How Princess Diana's BBC interview rocked the royal family 27 years ago

In 1995, Princess Diana gave an in-depth tell-all TV interview to BBC journalist Martin Bashir that would rock the royal family and shock the public.

More than 22.8 million viewers watched the Panorama programme with Diana; the first solo interview the former Princess of Wales had given since her marriage to the then Prince Charles.

Interest in the controversial 54-minute program has soared recently thanks to the most recent season of Netflix's The Crown, which claims the announcement of the interview by the BBC was released on November 14, Charles' birthday, at the request of Diana.

Though the tidbit has not been confirmed as true, the fact is that it was announced on Diana's estranged husband's birthday, and aired six days later on November 20, which happens to be the wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

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In the years since it aired, Diana's Panorama interview and the "deceitful" actions Bashir took in order to secure it have been scrutinised and criticised, with both Prince William and Prince Harry condemning the original broadcast.

In May 2021, Prince William said the interview was a "false narrative" that "holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again". Prince Harry also directly linked the interview to Diana's death saying, "our mother lost her life because of this and nothing has changed". Last year, 26 years after it was broadcast, the former boss of the BBC apologised to William for the "hurt" the interview caused.

Here's what happened when Princess Diana sat down with Martin Bashir, and the impact her sharing of so much personal information had.

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Desperate measures

One can only imagine Princess Diana was feeling absolutely desperate when, in November 1995, she decided to speak out against the royal family.

Not only had her marriage fallen apart over Prince Charles' long-term affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, she also admitted she had been in love with "another man", a man who ended up betraying her: James Hewitt.

Diana also said she felt the monarchy was losing its relevance, a bold statement for the 'People's Princess'.

The 34-year-old looked strained as she revealed bombshell after bombshell on Panorama. Never before had a member of the British royal family been so honest about such personal, sensitive information.

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But how did the interview come about in the first place, when the royals are usually so strict about their media appearances?

Diana had secretly allowed BBC journalist Martin Bashir and his crew into Kensington Palace to film the candid interview. Only a select few of those closest to the princess knew what was going on, including Diana's private secretary Patrick Jephson.

The most shocking of Diana's revelations was her iconic statement: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

She was, of course, referring to the fact that Charles and Camilla had continued their affair during his and Diana's marriage. It was no secret by that point, and Charles had already admitted to his own infidelity on a TV documentary that aired the previous year.

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But this was the first time we heard it from Diana.

Not only did she blame Charles and Camilla's affair for the ultimate breakdown of her marriage, but she also questioned whether Charles would make a suitable king. But Charles wasn't the only one who has been unfaithful.

James Hewitt

One of the biggest bombshells of the interview was when Diana admitted she'd had a five-year affair with James Hewitt, whom she said she "adored."

In the aftermath of that affair, James went on to betray Diana by spilling their love secrets in a book he contributed to, Princess in Love by Anna Pasternak.

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James quickly became known as "the most hated man in Britain" for betraying Diana, who was beloved by the public. Since then, he's had to defend himself against theories that he was the true father of Prince Harry, though the theory was impossible because James met Diana after Harry was born.

Oddly, those rumours only began when people began to question Harry's ginger hair, without realising that red hair ran in Diana's family.

A cry for help

While many saw Diana's BBC interview as a cry for help, others questioned why she decided to talk to the BBC at all. What were her motives?

The answer might lie in the words of one of her close friends, Simone Simmons, who claimed in the documentary Diana: The Woman Inside that Sarah Ferguson had encouraged Diana to speak to the BBC so she could talk about her charity work.

The Duchess of York and Diana had been friends for years, and were close confidantes through their respective divorces.

After Diana's death, Simone wrote a book, Diana: The Last Word, where she claims Diana told her in 1997: "If anything happens to me, write a book and tell it like it is."

The bombshell revelations

Diana's interview included several shock revelations, from her and Charles' affairs, to doubts about the royal family.

When Bashir referenced a book written by Jonathan Dimbleby, which mentioned Charles reviving his affair with Camilla, he asked Diana how she knew about the relationship. Diana replied, "Oh, a woman's instinct is a very good one."

She added that she was also told about the affair by people "who minded and cared about our marriage".

The impact of the Charles and Camilla affair triggered a bout of "rampant bulimia" for Diana. She referred to her eating disorder as a "secret disease", where she would make herself sick several times a day.

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Diana also spoke about suffering from post-natal depression after the birth of William.

"I was unwell with post-natal depression, which no one ever discusses… and that in itself was a bit of a difficult time," she said in the BBC interview.

"You'd wake up in the morning feeling you didn't want to get out of bed, you felt misunderstood, and just very, very low in yourself. I had never had depression in my life."

The royal family gave her very little sympathy, according to Diana.

"It gave everybody a wonderful new label – 'Diana's unstable' and 'Diana's mentally unbalanced'. And unfortunately, that seems to have stuck on and off over the years," she revealed.

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Diana also said she didn't expect to become queen, and even doubted that Charles wanted to be king. She described Charles' camp as the "enemy" and claimed the monarchy was in desperate need of modernisation.

Though she didn't believe she would ever be queen, Diana admitted she wanted to be the "queen of people's hearts".

As for the rest of the royal family, Diana had struggled. She believed she'd been labelled a troubled woman and "a threat." However, she added: "I'll fight to the end, because I believe I have a role to fulfil, and I've got two children to bring up."

Immediately after the interview, Britain's Daily Mail declared Diana's words had "plunged the monarchy into the greatest crisis since the Abdication", referring to Edward VIII abdicating so he could marry Wallis Simpson.

Deep regrets

In 2016, the Mail on Sunday unearthed documents showing that two years before the interview, senior BBC staff conspired with Diana to keep Buckingham Palace in the dark about the program.

Diana's former private secretary Patrick Jephson told the outlet he'd known about the interview, and that Diana later regretted taking part.

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"I think by the time of the broadcast, she deeply regretted it, not least because it did nothing to advance her cause," Jephson said.

"I think the scales fell from her eyes and suddenly what had been rather a subversive or daring scheme - or however they [the BBC] had dressed it up for her - it suddenly in the cold light of day didn't look like such a good idea.

"I realised this was the first time that she had really thought about how the real world was going to react."

At the time of the interview, Diana and Charles were separated, although Diana was still part of the monarchy. But not for long.

The interview became the final nail in the coffin for the royal marriage, leading to the Queen writing to Charles and Diana, asking them to officially divorce.

The Panorama programme aired just two years before Diana's tragic death.

Anyone needing support with eating disorders or body image issues should contact: Butterfly National Helpline on 1800 33 4673 (1800 ED HOPE) or support@butterfly.org.au.