Sky News) - A Chinese lingerie company has unveiled a new range of underwear featuring a lookalike model of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, on the 13th anniversary of her death, Sky News reported Wednesday.
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 capitalize 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, declined to comment on the ad but a British journalist who spotted it 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."
Princess Diana -- who had two children, Princes William and Harry, with Charles before they divorced -- died on August 31, 1997, in a car crash in a tunnel in Paris.
Stephen Hawking: God was not needed to create the Universe
The Big Bang was the result of the inevitable laws of physics and did not need God to spark the creation of the Universe, Stephen Hawking has concluded
Swing sets removed at some W.Va. Schools
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Elementary school playgrounds in one West Virginia county are losing their swing sets
.Swings are being removed from Cabell County schools in southern West Virginia in part because of lawsuits over injuries.
Cabell County schools safety manager Tim Stewart said Wednesday that a lot of parents are accusing him of being un-American, but he says the cost of maintaining a safe surface is too expensive.
Stewart says a lawsuit in the past year involved a youngster who broke his arm jumping off a swing like Superman. It was settled for $20,000.
Other equipment such as monkey bars will remain. Stewart says the schools are able to maintain the proper protection underneath them.
