Despite calls by Princess Diana's brother for her memorial fund to be wound up, the fund's trustees are considering almost 1,000 commercial deals to raise money for charity, the BBC's Panorama programme claims tonight.
Diana's younger brother, Earl Spencer, and other relatives have been quoted by British media as saying they thought it was time to let the princess rest in peace rather than keep using her name, face and signature to assist charity.
There has been considerable criticism of the items the Diana Memorial Fund has already sanctioned, including tubs of margarine and fluffy purple teddy bears bearing Diana's logo.
But Panorama's programme, "The Diana Dividend", says the commercial deals are set to expand enormously. Mr Jonathan Cameron, legal adviser to the Diana Memorial Fund, told the programme it was considering "approximately 1,000 commercial deals" which potentially represent "hundreds of millions of pounds" for the fund and the princess's favourite charities it helps.
Panorama also said the fund had appointed a new chief executive, Mr Andrew Purkis, and his comments to the programme do not suggest imminent shutdown.
The Diana Memorial Fund was set up after the princess's death last August to distribute money to causes supported by Diana such as promoting ballet, campaigns against homelessness and against land mines, and the fight against cancer and Aids.
Panorama also says Diana memorabilia are proliferating in the US, where one firm was planning a new Diana doll dressed in the outfit the late princess wore during her campaign to ban land mines.
"Diana basically right now is a cottage industry in the United States. She's worth the economy of a small Third World nation and she's doing quite well in death by these people," the programme quotes US journalist Alicia Mundy as saying.