According to a new book, the fallout from Princess Diana’s candid 1995 interview—in which she spoke about marital infidelity and eating disorders—proved “deadly” for her and dealt a blow to the royal family. In journalist Andy Webb’s investigation, titled “Dianarama: Deception, Entrapment, Cover-Up—The Betrayal of Princess Diana,” it is alleged that reporter Martin Bashir deceived Diana into taking part in the BBC program Panorama. Webb, citing People magazine, writes that Bashir pressured Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, in order to gain access to the princess through him.
Martin Bashir’s Deceptive Methods and the Findings of the BBC Investigation
In 2021, an internal BBC inquiry concluded that Bashir had used “deceitful methods” and breached editorial standards to obtain the interview. According to the review, he forged a bank statement suggesting palace staff were spying on Diana, claimed that King Charles III allegedly wanted her dead, and said that Prince William’s watch was a surveillance device. Webb told People that “her life became untethered.” He noted that the period between the interview and her death was intensely fraught, adding: “There’s so much that’s new that I wanted to set down in this book—this is a first draft of history.”
Speaking to People, Spencer said that “high-ranking figures within the BBC were involved in securing this interview through appalling deception.” He stressed: “I am sure this directly led to Diana being left unprotected in Paris on the night she died.”
Diana’s Explosive Revelations, Her Divorce from Charles, and the Tragedy That Followed
Diana, who was married to King Charles from 1981 to 1996 and separated from him in 1992, made a series of explosive admissions in her conversation with Bashir, chiefly concerning Charles’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. “There were three of us in this marriage—so it was a bit crowded,” Princess Diana said at the time. According to People magazine, the interview prompted Queen Elizabeth II to order Charles and Diana to accelerate their divorce. In August 1997, Princess Diana died during a high-speed chase orchestrated by paparazzi.