THE HYPE DIANA'S STORY LEARNING CHANNEL TO AIR BRITISH DOCUMENTARIAN'S FOUR-HOUR SERIES ON THE PRINCESS OF WALES.

This Sunday, July 29, should have been a happy day in England.

In a perfect world, Prince Charles and Princess Diana would have been celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary, fulfilling the Archbishop of Canterbury's prediction that the ceremony he was performing was only the beginning of a fairy tale.

But the world is not perfect, and the union was no fairy-tale existence, as Diana knew even before the 1981 vows and as the world learned over the next few years. Any hopes for Diana's own ``happily ever after'' ending came crashing down with her death Aug. 31, 1997, from injuries suffered in a Paris car accident.

Much has been written and recorded about Charles and Diana, some of it with their blessings and considerable amounts with either outright disapproval or resigned acceptance. British documentary producer Phil Craig has tried to sort the valid from the tainted and get closer to original sources for his four-hour series, ``Diana: Story of a Princess,'' which debuts at 9 p.m. Friday on TLC.

Charles not only would not be interviewed for the series, he forbade anyone else in the royal family or the royal households to be filmed for it. Sarah Ferguson, although divorced from Prince Andrew, still maintains strong ties with Buckingham Palace for the sake of her daughters, princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, so she, too, refused to participate. However, Craig got some off-the-record and not-for-attribution tidbits from House of Windsor insiders that he says helped keep him on track.

He did interview some biographers and tabloid royals watchers for the program - ``It's very hard to make a series about Diana without interviewing journalists,'' he noted - but he restricted their observations to events of which they had firsthand knowledge. (He gave a few license to talk about fabricated reports, such as two writers who admitted without regret that they themselves diagnosed Diana's ``borderline personality disorder'' based on certain incidents and a couple of passages in medical textbooks.)

Six years after the divorce and four years after Diana's death, there remains a he-said/she-said mentality, with loyalty to one or the other that could obstruct the truth.

``I guess it's the job that any editorial figure has,'' Craig said. ``You have to balance what you have on the record and what you have off the record.''

Craig, a lifelong British subject who graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in history, said the documentary reshaped his perceptions of Charles, Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the Windsors.

``In terms of the royal family, yeah, I'm a bit disappointed,'' he said. ``They're certainly not above politics. They're capable of being quite scary if you cross them.''

(Parts 1 and 2 air 9 to 11 p.m. Friday, and parts 3 and 4 air 9 to 11 p.m. Saturday.)

- Valerie Kuklenski

DYNAMIC DUO: While KTLA Channel 5 continues its search for a new co-anchor to replace Barbara Beck on the ``KTLA Morning News,'' the station has been making use of guest co-anchors to appear with Carlos Amezcua. ``Entertainment Tonight's'' Jann Carl and ``Extra's'' Leeza Gibbons and Dayna Devon and others have sat in for a morning or two.

On Friday, though, co-anchor Amezcua will be a bit more nervous than usual: His daughter, Amie Amezcua, will be sitting next to him.

Amie, a morning news producer at KSTU Channel 13, Salt Lake City, graduated from Brigham Young University in 2000.

``I believe this may be one of only a few times, if not the only time, a father-daughter team has co-anchored a television newscast,'' says Carlos Amezcua, who has co-hosted the show since it premiered in 1991. ``It's terrific that KTLA has given us the opportunity to appear side-by-side.''

The show airs from 7 to 9 a.m. weekdays.

- Rodney Richey

WE'LL SAY A LITTLE PRAYER FOR YOU: There's Cameron Diaz singing - or at least trying to - ``I Say a Little Prayer'' in ``My Best Friend's Wedding.'' There's Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow essaying Smokey Robinson's ``Cruisin' '' in ``Duets.''

And if you're a girl from 8 to 18 years of age, this Saturday, it could be you.

Hasbro - maker of such toy lines as Tonka, Playskool, Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers - is introducing a new karaoke system to the market. From noon to 6 p.m. Saturday at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, the company will be holding an open casting call for girls to appear in a new commercial.

The system, called e-kara, is scheduled to hit store shelves in October. The commercial will be taped in August.

The ``e-kara real karaoke Star Maker Tour'' is looking nationwide (well, in Los Angeles and New York City) for a girl to represent the portable system, which retails for $60.

One of the judges will be Dave Holmes, the original host of MTV's ``Say What? Karaoke.''

Registration begins at 10 a.m., and each girl will be asked to select and sing a karaoke audition song in front of a live audience gathered on the pier. Each participant will get a VHS copy of her tryout.

Those auditioning must be female, between 8 and 18 and a U.S. citizen. All participants must complete a waiver form with a parent or legal guardian.

Also, the winner must be able to travel to a yet-to-be-determined city in the U.S. between Aug. 13 and 31 to film the commercial. Full rules will be available at the audition.

Winners will be notified by telephone on Aug. 13.

- R.R.

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Twenty years ago Sunday, Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer.