The Panorama Interview: November 20, 1995

[Binny2]

Please cite your source for this claim.

It came from the Sally Bedell Smith book Diana in Search of Herself.
"The program was scheduled to air November 20 the forty-eighth wedding anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip" p.348 of the paperback edition.


Also,
"On the morning of November 14, Charles 47th birthday, just after she opened a new patient center at Broadmoor, Diana called a senior Buckingham Palace official to inform him of the interview." p.349

 

[scooter]

She may have notified the palace after she was informed what the air date was, but Diana was NOT in control of what date the programme aired. That is controlled by network programming and no one else.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

She may have notified the palace after she was informed what the air date was, but Diana was NOT in control of what date the programme aired. That is controlled by network programming and no one else.

You seem very sure. Binny2 has provided her source. What is your source that Diana did not either stipulate the date it would run or deliberately time the interview knowing that it would probably run on the Queen's anniversary? By the way, you may want to respond to my request for the source of your claim that Stephen Barry's books included specific statements.

 

[cepe]

FYI: The BBC as a non-commercial company does have a lot more flexibility in making programme changes/adjustments than a commercial channel which sells advertising on the basis of the programme in which in will appear. Therefore the possibility does exist that a specific date could have been chosen.

However, any change would have had to have been agreed by the BBC1 Controller and I would have expected confirmation (after all this time) to come from someone at the BBC.

The BBC is not constrained by network programming as it operates separately. It does not operate as per US.

I've worked in the industry, that's how I know.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

That is interesting, thanks. But is it possible that Diana could have timed the interview so that it would probably run on a certain date? I don't think the BBC would have wanted it to sit for too long.

 

[cepe]

I don't know the time lag between the making of the programme and when it was aired. She could have made the request and the Controller would have weighed up keeping a lid on it vs a date with strong impact. Frankly, from the public's perspective this was explosive regardless of the date. Keeping it confidential would have been THE priority IMO. Confidential and keeping Diana happy cos she wanted a specific date would have come 2nd.

All I know is that the BBC1 Controller could have transmitted it pretty much when they wanted. So the possibility exists.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

What your saying makes sense and I can always be sure that your opinions are based on looking at facts. According to the Telegraph, the interview was taped on November 5th. The BBC would have needed a few days to edit and then start advertising the episode. Diana, Princess of Wales - Telegraph

I don't think Diana would have demanded that the interview air on a specific date. Obviously, spoiling the Queen's anniversary was not the main reason to do the interview.

But Diana was extremely media savvy and I think it is more than possible that she timed the taping of the interview knowing that it probably would air on the Queen's anniversary or the day before Charles's birthday. I don't think the BBC would have delayed airing beyond November 20th, because there would have been a chance that they would have been scooped if Diana had talked to another media outlet in the interim.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

... She was at her worst in situations where she felt threatened.

This...100X. That notorious Panorama interview was so cringeworthy that to this day I can't watch it from start to finish, and what I did see had me shouting SHUT UP DIANA...SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!! at the television.

It was a perfect example of how she acted when she felt threatened, but she came off paranoid and even mentally unbalanced. I am convinced that that interview set her on the road to divorce, the Paris Ritz, and death. In other words she might still be alive if she hadn't done it. .

 

[Dman]

Charles and Diana's interviews set their divorce into motion. I don't think the interview had anything to do with her trip to Paris and death. I think that trip was one of the dumbest situations I have ever seen. The whole trip made no sense at all and the driver (May God rest and bless him) of the car brains was still on vacation.
.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

They both did ill-advised interviews, but by all accounts it was Diana's Panorama sneak attack that caused QEII to declare "enough already!" and order the couple to divorce. Diana had not expected that at all, so in that sense her plan to one-up Charles blew up in her face. As miserable as he was in his marriage, Charles would probably have been content with the status quo.

I do think Panorama sealed her fate.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

I also disagree that she did the Panorama interview because she felt threatened. What was the threat at that particular point in time? I think she did it because she wanted a divorce then. She wanted other children--motherhood was the focus of her life--and she was not happy with the status quo. She had started the relationship with Hasnat Khan and her biological clock was starting to tick.

I believe the purpose of the Panorama interview was to try and hurt Charles's public image so badly that he would be forced to step aside and William would be the next king. She underestimated the strength of tradition within the royal family. She succeeded in wounding Charles, but she failed to get him to step aside. The real problem was that she failed to consider how her interview would impact Harry and William.
.
.

 

[muriel]

I agree with you. I think the Panorama interview was probably the one incident that caused HM to call an end to the charade of the Wales' marriage. It probably was just not what Diana was expecting, and it was probably a complete surprise to her.

 

[nascarlucy]

I imagine one way to get out of a royal marriage would be to go on TV and bash the royal family or say things which would anger or upset them. I remember watching the 1995 interview and thinking to myself that the interview would most likely anger or upset members of the British royal family.

By this time 1995, both wanted to be out of the marriage, although I think Prince Charles would have probably stayed in the marriage, if Diana hadn't gone so public about their private lives. I think she knew that by doing so chances were that a divorce would be granted.

Princess Diana is probably the only person who would get away with the 1995 interview because as I've seen in earlier blogs there is nothing that the royal family could do (legally, criminally or civilly ) without them looking bad or looking like they were getting back at Diana.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

Actually the Panorama interview came in the wake of two things...Charles' summer 1995 interviews with Jonathan Dimbleby with his public admission of his adultery with his "friend" Camilla Parker-Bowles, and also the revelation that Diana had been making nuisance phone calls to her former lover Oliver Hoare.

I don't think your timeline is correct. Prince Charles' interview with Jonathan Dimbleby aired in June of 1994. The nuisance calls to Oliver Hoare's wife ended in October of 1993 and the News of the World broke the story in August of 1994. The Hewitt book was published in October 1994.

Diana's Panorama interview aired on November 20, 1995--more than one year after all three events. Why did she wait for more than a year if she were concerned about the impact on her reputation? In don't know what the law is in Great Britain, but I suspect it is the same as in the U.S. where it is not possible to hospitalize someone for something that happened more than a year before.

According to Vanity Fair, Diana met Hasnat Khan on September 1, 1995 and was immediately drawn to him. She was involved enough to send him flowers in November 1995. and was spotted by a News of the World reporter outside the hospital on November 30, 1995.

Diana’s Love for Hasnat Khan—The Only One Who Would Never Betray Her | Vanity Fair
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[US Royal Watcher]

I imagine one way to get out of a royal marriage would be to go on TV and bash the royal family or say things which would anger or upset them. I remember watching the 1995 interview and thinking to myself that the interview would most likely anger or upset members of the British royal family.

Exactly. Diana said that she didn't want a divorce, but that the situation needed "clarity." There were only three options: the status quo, a reconciliation, or a divorce. Diana made it clear she didn't want the status quo and she knew there was no way there would be a reconciliation. She didn't want to be the one to ask for a divorce but she knowingly forced the situation.

I also think that it hit her harder than she thought it would, as is often the case. Even though she was ready to go on with her life, she still mourned the marriage.
.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Thanks for the timeline correction Royal Watcher, I appreciate it. But even though the scandal stories had broken some months previously, Diana(right or wrong) was convinced there was an ongoing whispering campaign against her, instigated by her husband and his circle with the ultimate goal of having her perceived in the public mind as a madwoman. It was in this atmosphere of paranoia and mistrust that Diana contacted Bashir and set up the Panorama interview.

She wanted to force Charles hand, but there is no way I will ever believe that she wanted to force him into divorce. She did not really want the divorce and said so many times. We can never know for sure if she subconsciously believed even then that the marriage could be saved. Former VF author Tina Brown has asserted in her Diana bio that Charles had an 11th hour change of heart and considered trying to save the marriage shortly before the divorce became final.

But he was dissuaded from doing so by Camilla.

 

[Pranter]

I seem to recall reading that Diana was really frustrated with the Queen about not doing something about Charles's relationship with Camilla. Not that a parent can control their adult children however the Queen is a bit more than just a parent and I think Diana wanted her to step in and order Charles as the Queen to cease and desist with Camilla. It's always seemed that rightly or not Diana always saw Camilla as being in the way even if it was just friendship (until later).

She made some bad decisions and I think she used whatever 'weapons' she had available to her.

I wonder did they never seek professional counseling during their marriage? I seem to recall Diana went for her eating disorder etc...but I wonder if they went together for marital counseling.

LaRae

 

[Osipi]

But he was dissuaded from doing so by Camilla.

This is one I'm going to ask what your source is. As far as I know, Camilla has never voiced an opinion on what was going on for public record. She was one discreet lady and for that I admire her.

Anyhow this isn't about Camilla. Although she was a part of what goaded Diana into some actions during that time, from what I understand of that era, there weren't many that weren't under scrutiny from the monarch down to the person on the street. Diana found it easier to distrust rather than trust as time went by.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

Thanks for the clarification MoonMaiden23. I agree that Diana didn't want a divorce, but I don't think anyone does. I believe that she preferred a divorce to a permanent separation. She definitely wanted more children.

I also agree with your analysis of Diana's actions. No one is completely rational all of the time; we all do things that make no sense in the light of day. It is particularly hard to be dispassionate when someone is going through the breakdown of a marriage.

But although Tina Brown is generally a reliable source of information, I am skeptical of her assertion that Camilla was the one who talked Charles out of a reconciliation. First, I doubt if either would have confided to a third party.

Moreover, I doubt Charles was seriously considering a reconciliation at that point. I can easily believe that both Charles and Diana had second thoughts about ending their marriage. It's only natural for people to reconsider such a major decision and wistfully wonder if there was a chance of saving the marriage. Despite everything, I believe both Charles and Diana deeply cared about each other.

But I don't think he seriously considered reconciliation after the book came out in 1992. The bottom line is that: Charles was in love with Camilla, Charles and Diana were essentially incapable, and it would have been hard for Charles to trust Diana after Diana had gone public. (I understand it would have been hard for Diana to trust Charles).

If Diana had wanted to save the marriage, going public was the worst thing she could have done. We talk about Diana dropping friends, but the royal family has always dropped people who they believe betray their trust and talk to the media.
.

 

[teeyah]

...But he was dissuaded from doing so by Camilla.

Wow, really, a 40 something year old man couldn't think for himself, Charles wanted out of the marriage himself, why go on tv and tell the truth, he wanted to divorce Diana and marry Camilla, he knew talking on tv, Camilla's marriage will be done and she would be available for marriage. if he wanted to stay in the marriage, why did he instantly agree for a divorce after the queen ordered it, Diana was the one who did not want one, she thought letting the world know and making Charles the bad guy, he would drop Camilla and run back into her arms like a scared puppy, unfortunately she failed to see he was the Heir and she was just his consort who he could dispose of no matter what...Henry VIII did it.

Again, I will ask too, where is the reliable source, she dissuaded him?

 

[Moonmaiden23]

The source is mentioned in my earlier post.

Camilla persuaded him that it would be a mistake to remain in a marriage that would emotionally decimate him, and of course she was right.

 

[MARG]

I'm sorry, I find the whole notion utterly risible.

One thing I do believe is that the very last response Diana expected of the Panorama Interview was for the Queen herself to call time on the marriage in an attempt to end the pain and humiliation for all concerned.

 

[Blog Real]

Diana should have thought of the children before giving this interview. But Diana needed to tell his side of the story. I think this interview has changed the way people looked at Diana.

Sarah Ferguson also gave some interviews similar to Diana?

 

[Pranter]

Sarah's never given an interview like Diana's. She's talked about her feelings for Andrew etc...but she's never talked about the RF like Diana did.


LaRae

 

[Dman]

It was an interview that was done during the dark periods of Diana's life. She knew she shouldn't have done the interview and went on to later regret it. She and Charles were in a mess they created at the time.

 

[Queen Claude]

Diana's 'deep regret' over her BBC 'victim' interview: Top aide reveals her horror as the 'scales fell from her eyes' – as secret papers expose plot to keep Palace in the dark

• Patrick Jephson was Diana's private secretary at the time of the BBC show
• She told him about the interview just one week before it was due to air
• Jephson claimed Diana had expressed regret even before it was broadcast
• More than 21 people tuned into Panorama that week to watch the interview

By Chris Hastings for The Mail on Sunday
Published: 20:30 EST, 19 March 2016 | Updated: 22:59 EST, 19 March 2016

Read more: Former Princess Diana aide reveals her regret over BBC interview | Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
​

 

[Curryong]

People do lots of things in their despair that they wouldn't dream of in more rational times. Why oh why though is the DM dragging all this out again and rehashing it. To remind themselves of the glory days of The War of the Wales when newspapers sold like hot cakes and the public was avid for more, more, more?

Diana has been gone for nearly twenty years now. Are all her actions, faults and foibles, her complexities, her problems, going to be dragged out again for public consumption by the tabloids in the next eighteen months or so. My goodness, I can hardly wait! Neither, I'll bet, can her sons.

 

[nascarlucy]

I imagine if the internet was available back then, she wouldn't have to have someone interview her or set up an interview. She could have her own you tube web site or set one up to be interviewed by someone on youtube and say what she wanted to say. I imagine she pretty much would have said what she said and the information would have been out there within a couple of hours as opposed to waiting for the interview to be on the TV. I can't remember how much time had got by but it was at least a couple of weeks to several months before Diana's 1995 Panorama interview was seen in the US.

 

[Denville]

I think that even Diana woudl have been more careful than that. She had to do the Panorama interview and the book very carefully, providing herself wtih "deniablity" as she was afriad the RF would go crazy once they realised she was "talking" about her marraige and her private life.

 

[Curryong]

Yes, the seeing Morton for the book and the setting up of the Panorama interview were two main quite irrational episodes in Diana's life. I've always wondered if she liked the flirting with danger aspect of it, or whether, with the Morton business, she thought the Royals would just accept her denials that she had anything to do with the book and she would be left sitting pretty.

It's clear she had a real blind spot with regard to Panorama. At the time she was in negotiations with the BBC she told Lord Wakeham, the new Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, at a dinner party that she favoured a privacy law to protect people from media intrusions. (Even though she was persecuted by paps it's an extraordinary piece of hypocrisy.)

I certainly don't think she realised the consequences of her Panorama interview. At that time though, I think Diana was just burning up with misery and resentment and dislike of BP and all it stood for and that overrode everything. It was only later she awoke to the cold light of reality, that she really had burned her bridges.