Diana, Princess of Wales, has labelled the former British government's policy on landmines "hopeless" and said she would leave Britain if it was not for her children.
"I think in my place, anyone sane would have left a long time ago," Diana said in an article in today's issue of the French newspaper Le Monde. "But I can't, I have my sons."
She told journalist Annick Cojean that she blamed the British press for her desire to leave, saying that abroad "I am received with kindness, they take me as I am, without judgment, without lying in wait for slip-ups."
The princess came out in praise of the Labour government, in reference to her work with landmines. "Its position on this subject has always been clear. It is going to do great work. Its predecessor was really hopeless."
The princess declared that she saw her destiny as helping vulnerable people. She said of her time with the royal family: "From the moment I came into this family, nothing, of any sort, could be done naturally."
But now, "No one can tell me how to behave. I work by instinct. That is my best adviser," she said.
"Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to try to help the most vulnerable people in society.
Asked to describe her role, she said, "I would use the word `messenger'."