On 31st August 1997, a car crash ended the young life of the much loved and popular Diana, the Princess of Wales. Diana Spencer married Prince Charles, the first in line to the British throne on 29 July 1981, and became Princess of Wales. While the problems in their marriage started soon after the wedding and the couple separated, the final blow to their marriage was delivered on 20 November 1995 when BBC aired an interview with Princess Diana.
“An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales”, the episode of BBC’s current affairs program Panorama, aired on 20 November 1995. Soon after the controversial interview, Queen Elizabeth wrote to Charles and Diana, advising them to finalise their divorce.
In the 54 minutes long interview, Diana spoke openly about all the problems their marriage had faced over the years and Diana’s own personal issues. Talking about Prince Charles’s affair with Camilla Parker (now wife of Prince Charles), Diana said, “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.” Diana also questioned the suitability of Prince Charles to be the King after Queen Elizabeth.
During the interview, Diana also admitted her own personal issues, including her battles with depression and bulimia. She also admitted that she had engaged in self-mutilation a number of times during her marriage, hurting her arms and legs. In the years following the interview, a few of her biographers have said that her statements during the interview showed that she had borderline personality disorder.
Diana admitted to her own extra-marital affair with James Hewitt as well during the interview. She also talked about the abusive nature of the media and how she was constantly harassed by them.
The interview got record viewing figures in England and even around the world as public curiosity about the Charles-Diana marriage was at its peak. Nearly 40% of the British population tuned in to watch the interview with around 200 million tuning in from around the world. It turned out to be the last chapter of their marriage as a month later, Buckingham palace announced that the queen has advised both of them to divorce. It took another 8 months to finalise the divorce which was finally granted on 28 August 1996.
BBC obtained the interview with Princess Diana through fraudulent means
It later emerged that the interviewer Martin Bashir and the BBC had used fraudulent means to get the interview with Diana. Forged bank statements were prepared that falsely indicated that people close to her, including her former private secretary Patrick Jephson and another former royal household member, had been paid for spying on her.
Initially, BBC cleared Bashir of any wrongdoing after conducting an internal enquiry in 1996. However, years later, in 2020, BBC Director General apologised to Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, for the use of the forged statements to get the interview. Spencer refused to accept the apology and asked for an independent investigation.
Princess Diana’s death
On 31 August 1997, Princess Diana died in a tragic car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris while trying to flee the paparazzi. She was accompanied by Dodi Fayed, the driver Henry Paul, and Fayed’s bodyguard who ended up surviving the crash.
