This previously unpublished picture of Princess Diana, taken prior to her marriage to Prince Charles, is being hyped into one of the great revelations of our time.
One of the reasons is that the so-called "intimate" picture, discovered among the Daily Mirror's old photographic archive, is marked: "NOT TO BE PUBLISHED."
The other reason is commercial. Its significance is obviously being talked up because it is about to be auctioned in the United States.
It shows, as you can see, the then teenaged Lady Diana Spencer lying back in the lap of a young man who is reading a book. On the window stands a bottle of whiskey (how scandalous!)
Probably taken in 1979 or 1980 in a Swiss ski chalet, it carries the date of 26 February 1981 on the back. That was two days after Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Diana to Charles.
I would guess that it was sent in, or sold, to the Mirror, possibly by the person who took it. Then again, it might have been given to the paper by someone else. The then Mirror picture editor, Len Greener, is baffled. He says he would never have written across a picture just in case of future publication (and it isn't his handwriting). He has no memory of the photo.
Similarly, the Mirror's veteran royal photographer, Kent Gavin, cannot recall having seen it. Perhaps another old Mirror hand will know more.
So why was the 10x8" black and white image "not to be published"? For copyright reasons? Maybe. To avoid embarrassing Diana and Charles? Perhaps. Because the unidentified young man complained? Another possibility.
The other question - how comes it found its way into a US auction? - is easier to answer. It fell into the hands of the New York-based Caren Archive when it acquired the Mirror's photo library seven years ago.
Its owner, Eric Caren, told the Daily Mail: "My guess is that it was a privately taken photograph that the Mirror purchased but, for some reason, did not publish… I don't know if it was pressure from the royal family or an internal decision."
And who is the young man? "Sources" cited by the Mail suggest it could be Rory Scott, an early suitor of Diana's. The paper also points out that one of Diana's closest male friends at the time was James Colthurst.
He evidently once recalled going on a skiing holiday with her and is quoted as saying of the trip: "She slept on the sofa bed. It was fun. There were lots of pranks - Diana was great company - lovely, outgoing and frivolous and she enjoyed practical jokes."
Anyway, should you wish to obtain the picture, it will be auctioned by RR Auctions of Amherst, New Hampshire, later this month.
One of its executives, Bobby Livingstone, told AFP it would usually sell for around $1,000 "but because it has that (not-to-be-published) marking on it, we expect it to go for much more." Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?
