An American film company making a TV drama about the unhappy marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana -- Catherine Oxenburg will play Di -- found that many owners of stately houses that could have been used as settings thought it unseemly to get involved.
The National Trust, to which many of the owners of such mansions belong, refused to cooperate with the film makers. At least one duke and several earls turned down the company's offer of $200,000, says the International Express.
Finally, an agreement was made with Lord Palmer, 40-year-old owner of a biscuit company and a 110-room mansion in need of a new roof.
According to Cornelia Palmer, the lord's wife, "It was a matter of conscience -- but in the end, the roof was bigger. It is a very costly business running a house this size. . . . It would have been financial suicide to turn down the offer."