How Di was cast
PANORAMA CONVINCED THE PRINCESS OF WALES TO SIT DOWN FOR AN INTERVIEW THAT GRIPPED BRITAIN AND ROCKED THE MONARCHY
EVERYONE who wasn’t living under a rock in 1995 will remember THAT Diana interview for BBC Panorama. Peering up with wide, mournful eyes, elegant in a black blazer and skirt, the Princess of Wales wanted to finally set the record straight. It had been nearly three years since her separation from Prince Charles, and feeling shunned from the royal family, it was time to tell all.
She gave the interview to Martin Bashir and it became one of the most momentous programmes in television history.
A staggering 22.8 million viewers were stunned as Diana revealed she knew Prince Charles was having an affair with his now wife, Camilla ParkerBowles.
She infamously said: “Well there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
She also revealed her struggle with bulimia and post-natal depression. Diana, who died just two years later in a Paris car crash aged just 36, talked about her future and the future for Charles and her boys William and Harry.
She talked about the pressures of marrying into the royal family, the daunting prospect of media attention and referred to herself as a “product that sells”.
She also hinted at a toxic feud with the royal household after her marriage broke down.
She said: “I was a problem, I was seen as a liability. They see me as a threat. But I’m here to do good, I’m not a destructive person.” Twenty-five years on, this documentary investigates how Diana was persuaded into doing the scandalous interview. With access to key insiders at the BBC, archive documents and people who knew and worked closely with the princess, the programme pieces together the full fascinating story behind the explosive interview.