In May, Lord Dyson finally completed his investigation into Princess Diana’s Panorama interview, which was conducted by Martin Bashir in 1995. At the time, the interview was arguably the most-watched “royal” thing ever – it was Diana discussing Charles’ affair with Camilla, her affair with James Hewitt, and how Diana didn’t believe Charles was up for the job as king. Diana did real damage to the monarchy and real damage to Charles in that interview. And the Windsors have been trying to discredit Diana and the Panorama interview ever since. Prince William willingly allowed himself to be used as a tool to discredit his own mother – after the Dyson report came out and Martin Bashir’s shady tactics were revealed, William stood up and called his mother paranoid and delusional and blamed Bashir for his parents’ poor relationship. Which… lol.
It was said at the time that this was all part of a larger right-wing campaign to discredit the BBC entirely and that William was also being used in that campaign as well. It looked like all was forgiven – the BBC promised to never air the Diana interview again (putting toothpaste back in the tube) and after all that, William went to the BBC for his big Keenshot programming this month. Except that Diana’s Panorama interview will not be forgotten. Netflix’s The Crown will feature a big storyline about the Panorama interview.
Netflix is set to dramatise Princess Diana’s bombshell Panorama interview with disgraced BBC journalist Martin Bashir – despite Prince William’s demands that the interview be taken off air. The fifth season of the streaming giant’s popular series The Crown will include an entire episode focusing on the Royal’s controversial sit-down with Bashir in 1995, in which she sensationally said ‘there were three of us in the marriage’ – a reference to Charles and Camilla.
Netflix is understood to have spent millions on the episode, which insiders told The Sun will be pivotal to the upcoming installment of the show, which often garners controversy. However, the decision to recreate the Panorama interview puts Netflix at odds with William, who called for the groundbreaking scenes to never to be aired again.
Earlier this year, the Duke of Cambridge hit out at Bashir’s shocking tactics – first exposed by The Mail on Sunday and later documented in a damning independent report by the former Master of the Rolls in May – to obtain his exclusive with his late mother. The inquiry plunged the Corporation into one of the worst crises in its history, with Diana’s two sons William and Harry accusing it of ruining their mother’s life with its ‘deceitful’ interview and helping to bring about the tragic chain of events that led to her death two years later.
However, senior sources insisted Netflix, which struck a £112million deal with Harry and Meghan after they quit royal duties, is going ahead with the special episode.
The insiders said: ‘The Crown’s creators see the interview as the keystone moment in series five. To the writers, the stormy marriage between Charles and Di led up to her outpouring on Panorama, and the aftermath of that decision defined her final months. They are making a huge investment in that. The Crown has a track record of delving into areas of the Royal Family’s history they’d rather be left alone.’
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: ‘This would be extremely upsetting and the only protection William has is not to watch it.’
Royal commentator Margaret Holder added: ‘William was dismayed at the time. It is also embarrassing for Harry.’
To be fair, technically Netflix isn’t airing the original Panorama interview, they’re dramatizing it using actors. Elizabeth Debicki is going to be a spectacular Diana, and she’s merely going to, you know, ACT. Besides, we knew that Season 5 of The Crown would include this interview as soon as the season was announced! It takes place during John Major’s turn as prime minister, 1990-1997. The Panorama interview was a HUGE story during that time. I’m curious about whether they’ll also feature Prince Charles’ interview with Jonathan Dimbleby, which actually took place a year before Diana’s interview.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Netflix.
Just hand Elizabeth Debicki all the awards now.
I’ve only ever seen her in The Man from UNCLE but she was so deliciously frightening.
It might sound silly, but she had a small part in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 that I absolutely adored her in. Even painted gold head to toe, she was pretty mesmerizing.
I loved her in Guardians of the Galaxy. Her endless exasperation was hilarious. And purely diabolical in Man from U.N.C.L.E.
She was great in The Night Manager. She’s the only watchable part of Tenet.
Of course they’re going to include the Panaroma interview. It was a huge deal at the time – it’s still a huge deal now, decades later – and thanks to that and the Morton tapes, we have an idea of what exactly Diana was dealing with and what she was going through in the royal family. Yes, the interview was obtained through sketchy means – but those are still Diana’s words, and they are very damaging to the royal family, so that’s why certain royals are probably panicking now. they thought getting the BBC to promise never to air it again would be enough.
Also, LOL to the comment about how “that” episode is going to cost millions – I think every episode of the Crown costs millions, its not a cheap show to film.
I read, (somewhere but cannot remember where????) that each episode of The Crown cost 1.5 million USD to produce if all overhead is factored in.
@Bay I have read something similar, and that the bigger episodes (think Charles investiture as PoW, etc) cost more.
Lady D. said they were 3 in that marriage. I say they were four : Charles, Diana, Camilla AND the media!!
Isn’t that the truth!
The media played a significant part in how all of their lives played out. I know William gets lots of hate on here for saying that Diana was paranoid and delusional, but that was the reality. He wasn’t sugar coating it. At the same time, having a husband you can’t trust, in-laws you can’t trust, and the media constantly twisting the knife, will probably do that to you. It’s like an abusive relationship, where you lose yourself and don’t know who to trust anymore.
Well, going off of what you said, it’s not paranoia if it’s justified. Paranoia is an irrational belief someone or something is out to get you, and the family and media were out to get her for real.
@Maria
Exactly. And if you’re checking under your car all the time and are convinced you’re going to die in a car accident and then you actually do die in a car accident, then you certainly weren’t paranoid.
@Maria and @Nyro, I do agree with what you’re saying. I was just basing it on my own experience of being in an abusive relationship.
Things would go missing, I would be blamed for saying and doing things, which I was sure I hadn’t. You start to feel like you’re going crazy. It does make you paranoid and perhaps even delusional at times. I know I said and did strange things because I no longer knew what to be concerned about and what not to. If someone has read all your emails, is it your computer thats bugged, is it your phone, maybe it’s everything? How far will they go? There is a fine line between being justifiably concerned and being paranoid, but that doesn’t mean it’s the victims fault. In many ways I think it’s about survival. Can you think of the worst thing they can do before them, or can you rule it out?
Diana was a product of her situation and never had the chance to fully heal from it. William probably remembers some of the things she said and did, which looking back now will seem paranoid. It’s not a stick to beat her with, or her children. The focus should be on the people who did that to her.
Apologies if this ends up being a duplicate post. It looks like the first one ended up in the internethers.
@GraceB, a hallmark of paranoia is a belief that’s not based on reality. Charles’ was cheating, courtiers/grey men were controlling & watching her moves, people were putting out lies to make her look bad and lying to protect others-sounds familiar. Like you said, she was around people she couldn’t trust. Diana didn’t arbitrarily decide to not trust them, they did things that made them untrustworthy. That’s not paranoia. Andrew Morton’s book came out in 1992(people did not know until after her death that she was a very active participant in the book), Charles’ Dimbleby interview was 1994 and her Bashir interview was November ’95. Diana herself stated in a Dec. ’95 note that there wasn’t anything Bashir said or did that coerced/convinced her to do the interview. She wanted the truth known. I found this Vanity Fair article from Feb. 1993. So many things could apply to the BRF/BM machinations to what’s going on now and the last several years. It’s kind of creepy that old Firm really hasn’t changed. If they all weren’t such a$$holes they wouldn’t have to worry about how they’re being portrayed in The Crown-that’s on them, not Netflix or anyone else.
https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/1993/02/princess-diana-revenge-anthony-holden-cover
However, that said, it was used to “gaslight” Diana and have spin out that she was “paranoid.” Charles good friend Nicholas Soames even went on a talk show to call Diana out. William was very wrong to label his mother that way, and very disrespectful. The gaslighting started as early as ca. 1985-86 when Charles friends “leaked” stories to the media. Diana had to get her side out and she did.
I do kind of love that Diana did the covert operation/cooperation with Morton’s book.
Behold the Amazing power that entertainment can wield when done right.
I love that Netflix / The Crown filmmakers give no fucks and keep going for the jugular!
Harry’s memoir, Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial and now this! The royals are gonna have a hell of a year next year. So glad Harry and Meghan escape when they did. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the royals wanted all the spotlight but pretty soon it’s gonna feel like an interrogation lamp.
Classic case of ‘be careful what you wish for’ it has been a s**t show ever since H & M decided to bow out. Who can they blame now ? Lol
Prince Andrew’s deposition. It’s going to be a great Jubilee year.
I hope they feature charles’ interview
I havenever even hearf of this Charles interview,they have such sick double standards based on hierachy.
That was the interview where he first admitted to cheating on Diana, it was a year or two before the Panaroma interview and I *think* if I’m remembering correctly that was the night she wore the “revenge dress” (the black off the shoulder dress) and went to an event and we have the iconic shot of her walking confidently forward to shake someone’s hand.
So i’m sure they’ll touch on Charles’ interview if just to show us that dress and that moment.
It was, Becks!
I remember it very well and so do others of my advanced age. What sticks in my mind was him blatantly lying when asked if he’d been unfaithful in his marriage. His answer was “Only when it became irrevocably broken”. Pure and utter bullshit, he was canoodling with several women pretty much from the start of his marriage, not just Camilla.
Yep, which was a year and a half before this one!! Yet they have the gall to say *Diana* let the media in!
Really, was the BBC ever going to air the Panorama interview in its entirety again? It’s been in the world for decades and easily accessible on YouTube. Still, even if it did air, it would most likely draw way more viewers than the Burger King’s Earthshot special.
I don’t understand these headlines at all; it’s as if people actually thought Peter Morgan would be intimidated by William’s petulant little temper tantrum and his command that the interview just go away like Harry did.
I’m sure that’s why they agreed never to air it again, its not like it was part of their weekly rotation lol. And the clips are all out there.
I don’t understand the frenzy over this because…..the interview happened. Charles’ affair with camilla happened. the separation and divorce happened. Of course Netflix is going to cover those things. What is Peter Morgan supposed to do, say “sorry, this makes the royals uncomfortable, let’s veer into an alternate reality at this point?”
And Netflix is not going to tell him ANYTHING about what he can and can’t include. It’s one of their biggest shows, and it routinely wins them all the awards. Netflix is probably telling him to make it as scandalous as possible, lol.
Anyway, as always, I’m sure the Crown is thanking the british media for the free PR.
Sure, the Panorama interview was big, but what I really want to see dramatized is the behind the scenes reaction to the publication of the transcripts of the hacked calls between Charles and Camilla. That has got to be the most excruciatingly awful moment in royal history. It will be hard for Charles and Camilla to live through that again and I’m curious as to how Morgan will deal with that.
@Harper I don’t know about Dominic West, but Josh O’Connor said that he would not take the role if they were going to include the tampon conversation, so maybe Netflix will skip over that entirely, but I do think its important bc it shows tampon-specifics aside, it shows how invested Charles was in the affair with Camilla and how she really was the third person in their marriage.
I’m hoping this season will focus on the other rotation of his mistresses: Kanga Tryon, Janet Jenkins…and there were more. Camilla was the big one, but not the only one. I was so irritated last season when Anne said Charles had been with only Camilla. Hopefully they’ll include the others this time.
While Tampongate was “ick”, I sort of hope they do include it simply because it helps illustrate how tawdry and bananas the whole thing became. Charles was a laughing stock because of it. They don’t even need to film a full scene with every word from C&C’s conversation, they can just acknowledge it somehow.
All they would have to do is show Brits reading different Fleet Street headlines from that time whilst sitting in a traditional English Pub and laughing.
Charles relationship with Lady Dale Tryon was never referred to in the Crown. She was his married mistress also and they “connected” when they were on a vacation together. And Janet Jenkins was his on and off lover. Charles did not just have Camilla in his life.
Of course they would include it. It was and continues to be a major part of Diana’s life. People would ask *why* if they didn’t and that could have become a much bigger story. It has nothing to do with how upset William is about it or H&M’s deal with Netflix – it was going to be recreated no matter what.
More manufactured outrage from tabloids. This is a non-story.
And the more noise they make the more interest they generate. It’s like after all this time they haven’t heard of the Streisand Effect.
@Jasper: It’s like they didn’t learn from all the fuss Charles made about Season 4.
Comments are literally saying Harry is accepting “blood money” from Netflix after this. These people are insane.
I know these people don’t use sense but has anyone asked what they think of William using the BBC to air his Earthshot documentary despite blaming them for making Diana paranoid (his words)?
Yes, and I’m not seeing him refusing to work with David Attenborough because of his Netflix documentaries.
@Sofia I guess since nobody cared about Keenshot, it doesn’t count as disparaging Diana. @Maria Promoting Attenborough’s Netflix project was Billy’s way of pretending to work with Netflix too. He actually sat in a director’s chair, giving the impression that he had something to do with it and his dumb fans ran with that.
They are so wildly clutching at straws. Netflix is a streaming service. But they spin it into blaming Harry for the Crown.
Poor Willy is going to learn that he doesn’t always get his way….
I’m sure there will be renewed blame on Harry for working with Netflix by people who don’t understand how streaming services work.
@ Jen, not only that but these 2 “Royal” commentators that are crying that PWT will just need not watch it, how upsetting it was for him as and how PWT was dismayed at its airing. But Harry will only be embarrassed. FFS, everyone should be angry at PWT gaslighting his OWN mum, how he dismissed her feelings and her pain of what she went through within the Royals treated her as well as Charles.
For Harry he has nothing to be embarrassed about. Harry saw what the tabloids did to his mother and saw history repeating itself with their relenting attacks on Meghan for years and how his family didn’t STOP the hate and smear campaign against Meghan.
PWT can go to hell! He is an awful human being with zero redeeming qualities and publicly discounted his mother’s feelings to further the whitewashing The Monarchy’s attempt at discrediting and removing all of their horrific actions.
+1000
William is totally clueless. He can’t erase history. That interview has been “out there” since 1995. He is being disrespectful to his deceased mother using Paranoid in reference to her.
Just rewatched William’s speech where he gaslit his mom and called her paranoid and yeah.. Harry HAS to still be pissed at him for that. It’s so bad, Diana has to be rolling in her grave.
It really makes me ill to see the stans out there saying how “noble” William is and the ridiculous charges against Harry “exploiting his mother.” They are in denial that Harry is working to put his films on a streaming service Netflix. And he had nothing to do with production of the Crown. Besides which Diana was absolutely correct about Camilla and Charles. Charles had confirmed what she said the year before in his interview with Dimbleby.
@FC
That’s why Diana snatched her good looks from him 😁😂
ALL of them. Like, even his physique!
Honestly, I’ve never seen The Crown or any of the movies about Diana, but I might actually watch this. Lol.
I’m shallow and got hung up on Diana’s picture in that cream colored jacket. Her beauty seemed effortless and she went from the shy nursery school teacher to that incredible self confidence. She wears that jewelry, it doesn’t wear her. And never in a million years would Kate feel so confident and comfortable that she could just hook her sunglasses on her jacket. Diana was a miracle figure for the monarchy and they gave her no support. And as CB says, they could have had a bad bitch with Meghan, but they were too busy being racists.
And the buttons on the jacket are awesome, too. Not like Kate’s, which you can see from space.
Nor could Kate feel confident enough to cut off 2 feet of hair that she hides behind.
Class. Born with it. Can’t teach it or buy it or stalk it or fake it.
I’ve never bothered with the Crown but I might make an exception for this! I’m in a commonwealth country so watching dramas about the BRF just makes me cranky. Maybe one day we’ll declare independence and watching it will feel like escapism.
I never saw so many in denial on the DM comments. Thinking Harry had anything to do with the production of the Crown and that Netflix is more than a streaming service for movies and shows. And giving William a free pass for using “paranoid” in reference to his mother, disrespecting her. And I hope the Crown shows Charles admission of adultery in HIS interview and the repercussions of that, including Camilla’s father showing up to confront Charles over it and the PBs divorce. That and the way Charles depicted his parents to his official biographer Dimbleby in the authorized bio. ANd William promoted a NETFLIX show, the one with Attenborough.
Diana had already let the cat out of the bag so to speak through Morton book. William should not try to erase history. Or try to censor it. Diana wanted to get her side out and did.