After Princess Diana’s was interviewed on BBC show Panorama her marriage to then–Prince Charles was widely considered irreparable.
In the 1995 interview Princess Diana admitted having an affair and said King Charles’ affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (now the Queen of the UK) had made her feel worthless.
She also told how she thought there was “three of us” in her marriage due to his affair with Camilla, suggested Charles might not be able to adapt to being king, and claimed his staff were waging a campaign against her.
More than 20 million people watched the interview, which caused massive controversy.
One month after the interview aired in November 1995, Queen Elizabeth wrote to the couple – who at the time had been separated since 1992 — and urged them to divorce.
Then on December 21, Buckingham Palace released a statement, which expressed the Queen’s view on the couple’s relationship.
It said, “After considering the present situation, the Queen wrote to both the prince and princess earlier this week and gave them their view, supported by the Duke of Edinburgh, that an early divorce is desirable.”
However Diana’s closest aide – her former private secretary Patrick Jephson – reckons there might have been hope for the marriage if she did not appear on Panorama.
In an interview with PEOPLE he gave his view on the breakdown of the marriage, spoke about Charles’ relationship with Camilla, and Diana’s affair with riding instructor James Hewitt.
He said, “It was not unreasonable to hope that before Panorama there could still be a royal reconciliation.
“After Panorama, there was no way back for Diana and the royal family. But before the broadcast, it was not unreasonable to hope that a reconciliation might yet be possible.
“Before the ink was finally dry on the divorce documents, there were still grounds for people like me to hope that Charles and Diana could find a way through their difficulties.
“It has been known to happen. And there would have been enormous public benefit from that if they had.”
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In 2021 a independent inquiry found journalist Martin Bashir who interviewed Diana used deception to secure the interview and then lied to BBC managers.
It found a graphic artist working for the BBC said he had been asked by Martin to produce fake bank statements that appeared to show payments by a newspaper group to a former member of staff of Earl Spencer, Princess Diana’s brother.
The report said this was to gain Earl Spencer’s confidence, so he would introduce Martin to Diana.
Martin admitted to BBC bosses he mocked up the statements, but denied showing them to Earl Spencer.
Discussing the deception Patrick said, “What Diana did in believing Bashir — and I’m guessing he didn’t realize he had achieved this — was to play right into the hands of her enemies in her husband’s and Camilla’s camp. And that was to prove to the world that she was unsuitable and therefore must be excluded from the royal stage. I knew she had everything to contribute and would make a very good queen.”
Patrick’s account of Bashir’s manipulation features in investigative journalist Andy Webb’s book, Dianarama: Deception, Entrapment, Cover-Up—The Betrayal of Princess Diana.
