Deception, fraud, cover-up… new facts about Princess Diana’s exposure to betrayal

A journalistic report by People magazine about the great lies and betrayal that Princess Diana was exposed to in her life caused a great uproar due to the facts that were revealed.

The report confirmed that the famous interview, which took place in complete secrecy at Kensington Palace on November 5, 1995, for the BBC’s Panorama investigative program, turned out decades later to have been the product of an extraordinary hoax. An independent investigation conducted by British judge Lord Dyson in 2021 concluded that journalist Martin Bashir used forged documents to manipulate Diana, a plan that BBC executives later tried to cover up. Prince William blamed the interview for fueling his mother’s “fear, madness and isolation” and worsening her tense relationship with King Charles.

The report considered that Lady Diana wanted to give this interview because it was important and her opportunity to regain her voice and tell her story on her own terms, but it turned out that investigative journalist Andy Webb spent nearly 20 years trying to uncover the whole truth, which initially sparked media coverage, and ultimately prompted the Dyson investigation, which he says ignored the cover-up carried out by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over a period of 25 years. In 2024, his freedom of information battle forced him to release thousands more emails to the BBC, although many of them remain heavily censored.

Webb’s new book, “Dianarama: Deception, Ruse, Cover Up – Princess Diana’s Betrayal” reveals for the first time the full extent of Bashir’s manipulation of Diana by luring Diana’s brother Charles Spencer, who was himself a victim of Bashir’s tactics to gain access to the princess, providing false bank statements indicating that palace staff were spying on her and spreading false claims that Prince Charles wanted to kill her and that William’s watch was a spy device.

Webb confirmed to People magazine, “Princess Diana’s life became unrestrained, and it was a difficult period between the interview and her death. There is a lot of new information that I wanted to record in this book, which is a first draft of history.”

Webb explained that Diana had good reason to trust Bashir, as he worked for one of the most important news organizations in the world. Already wary of palace officials and affected by violations of her privacy, including the “Squidgygate” scandal, a secretly recorded phone call published in 1992, Diana felt increasingly monitored and isolated.

In turn, her former private secretary, Patrick Jephson, told People magazine that Bashir chose the right moment to show Spencer the falsified bank statements and convince him that people close to Diana, including Jephson and a senior aide to Prince Charles, were receiving money to spy on her.

“She was in a state of justifiable anxiety,” Jephson added. “It’s not paranoia if you have reasonable grounds to believe they are conspiring against you.”

Investigative journalist Andy Webb also revealed that Lady Diana spent 90 minutes with Bashir in the kitchen, reviewing questions and rehearsing what would become one of the most important radio programs in royal history, where Diana spoke frankly about King Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles and her struggle with bulimia, and confirmed her love affair with James Hewitt.

He explained that the impact of the interview was extremely serious and its consequences were immediate. Within a month, Queen Elizabeth ordered Charles and Diana to go ahead with divorce. Jephson resigned in January 1996, without knowing why the princess turned so violently against him.