Charles Spencer

The big names behind the big stories. Laura Kuenssberg talks to those making the news, inside and outside politics.

The Meaning of Life is an Irish television programme, the first series of which was broadcast on RTÉ One in 2009. It is presented by the veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne. Each episode involves Byrne interviewing a well-known public figure. The series is broadcast each Sunday night at 22:20. In 2010 The Meaning of Life returned for both a second and, later, a third series. Interviews with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and actors Gabriel Byrne and Brenda Fricker during the second series attracted media attention when they spoke of their religious habits and child sexual abuse respectively. Gay Byrne appeared on The Late Late Show on 18 December 2009 to discuss the programme. A fourth series soon followed. Then a fifth series from January 2012. And a sixth in October 2012. And a seventh in January 2013.

When Diana had her iconic wedding, she was just 20 years old. Ten years later, she had become a world-famous public figure beloved across the world for her friendly, informal approach to regular people.

Princess Diana's life and legacy is explored through interviews with those who knew her best, as well as the world's leading experts on her.

Four kings from the House of Stuart sat on the English throne from 1603 to 1688. It was a time of great religious struggle and political instability. The Gunpowder Plot nearly wiped out King James I. The Thirty Years War broke out on the continent. A civil war erupted which led to the public beheading of King Charles I and the birth of a commonwealth headed by Oliver Cromwell. London was ravaged by the plague and the Great Fire of London. Throughout this series we look at the reign of the Stuarts through the powerful Wynn family at Gwydir Castle in North Wales, one of the best time capsules from that era. The story of the Wynn family reflects the turbulent history of this Stuart era. They had close connections with this new royal house and their status would rise and fall with the successes and failures of Stuart rule.

The following Summer after her divorce from Prince Charles, Diana, Princess of Wales, began dating Dodi Al-Fayed. The relationship between the two is shrouded in mystery. Was she falling in love or was it all for show?

By 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales had spent over a decade in the global spotlight. From a fairytale princess to a powerful independent mother - Diana had shown resilience and resolve. Free from the shackles of a royal marriage, she was just about to conquer the world all over again and this time on her own terms, but everything was about to come to a screeching halt.

No one in history has ever been so universally adored as Diana, Princess of Wales. In her short life she captivated the world with her beauty, charm and limitless compassion. She challenged the century old tradition of stoic Royal silence and brought a Queen and her people closer than ever before. The legacy of the people’s princess still lives on two decades after her tragic and sudden death. It was her love of life, of people, of those less fortunate and of her children that saw her lead a quiet but powerful revolution that changed the British royal family, forever.