nine years for a prosthetic leg. A poignant image of Sandra sitting on Diana's knee under a fig tree at an orthopaedic centre highlighted Angola's devastating landmine casualties, where one in every 300 people had lost a limb due to over 15 million landmines across the country.
Twenty-two years later, Sandra revealed she had named her daughter after Diana, emotionally recalling: 'I gave my daughter the name Diana because I loved her and she was such a good person. We were not together long but when she left I felt I was saying goodbye to a friend.'
Lasting Legacy and Treaty Achievement
According to Foreign Office documents released in 2020, the 'furore' over Diana's presence in Angola 'had little local impact on the visit,' with Angolan authorities 'delighted' by her presence. British ambassador Roger Hart noted Diana saw criticism as an 'unnecessary distraction,' while Red Cross director general Mike Whitlam considered it 'a piece of mischief.'
Lou McGrath, who co-launched Mines Advisory Group in 1989, described Diana's trip as a 'turning point' in the campaign for a global landmine treaty. 'Without her we couldn't have brought forward what was the fastest arms control treaty in the world,' McGrath told the BBC on the 20th anniversary of Diana's death.
Shortly after Diana's death in August 1997, Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to ratify the Ottawa Treaty. In December 1997, 122 governments signed the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, which entered into force on March 1, 1999, with 164 countries now parties to the treaty.
Final Humanitarian Mission
Diana's Angola visit marked just the beginning of her landmine campaign work, with the princess making a three-day visit to Bosnia in August 1997. Tragically, this would be her final humanitarian trip. Hart revealed Diana had discussed following up with visits to Vietnam, Cambodia and Kuwait, plans that never materialized following her death.
The princess herself declared during the trip: 'I'm not a political figure, nor do I want to be one. I come with my heart and I want to bring awareness to people in distress. The fact is I am a humanitarian figure, always have been and always will be.'
