Morton: It’s ironic that Prince William wants to ‘posthumously muzzle Diana’

We’ve been talking so much about the royals in the 1990s lately. The last years of Princess Diana’s life are still an “issue” for the eventual King Charles – Diana’s words have echoed around him for decades, which is why Charles will do anything to get Diana’s Panorama interview buried. The BBC has promised to never air the interview again, but it will still be used by other media outlets, and it will be dramatized by The Crown in the upcoming season. What’s interesting is that Prince William has joined with his father in trying to get Diana’s narrative erased from history. Now Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton has some thoughts on all of these machinations. Morton spoke to the Daily Beast’s Royalist column exclusively and while I think Morton is pretty hacky these days, he actually made some interesting points. Some highlights:

On William demanding that the BBC never air Diana’s interview: “It is a supreme irony that it is her son who has led the calls to posthumously muzzle Diana, to silence her, to prevent her from being heard, from saying what she spent her life trying to articulate.”

Morton admits that Martin Bashir did fuel Diana’s paranoia: “Martin did contribute to her sense of paranoia, and her sense of being watched and so on. It was a febrile atmosphere at the time. We regularly swept Diana’s rooms at Kensington Palace for bugs. But Diana wasn’t the only one who was suspicious. The queen was baffled and concerned by the tapes that kept appearing. As well as the Charles and Camilla ‘tampon’ tape, there was ‘Squidgygate’ [in which Diana was taped talking to a friend candidly about a range of private matters] and a tape of [Prince] Andrew and Sarah [Ferguson] talking about their private lives. It’s understandable to conclude, when you have three intimate conversations by members of the royal family appearing on tape, that it is more than a coincidence, that it is a conspiracy.”

The Panorama interview is a historical record: “This is an important, historic interview that should be part of the public record. No accurate history or documentary of Diana can be made without referencing that interview. What she said was not an aberration; indeed, much of the ground it covered had been revealed in my book, Diana, Her True Story. For the BBC to lock it away in a vault is wrong.”

Diana had said all of it before: “The methods Martin Bashir used to get Diana to sit down and talk to him were underhand and deceptive, but the truth is that once the cameras were rolling, he didn’t twist her arm to say anything, and many of the things she said, such as discussing her bulimia, her suicide attempts, her husband’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles and the fact that she didn’t consider him fit to be King, were not aberrations. She was well known for saying these things to those in her circle, to the extent that they had become a kind of schtick. And they were all in my book, which had appeared three years previously. Panorama was a televised version of Diana: Her True Story. With the exception of the revelation about her affair with James Hewitt, Diana was only saying in that Panorama interview things that she had disclosed before to me.

Diana trusted the BBC to platform her story: “She very successfully used me to speak over the heads of the Palace ‘men in grey,’ as she called them, with Diana: Her True Story. Panorama was a similar attempt to reach over their heads and speak directly to her people—and it was a triumph. It is hugely ironic that somebody who tried so hard to articulate her message should find herself muzzled, after her death, by the very organization she trusted to deliver it, the BBC.

On Prince William’s claim that the Panorama interview made Charles & Diana’s relationship worse: “I’m afraid that is just not at all accurate. To say their relationship was terrible is obviously an understatement, but it was distant and angry long before Panorama, hence the separation in 1992. It is true to say that the interview did lead to the formal divorce. But after the divorce, the relationship actually improved, not least because Charles was able to have a more relaxed life with Camilla.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Morton is absolutely right, especially about how Diana already believed she was being tapped and bugged all the time. She went through burner phones constantly, she swept her apartment for bugs, and we know some of her calls *were* recorded, and all of that was before Bashir began telling her that she couldn’t trust the establishment (she already knew she couldn’t trust them). I also agree with Morton that Diana’s interviews must be preserved simply for the historical record. They ARE history and not just in the cultural sense. Diana was going to be Queen Consort and the institution set out to destroy her, as they’re all still trying to erase her memory. The fact that William is the one leading the charge… well, I only wish Morton had used harsher words.

Photos courtesy of Instar, Avalon Red.

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141 Responses to “Morton: It’s ironic that Prince William wants to ‘posthumously muzzle Diana’”

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  1. Noki says:

    This is a message to Kate to never even think about doing any post divorce running of the mouth. Because he is infatuated with this in an unhealthy manner, Harry im sure wasnt happy about the Bashir aspect but Keenshot is losing the plot.

    • Slippers4life says:

      The more I think about it, the more I believe Kate is trapped in this abusive nightmare. I’m starting to think they dress her in buttons and wiglets on purpose. I still think she is a bully too. I still think she needs to be held accountable for how she treated Meghan and likely others. Two things can be true at the same time. I believe Kate is both abused and abusive.

      • C says:

        I don’t see how that tracks and never have. Honestly, William protects her from a lot even if they aren’t close anymore. She’s allowed to spend as much as she wants and work as little as she wants and there are very few real repercussions and he’s made it clear before that an outright attack on her is an attack on him. This was made clear when Meghan wanted to correct the crying story: William expressed that his wife was “never to be dragged into idle gossip”.

        This is about William wanting to quash any ability for people to see what Harry meant when he said “I am my mother’s son”. Kate has never in her life ever wanted to rock the royal boat and wouldn’t know how to if she did. She was always desperate for their approval to the exclusion of real family togetherness, which was the polar opposite of Diana.

      • Geegee says:

        Bullies have often been bullied themselves.

      • Becks1 says:

        William only protects Kate in so much as protecting Kate protects him (which at this point means he protects her a lot.) while I think they can’t stand each other, I think as long as Kate is willing to play the game and not raise a fuss, William will continue to protect her. We saw the Queen reward Kate for keeping her head down when the Rose story first broke. I think that probably happens on a smaller basis on a regular basis in their marriage. William has private dinners at a club with a female friend, Kate picks herself out some new jewelry.

        Do I think Kate is happy? IDK. Do I think her marriage seems healthy? No. Do I think she’s a victim of the royal machine? Sometimes. Do I think she uses that royal machine to hurt others when she can? Yes.

      • C says:

        And many bullies also haven’t been bullied.
        Kate’s been a bully since before she and William were ever even serious. And there are plenty of instances during the dating years.

        I have an issue with the idea that Kate is suffering so she makes other people suffer. It’s kind of on the same lines as people insisting both she and Meghan cried and I object for the same reasons.

      • Becks1 says:

        @C I agree with you, I think it gives Kate an out she doesn’t deserve, similar to when people say things like “Kate has no choice but to do X.” Kate may be in a crappy marriage (of her own choosing, she knew William was an ahole when she married him) but that doesn’t excuse her actions towards Meghan, including letting her family trash her in the press.

        I used to be more on the side of feeling sorry for Kate because I would not want to be married to him, but I’m not there anymore. I can think that Kate is in an unhappy and unhealthy marriage AND think that she’s a garbage person who treated her SIL like crap. The former does not by any means excuse the latter and I think that’s the line that gets blurred sometimes in these discussions.

      • C says:

        Totally agree, Becks1.

        Personally I think “abuse” is not quite the word, because these people are all abusing each other and their children and I don’t think Kate is a victim in this dynamic. It’s absolutely not on the lines of what she has unleashed on Meghan and I think it’s kind of the same as when Cambridge fans equate when Kate got followed by some paps on her 25th birthday to the harassment Meghan has faced since the news she was dating Harry broke out up till today. Kate has never had to cry in bed from suicidal ideation because she felt the whole world despised her or her children were being racially abused so “nightmare” is not the word I would choose for her life.

      • Watson says:

        As much as i do think Kate is a terrible human being I do think she is also living a terrible life. For years, she even had her fashion identity stripped away from her through her Diana cosplays, and insecurity about Meghan. The only thing she has any control over is her weight, which we can see the consequences of. Ultimately she will never leave her gilded cage because she knows nothing else as her sole purpose for over a decade has been to obey her mom and be Williams doormat. All her spite will continue to be dispersed to Meghan and any other woman who is free, and independent, and celebrated for her looks or loved for their intelligence. It’s so depressing. Kate just depresses me.

      • C says:

        If you look at William’s passing out parade in 2006 she was already cosplaying Diana by then. Some of her Boodles Boxing Balls dresses around then were also Diana cosplay. And her strapless black velvet dress right after she married William to cosplay Diana’s black velvet dress right after she married Charles.
        Earlier than that, she was cosplaying Jecca, before she and William were even established in the papers.

        I don’t think her identity has been stripped honestly, but that’s me. This is just who she is.

      • Jan90067 says:

        I do see what your saying. I’m thinking (and while never *excusing* her actions) Kate has literally been groomed from childhood to follow Carole’s orders/idea for her life. Remember, Carole was a HUGE Diana fan. I’m thinking she always had in her mind an idea for steering her girls to nab W or H. Pippa has a LOT more going for her (more moxie, more intelligent, more drive), and she was able to rebel/resist more than Kate.

        Kate was aiming for W since her teens, with Carole steering that ship every step of the way (changing schools to get the girls in with W’s crowd, calling mothers to get Kate invited to parties with that crowd (this has been reported!). She had her do her gap year where she thought W would be, changed colleges to be with him, majors… She was *so* indoctrinated to nab W, by that time, I’m sure she thought it was HER idea!

        I think with 2 decades of Carole’s pushing her daughter into W’s path, laser focused, and these last 2 decades *still* being propped up by Mummy Dearest controlling large aspects of her marriage/kids, Kate really IS a Stepford wife.

        And I do think, as an amateur Psychologist (BS degree lo) that Kate has a LOT of anger in her. A. LOT. At Carole. But since she can’t take it out on Mummy, she’s always directed it on others, that she felt she could bully and put down. And she’s become a Gold Medalist at this. I just think she is a bundle of anger and resentment, esp. when she sees how Pip’s life has turned out.

      • Nic919 says:

        Nope. Kate choose this life and chased it for years. During that time she was a bully to the York sisters and cut off anyone who wasn’t going to help her achieve her goal of securing a ring. She knew exactly what she was choosing when she married William.

        And even if she saw it was somehow different than she originally thought, she can still at this very moment get a divorce. Diana set the precedent as princess of wales and kate isn’t even at that level yet.

        Kate is choosing to stay because she wants the title and the access to privilege. No one is forcing her to stay and no one forced her to participate in the smear campaign against her own sister in law.

        Kate is not a victim here. She may have a terrible husband but she remains because this is what she wants. Stop infantilizing this adult woman who has made the same choice over and over again for close to 20 years. She has the power to leave if she wants, in fact she’s getting Adelaide cottage because she has some power here. But she’s not getting a divorce because she is prepared to compromise. So again it’s not a choice most women would make, but it’s her choice and she is not a victim.

      • Julie says:

        I didn’t care when it was Melania and I don’t care here either.

        Kate has always looked out for herself first. She likes her gilded cage. She wants to be William’s Camile Cosby. She just doesn’t like it when William embarrasses her.

      • anne says:

        I’m wondering (and hoping, honestly) if there’s going to be a moment in Kate’s life — when she’s in her 50s, or when the kids leave the nest — where’s going to be like, “eff this sh!t” and bolt. Or worse, stop giving a cover for William.

        I know a lot of women who have hit a certain point in their lives where they are just DONE. Done with swallowing their anger and just DGAF anymore. William better be careful because I’m sure she knows ALL the dirt.

      • C says:

        There’s a lot of dirt on her and her family too, though.

      • Beach Dreams says:

        Count me in with the “Kate is no victim” contingent. I’ve said it before, but this woman had so many opportunities to break free of William AND Carole throughout her 20s. The big breakup in 2007 was the perfect opportunity for her to snag a prominent man and ride off into the sunset because she had enough notoriety at that point. She probably wouldn’t have gotten a guy with titles, but certainly someone with money at least. She chose to stick around and look at how that’s working for her (not well, despite her desperate attempts to show otherwise).

      • Both Sides Now says:

        @ Nic919, you are absolutely right!! Kate is in no form the victim. She has demonstrated throughout her entire adult life that she intended to marry Willy at any cost and anyone that became a threat, she was sure to attack as well as assert her position.

        Kate has never been the victim and is still where she wants to be.

      • Nic919 says:

        @Julie yes exactly. Melania is the correct analogy here. Both women didn’t do much with their lives and had their eyes fully open as to the type of man they were marrying.

      • Debbie says:

        Sweet Jesus, the way people protect even dreadful white women is just remarkable. Despite everything we’ve all observed, her conduct even before Kate married William, and the way she forgets that she’s a commoner and tried to act as gatekeeper to Meghan at her own wedding (tights, anyone?), some people just reflexively give Kate cover at every opportunity. Now, apparently, even her buttons and wiglets are not of her choosing. When will people face it, that the hair-flipping, mean girl with the rigid grin we see all the time is who she is? When people show you who they are, believe them the first time, as Maya Angelou said.

      • Tessa says:

        Kate enables William ‘s behavior he is not exactly keen in the work department himself

  2. Noki says:

    Not on twitter ,What happened?

  3. Wiglet Watcher says:

    This is a blow for William. Morton Supporting Diana for speaking as she did before Bashir makes William look like a monster to call his mother paranoid and try to discredit her own experiences.

    More cracks in the facade.

    • Alexandria says:

      Cracks indeed 😅 😁🤐

    • The Duchess says:

      I truly believe more and more people are finding the courage to express their true feelings on the incandescent Prince. It may not be a whole army of people, but it’s a start. Morton wouldn’t have dared to say this publicly last year when Baldy first accused his mother of paranoia. Now, he’s quite comfortable in expressing his opinions on the matter. All it takes is a few cracks before the whole facade comes smashing down…

    • MeganC says:

      Morton is plugging is book. Reminding everyone if they haven’t seen the interview, his book still covers all the scandal.

      • Wiglet Watcher says:

        Yeah, but you can plug a book without going after William like that. Everyone tried to Silence Diana. He’s dragging William’s statement back up to the light with this brief reference.

        It’ll never be a huge move that goes full throttle at William. It will always be little chips.

    • Flowerlake says:

      I think lots of non-British people who don’t follow the Royals so much, had a general good opinion on him as “Diana’s son”.

      He just destroyed that with this dumb take.
      People are angry as hell.

      • Feeshalori says:

        Yes, he had gotten the residual glow for years as Diana’s son and now it’s all going to hell in a hand basket. What good is being Diana’s son now if you can’t protect her reputation? He’s a disgrace.

    • Agreatreckoning says:

      Yes @ Wiglet Watcher. Morton (outside of plugging his book) is saying…say what you will about Diana’s Panorma interiview, I have most of the same shite on tape. Before Bashir was accused of manipulating her. Which he did not. At best (and this IS very sketchy), Bashir, per the Dyson report & Diana’s OWN note, did not manipulate Diana. Maybe her brother. Not Diana. One of the ‘false narratives’ is that Diana was manipulated. IN HER OWN F&CKING WORDS, she wasn’t. She wrote a note about it. Diana was giving zero f*cks. Please, no one should believe otherwise. Even Lord Dyson, in his reports, said Diana wanted to give an interview. The Dyson report could only conclude Charles Spencer felt duped. Not Diana. Because obviously, she is no longer around to express her opinion. Charles Spencer, is the same effin brother that refused Diana housing at Althorpe, for “reasons”. IF Diana actually had RPO protection at that time, the Earl of Spencer’s “reasons” are nullified.

      Fun fact: Marmaduke Hussey, husband to QE2’s lady-in-waiting, Lady Susan Hussey, was the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC from 1986-1996. QE2 appointed him. He wasn’t responsible for programming. Curious though that his tenure ended in ’96 when the first BBC/Panorama investigation took place. I’m sure a call from the palace didn’t happen. /s

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        I’m choosing to believe Bashir even though he did some shady things. Will laugh at the Earl of spencer acting all offended. Dude was running in aristo circles and was supposedly a journalist in the media. He’s really tried to sell hard the “manipulative” aspect. And, yes, I believe it came from the palace and brother Charles was complicit.

        Funhttps://metro.co.uk/2021/05/20/princess-diana-and-martin-bashir-timeline-of-the-bbc-panorama-scandal-14613658/ timeline; My favorites are from Bashir’s statement and the last 4 paragraphs?.

      • Wiglet Watcher says:

        Agreatreckoning
        I’m starting to look back at what we were all told about Diana with new lenses. A lot was manipulated by the RF. Unless Diana herself said it or endorsed it I’m thinking it wasn’t true.
        Like her dismissing security.

  4. Becks1 says:

    No. Kaiser said so yesterday on her twitter account.

  5. Leigh_S says:

    BAHAHAHA

  6. Tessa says:

    Bravo Morton but I disagree that Charles and Diana got along better after the divorce if they really were then why did he cooperate with writers like penny and Ingrid who gaslit Diana and after she died

    • Duchcheese says:

      The relationship improved somewhat because once they were separated, they ceased being at each other’s throats all the time. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Charles stopped trying to destroy Diana and her credibility, it just means they weren’t fighting, at least not publicly. But Charles continued plotting to make Diana’s demise happen, thus the “Diana refused royal protection” BS.

  7. Becks1 says:

    Good for Morton. And while normally I would roll my eyes at him still plugging his book, 30 years after it was released, here you can’t be mad about it, because he’s right. Diana had already said a lot of what she said in the Panaroma interview to Morton. Silencing her interview at this point bc Bashir exploited Diana’s fears is a slap in the face to Diana.

    • Vivica says:

      Also, knowing what we do know now about the establishment, was Bashir even wrong about it all?

    • Nic919 says:

      William was a child when this all went down and so he really doesn’t know what he’s speaking of. Silencing his mother is a disgrace and Morton nailed it in that the book covered all of this years before the interview.

      William has a lot to hide himself so this is why he’s decided to take up the cause and help Charles. Don’t think he can win with social media though. Yesterday’s viral moment showed him that while he can shut down the establishment media, he can’t control everyone else.

    • Lorelei says:

      @Becks I did lol at how many times Morton kept saying the full name of his book…it’s like, dude, anyone reading this knows who you are and has probably already read your book decades ago.

    • Both Sides Now says:

      @ Becks1, yes, good for Morton!! Hopefully other respectable royal reporters will speak out with regards to Willy trying to silence his own mother. Willys actions are reprehensible and speak to his own choice to make those statements.

      Though as Kaiser mentioned, I too wish Morton had been much harsher towards Willy. He deserved more powerful pushback.

  8. girl_ninja says:

    William will do anything to secure his bag and this includes keeping on this father’s good side. And that involves ass kissing. He and the person he is married to don’t like to work or be told what to do so here he is disrespecting his mother in her death to keep that Charles money close.

  9. Flower says:

    That picture of Di in the yellow suit is just stunning.

    It really makes you realise how fast fashion has dumbed down the clothing industry.

    I have a ton of my mothers clothes from the 80’s and 90’s. Some designer and some expensive UK high street stuff. The quality is AMAZING, lining, properly stitched, amazing materials.

    My aunt gave me a three Zara suits recently (one a copy of prada) from 20 years ago and the quality puts today’s prada to shame.

  10. C-Shell says:

    Morton is resurrecting his book marketing, of course — who could blame him with all of this front and center right now — but everything he said is true. He articulated something that I’ve been wondering about — why aren’t the Panorama or Dimbleby interviews part of historical record? I get that the UK is different, and the BRF has the ability to censor the media and do so constantly, but something that’s been in the public domain for decades can’t just be erased.

  11. jferber says:

    I hate William. That’ s the long and short of it. He is a total pr-ck. Sorry, not sorry.

  12. emerson says:

    *can’t stop laughing about it

  13. Merricat says:

    Diana is the first one they couldn’t just behead. I love that we will continue to hear her voice, thanks to Harry.
    Btw, what happened since the Mother’s Day cards for Granny Diana? Such a change of tone.

    • Merricat says:

      I apologize for the first comment. I did not think it through to the logical conclusion.

    • Tuille says:

      I think that having the kids make Mother’s Day cards for a granny who’s been dead for 25 years is ghoulish. That was probably Kate’s idea.

      • C says:

        I don’t get how they never seem to celebrate Mother’s Day for Kate!

      • Debbie says:

        In some ways, I think the “Granny Diana” postcard thing was a bit like W & K posing with Black children, especially when William doesn’t appear to respect Diana’s voice. It becomes just a way for him and his family to look good and associate themselves with something positive, without actually being sincere. I’m sure he loves his mother but these disrespectful statements he’s made in the media about her are awful.

    • Flowerlake says:

      Well, there was also Caroline of Brunswick in the nineteenth century, which was past beheading queens time in the UK.

      The people liked her, king George IV not so much.

      If I remember correctly, after Napoleon’s death, courtiers told him his biggest enemy had died. And he said something like “How did she die?”

      (Not sure how true this is last part is. Just remember reading it somewhere once, but he definitely didn’t like her).

  14. Tessa says:

    I worry about the Cambridge children with such a father they will have to stand up for themselves big time

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Tessa, it’s not just their father. It’s their mother and Mid grandmother. I feel truly sorry for al three of the kids. Can you imagine what their lives must be like? Their parents can’t stand to be in the same room, and I have no doubt that shouting matches occur in private when they find themselves together. I have no illusions that KHate is incapable of shouting down Wont, too. Then top it off with CarolE in George’s ear. I have no idea if she’s as committed to Charlotte and Louis, but I can understand if George looks anxious in public. I can’t imagine how many conflicting things he’s been told on how to present himself. First Wont, then Cant and then Ma Mid.

      Everyone keeps talking about Adalaide Cottage, but has anyone seen a formal announcement? I keep wondering if W&K are pushing for it, but they haven’t gotten it yet. I wonder what’s going on behind the curtain?

      • Beach Dreams says:

        “I have no doubt that shouting matches occur in private when they find themselves together. I have no illusions that KHate is incapable of shouting down Wont, too.”

        Jobson admitted as much in discussing his biography on William in a Daily Fail article a few months ago. He basically talked about the “occasional blistering row” (which we can read as happening MORE than ‘occasionally’) and that Kate “gives as good as she gets” when William starts screaming and shouting. I imagine their staff has plenty of stories they could tell from overhearing these two.

      • Julia K says:

        We all saw Louis put his little hand over Kate’s mouth and calmly look away at the Jubilee. Where did he see this? At home?

      • Lady D says:

        It probably gets done to him at home.

    • Tessa says:

      Yes, I agree. I am not just including William. William has a wife who enables him and also has had bad behavior all her own. As does her mother and even Uncle Gary spoke against Meghan . Not a nice family. I also think it is bad for children to push them out to the public at such a young age and I think that’s Kate and William’s joint decision.

  15. ABritGuest says:

    I mean what he’s saying is true. The methods to get the interview were wrong & the bbc & bashir should be held accountable for what was probably more of a failure in journalistic ethics. But Diana would have given an interview & said the same & more in Morton ‘s book & the Diana tapes. Charles’ palace approved bio the year before panorama had said he was forced to marry Diana & he had admitted adultery on Dimbleby. So hard to know how Diana’s interview “made their relationship worse”. And she had reason to be paranoid beyond Bashir given reports after her death showed she WAS being spied on incl by foreign intelligence.

    cynical me says that there’s no way the bbc would be agreeing to lock the interview away if eg the newsnight team had done similar to get the Prince Andrew interview or if Diana had only said absolutely positive things about the monarchy. This is about protecting the next monarch & his consort & the bbc being subservient to the future king & the monarchy generally.

    Also Morton must know his book will probably be next in terms of the establishment discrediting & silencing Diana’s voice so theres a bit of self interest as to his comments .

    • Tessa says:

      Will will not be able to censor Morton if he tries Morton would take him to court and win

    • Tessa says:

      Charles actually forced the divorce of the Parker Bowles by naming Camilla as his mistress during his dimbleby interview

      • Jan90067 says:

        Yes. It was only considered a “source of pride” in the aristocracy to be the *Mistress* of royalty if it was kept *discrete* w/in their social circle. If it was made *widely public*, THAT was the shameful part. Once EVERYONE & his “unwashed brother” knew, that was a step too far for APB.

      • Lorelei says:

        “Everyone and his unwashed brother”
        Lmao 😂

  16. Lampshade says:

    I think it’s a good time to remember that we often just blame BP for Diana’s paranoia but the tabloids had been bugging every major political figure in Britain for a long time. It is to their benefit that blame and anger gets laid onto BP and not them.
    The tabloids want to be the true power behind the government and monarchy in Britain.
    I’m not saying the Royals don’t play along but it’s mostly out of fear (with the exception I think of KP who have stupidly convinced themselves that they are partners in William’s embiggening.

    • Nic919 says:

      Diana wasn’t paranoid because that suggests she was imagining things. At the time the phones of the royals were hacked by slimeballs like Piers Morgan, who should be in jail. The leveson inquiry failed to change anything but when phones were tapped all over, Diana was not paranoid to think someone might be listening in. Because often they were.

      • Jaded says:

        Exactly. I hate the word paranoid being used in this context. She was *suspicious* and rightly so, and no amount of trying to re-write history by alluding to her frail mental health will change her story. Her history needs to be kept alive because what she did was incredibly brave, it’s like a game of Kerplunk where you start pulling out sticks until the whole structure collapses and it’s what’s happening in the BRF as we speak.

  17. Tessa says:

    If William finds someone he wants to be with he will leave kate and remarry

    • Julia K says:

      I’d have to disagree with this. Who wants him? He used to be a nice looking man but no more. He comes with a lot of baggage; a bad temper, mentally lazy and narcissistic. Maybe he’s good for a brief fling but any woman would quickly tire of this guy. He will stay with the only woman who wants the throne more than her self respect.

      • SnoodleDumpling says:

        Well, he might find a nice Russian intelligence operative one of these days, never say never.

  18. Mslove says:

    Does Bill know how much attention he draws to Diana’s interview when he tries to muzzle it? Does Bill realize he’s a laughing stock no one takes seriously? That’s gotta sting, lol.

    • Lorelei says:

      I know I sound like a broken record by now, but both William and Charles do this constantly and I do NOT understand how they haven’t learned yet. They are forever bringing attention to things they don’t want any attention on by attacking them, not realizing that keeping their mouths shut in the first place would be much more effective.
      I guess it’s the arrogance making them think that once they make a pronouncement, the peasants will all fall into place and believe their side of it? But that never happens, it always backfires, and they keep doing it.

  19. equality says:

    I wonder how much more material the tabloids have from bugging and phone tapping that they never used. Maybe how they knew about the bags of cash but sat on it for years? Or how they have more material on PW so he has to play along with what they want?

  20. Miranda says:

    I have a theory that Diana takes back a few of her pretty Spencer genes each time William tries to posthumously silence her or bullies her favorite daughter-in-law or even just tries to wriggle his way out of a charity commitment. The Windsor in him is rearing its balding, horsey head more and more, isn’t it?

  21. SueBarbri says:

    I only started royal watching when Diana died, and I also can’t believe that William wound up here. Wild. And if he has no problem behaving this way in public toward the memory and words of his own mother, then what must he be like behind closed doors? He seems utterly monstrous and it’s been a long time since I read anything positive about his personality. It’s just constant feuds and rage and unhappiness, and I don’t understand why the RR and KP don’t counter this narrative with literally anything else. We haven’t even gotten any Burger King type pictures this summer.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      SueBarbri, well I just noticed in the last day or two that msn have articles about Wont everywhere. They also have article smearing H&M. I’ve decided to stay away from msn because of it.

      There’s a huge push to get favorable coverage for Wont before Harry’s memoir gets published and before Earthsh!t in December. I hope that the way he’s talked about Princess Di gets out on social media over and over again, along with what she specifically said. That’s an area that they don’t want to push on here in the US–people really were fascinated with Di and everyone heard what she had to say–they believed her then and they believe her now. He wants to get known in the US? That’s what he should be known for.

  22. Thinking says:

    Diana admitted to her own affair in that interview. That’s something that’s not in the Morton book. Because of the admission of her affair, I don’t think the interview is flattering to her in the way the Morton book is.

    I wondered if that was the part of the interview William would rather forget. Even I kind of cringe when I see a replay of her admitting to it. The Morton book makes no reference to any of her affairs so in that sense the book is a better way to remember her by. Granted, the affair is part of her history but sometimes there are things I’d rather not know about famous people.

    I’ve also wondered why she admitted to the affair. Was Bashir threatening her if she didn’t? She had other affairs and never admitted to those so why did she admit to that particular one? That’s something that kind of vexes me when I waste too much time thinking about it too hard.

    • Tessa says:

      I addressed this further down in the thread. I think Diana admitting the affair was a pre-emptive strike against Hewitt going public with the letters.

    • Swaz says:

      William might be sensitive about the affair because he’s having affairs too😭he wishes his mother was like Kate, grin 😁 and bear it 😳

      • PrincessK says:

        Exactly William does not want to hear the line, ‘there were three of us in the marriage’ because it reminds him of his own marriage.

      • Bisynaptic says:

        @princessk, with William’s marriage, it takes a village… 😜

    • Andrew's_Nemesis says:

      I had friends at Eton with the boys when all this went down.
      They locked themselves in their rooms for days.
      I see Diana’s point, but this coming after their father’s betrayal was intensely damaging.

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        I think people just need to be told/reminded about Chuck’s confession in and EARLIER interview about his affair with Camilla. I don’t know why Hewitt was mentioned, but I think Di figured it would come out and she would rather control the narrative. Coupled with Chuck already admitting his affair, that makes a lot of sense.

      • Tessa says:

        There were a lot of ramifications re: Charles interview for the Parker Bowles children. I read that Tom Parker Bowles was ashamed that his middle name is Charles and in school he tried not to write down his middle name or say what it is. Laura was said to tell Charles not to bother her mother when he called her. And it officially broke up their parents. I think that was the turning point, once Camilla was “free” it was a whole new ballgame. She was no longer “safely married.”

      • PrincessK says:

        @Tessa Yes the Parker Bowles children really suffered a lot and are often forgotten in this mess. Tina Brown’s book goes into detail about the effect it had on them, and how Laura told Charles to leave her mother alone whenever he called. Laura also argued with William, each blaming the others parent for destroying the respective families. All four children were badly damaged by the behaviour of the two adults.

      • equality says:

        So PC wants to be Cam’s knickers or tampon and no big trauma? PC does interview and says I didn’t ever love Di and shrug? But Di does interview and it’s traumatizing? Only men are allowed to do these things? Or they didn’t feel as close to PC so didn’t care?

    • MoonRiver says:

      In case you may not remember , Diana only referenced James Hewett in the Panorama interview because he had outed their affair the year before in his October ‘94 book, “Princess in Love”.

      Had he not done that, I can almost guarantee she would not have addressed any rumors of her affair with him or even allowed a thirsty Bashir to inquire about it. There is no question that admission of this affair was not a good look which is why she did not volunteer it to Andrew Morton for his book 3 years prior. Diana was not a PR fool, she simply had to address it.

      Bashir broached the subject of Hewett by way of the book and Diana’s initial response was to avoid an answer by positing herself as the victim of a shameless betrayal of a “friend” by saying that the book’s release hurt her. She said she “rushed” to William’s school when she heard about the book so she could prepare him and he presented her with a box of chocolates (“these are for you mummy because I feel you have been hurt”). She then shrugs without ever acknowledging if the affair was true. So, Bashir pointedly asks, “did you have an affair with James Hewett?” to which Diana responds, “yes, I adored him, yes I was in love with him but I was very let down.” (“In love” sounds more sympathetic than, “yes, I, a married woman, wronged by her philandering husband, also had sex outside of my marriage.” Diana was slick! Lol.

      Cue the “aww, the cad! How could he betray her like that by writing about their affair for profit!” instead of condemnation of Diana for cheating on Charles. Lol. Loved Diana. Lol

      She went on to acknowledge that while there was truth in the story of their affair, “there was also a lot of fiction in that book” with things she said, which “did not equate with reality.”

      And, if you are wondering how I can recall it so vividly, I recorded the interview on my VCR back in ‘95, watched it MANY times over the years, and only threw out my vhs of it last year in a move.

      • aftershocks says:

        ^^ Ahh thanks @Moonriver, for your detailed recall of what Diana actually said about Hewitt. You make great points. I commiserate with you re having to throw out fave accumulated VHS recordings. Moving is always a frightening nightmare. 🥺

  23. TheOriginalMia says:

    Morton is right. Bashir’s methods in securing the interview were wrong, but squashing they interview and thereby Diana’s story is equally wrong. Diana had the right to say what she wanted about her marriage. Charles spoke candidly (for him) about his relationships with both Camilla & Diana, but Diana shouldn’t be allowed her voice. Nah. Fuck, William and Charles. I don’t expect much from Charles, but Diana was William’s mother and the fact he’s trying to silence her will never be right. Narcissistic jerkwad. It’s all about his image, his feelings. Kate should be afraid. If Charles and William will go to these lengths with Diana, what would they do to her and her clan in a divorce?

  24. Tessa says:

    Hewitt had those letters from Diana he tried to sell them without success I always thought Diana admitted the affair to thwart Hewitt publishing those letters

    • Jaded says:

      The rat tried to sell them 6 years after Diana died. Interestingly, they met at a party in 1986 and he became her riding instructor as she had a lifelong fear of horses. There’s a famous photo of Diana, Charles and the boys where she’s wearing an equestrian outfit, a secret nod to Hewitt, but it appears to have been *disappeared* from the internet.

      • Tessa says:

        He was another man who used her. Hewitt did not EVER love her if he sold her out for a book deal (and cooperated with Anna Pasternack on the book Princess in Love).

      • BeanieBean says:

        @Jaded: It’s actually still google-able. It’s a 1992 portrait by Snowdon.

      • Jaded says:

        @BeanieBean – thanks, it appears my googling skillz need help!

  25. Harper says:

    Sure, right Burger King. Charles and Di were blissfully in love, swanning around their palaces, when Diana decided to go rogue, entertain Bashir and agree with his plot to take down her loving husband by going on the telly and saying mean things about him. William is a stunted adolescent, isn’t he? A mature forty year old could denounce Bashir’s lies and concede that his parents certainly were struggling in their marriage beforehand, which Bashir took advantage of. A mature William could reference the bugging and hacking of both parents’ conversations, which he also has been victim of since then, without calling his mother paranoid.

    It’s clear that the only thing he respects in a woman is her ability to keep her mouth shut, and that’s how crafty CarolE got Kate into the family by stressing silence. It’s also why Burger King is incandescent about Meghan, She who Dared to Speak.

    • Tessa says:

      Charles and Diana had a formal separation announced by John Major in December 1992. They were living separate lives pretty much from the mid eighties. Did william really think that the marriage could go on after the separation and after Charles admitted his affair with Camilla and forced the PB divorce.

    • Snuffles says:

      “ William is a stunted adolescent, isn’t he?”

      1000% He hasn’t grown emotionally one iota since his early teens.

    • Julie says:

      William is someone who has never healed from the emotional incest in his childhood. And he’s privileged enough to never need to heal from it.

      • C says:

        Diana may have made some mistakes as a mother as all mothers may do but the “emotional incest” idea comes from people like Piers Morgan and Charles’s paid PR shills like Penny Junor.
        Part of it was meant to prop up people like Tiggy Legge-Bourke.

      • Tessa says:

        That spin is straight out of Charles camp William for one thing was away at school and Diana worked Diana unlike Charles told William and harry that she loved their father Charles told his biographer he never loved their mother Diana unfortunately was gaslighted posthumously by writers such as Ingrid and penny

      • Tessa says:

        Will is a sellout

  26. Thinking says:

    Journalists like Morton have profited tremendously off of Diana, and continue to do so. They told her story, but they also got paid,

    In that sense, I’m a bit wary of what the journalists have to say. At the end of the day, they make money off of her if we kept buying their books. I can’t really tell how much the journalists who covered her life story actually care about her as a person. Would they actually care as much if they didn’t make a profit?

    • Tessa says:

      These are Diana’s own words, and important part of history

    • Swaz says:

      Everybody gets paid😍if I found out that you got paid for writing this I would not be surprised 😮 just ordered the book and looking forward to reading it.

      • Thinking says:

        I didn’t get paid, but I wish I did. If someone is willing to pay me, I’d take it.

        I probably should have been smart enough to negotiate a price before posting. Instead I stupidly wasted my words for free. I have no common sense.

    • Harper says:

      Journalism is not about caring about the subject matter. It is about caring to be objective, to provide the who, what, when, and where of the situation, and to report their sources’ words accurately. Journalists are trained to choose words that are not slanted in order to keep from injecting their own personal opinion into the articles or stories, Articles or stories based on personal opinion are called editorials or opinion pieces. All of the British royal reporting is opinion pieces masquerading as news reporting.

      Morton accurately presented Diana’s side of the story without filtering it through the opinions of the British royal reporters. He filled a big hole in the journalism reporting of that time. Diana chose him, she trusted him, and she supported her friends that spoke to him afterward. It seemed like Diana thought Morton cared enough.

      Publishing companies need writers to provide the content that they can package and sell and profit from. The publishing companies make millions off of an international best-seller like Morton’s, but you sound disappointed that Morton is getting a cut of the money for doing the work. It’s way off the mark to think that getting paid for something means you don’t care. It’s like, does this fast-food drive-thru window employee really care enough about my burger and fries? If not, I don’t think he should get paid.

      • Thinking says:

        I recognize what journalists do. Anyone can make an argument for what different careers do and what they accomplish. That doesn’t mean all people do the same job and career equally well.

        Not all journalists are the same. And not all journalists are equal in ability.

        The public has a right to critique a journalist in the same way a journalist can critique a subject. Hence, the criticism of Bashir who obtained his scoop through deceitful methods rather than relying on simply asking the subject if she’d like to be covered.

        Sone journalists do a good job. Some don’t don’t. To pretend that all of them subscribe to one view of the profession is asking people to shut off their own critical faculties. Morton doesn’t have to care about his subject as you said but to ask the public to shut off their own critical thinking skills as to what a journalist’s motivation might be seems a bit off to me.

      • Thinking says:

        I should also add my response about being paid for a post was simply a direct response to the other poster’s assumption about what I wrote ( if you read that poster’s words carefully).

        My response didn’t really have anything to with Morton or journalism as a profession. The other poster said he or she wouldn’t be surprised if I got paid. I corrected the erroneous assumption that I was paid when I clearly had not been.

      • Saucy&Sassy says:

        Thinking, I agree with what you said. I think the bigger issue is all of the “royal reporters” who are not journalists. There is a difference. A journalist will look for and report the facts. A royal reporter makes up things to sell an article. We need to continue thinking in order to differentiate between the two. Andrew Morton got his facts from Princess Di. I have no reason to believe that Diana lied to him. In fact, there was so much garbage in the UK media and some trickling into the US, that we were aware of some of what was going on.

        Diana wanted to tell the world the truth about what happened. With Morton and Bashir, that’s what she accomplished. I find it beyond reasoning that Wont has taken the stance he has. If he and Chuck think this is going to help when the Crown comes out, they are seriously delusional.

  27. Beverley says:

    It’s difficult to believe that William is Diana’s son. How she must be feeling now, watching him attempt to gag her and distort her memory. I believe this is one reason Willnot’s attractive looks have left him. His heart is a small, cold, dead thing and nothing of Diana’s energy is with him anymore. His 15 scant years with her weren’t enough. Such a pity. He is truly awful and I hope the monarchy falls to complete obscurity and ruin before His Royal Incandescence Bulliam the Horrible ascends the throne. He deserves nothing.

    • SnoodleDumpling says:

      Yeah, every time I look at him I can’t help but think he is every inch his father’s son…except about the WORK ETHIC.

  28. Laura D says:

    I don’t understand why William would want to silence his mother. I think this is more about exercising control over the BBC. He bears a grudge and is probably still resentful over the recent documentary “Princes and the Press”. Even though he managed to get some items removed the programme still aired. As a result of the public being allowed to see the documentary and judge it for themselves he threw his toys out of the pram and refused to let the Beeb film the royal carol concert.

    IMHO William is a danger to freedom of speech and the free press. He happily allows (and in some cases supports) lies and misinformation about his brother and his wife to carry on for years but, comes down hard on anyone telling a truth which doesn’t comply to his narcissistic agenda.

    • Beach Dreams says:

      He wants to silence her because he is fully Team Windsor, even back when his mother was still alive. Diana understood and acknowledged that with her “William may belong to the Windsors but Harry is mine” comment (paraphrasing since I don’t remember the exact quote). Anything/anyone that goes against the monarchy needs to be shut down in his eyes. Of course, there’s also the discomfiting parallels between his mother’s treatment and that of the Sussexes, especially of Meghan. Funny because he and Kate (and the monarchy in general) are the ones who forced that comparison in the first place through their smearing and hideous actions.

  29. Dee says:

    I see now that #Princeofplugging is a double entendre, as Baldemort is trying to plug up his own mother’s speech and memory. He deserves every damn public embarrassment he gets. What kind of man would humiliate his own dead mother in this way? Vicious, narcissistic scumbag. Does he think the public won’t notice his propensity to throw his own family under the bus? Even Daily Fail readers have to have had a glimpse of this. He has no star power to save him from what is coming. He is the one who opened the floodgates of criticism and ridicule against himself when he went on a rampage against H&M. I cannot wait to see the next hilarious hashtag. Ha!

  30. Bex says:

    The fact he’s blaming the BBC for never airing/licensing the interview ever again is interesting since this is exactly what William asked for last year.

    I think it’s also telling how Morton, who tried his damnedest to discredit Meghan, gets on his soapbox about Diana. He was very happy to sow derision about Meghan (which GREATLY benefited William) and go along with the palace narrative.

    All this looks to me is someone afraid they’re going to come for him, his book (AND the Diana tapes) next, and he’s trying to get ahead of it.

    • L4Frimaire says:

      It’s very self serving of him, but it does go beyond him, so hope he is being sincere in his concerns. He did a recent interview where he had to admit he never met Meghan or her friends, and looked ridiculous. I’m not sure if he was just opportunistic trying to ride the Meghan hate money train, or if he feels he has to save the monarchy from “wokeness” like some of these other twits out there.

  31. Carlos says:

    William need to be reminded that he had a worderful woman as a mother and that! the world has not forgotten what really happened to her. He has been Brain-washed by his own family. Probably he has been threatened by his father that, if he revives his mother legacy when he becomes a king, that he will turn Britain a republic. During his reing if willy don’t forgive him.

  32. Thinking says:

    Diana may have spoken her truth, but Bashir did violate the ethics of his profession. It’s hard not to view the methods as a violation even if Diana said what she needed to say.

    It’s almost impossible not to pass judgement on the method itself. Even if you show the interview you’d have to put a disclaimer to mention how it was procured to pre-empt other journalists from behaving that way.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Thinking, I don’t think I’ve seen you post about the royal reporters constant lies, but you’re posting now about the ethics of Bashir and “Diana may have spoken her truth.” Well, no, Diana DID speak her truth. Let’s see you spend as much energy analyzing the royal reporters’ articles full of lies.

    • L4Frimaire says:

      I don’t think anyone disputes that, but the UK journalism world, particularly the tabloids, seem rife with deception and shady practices. Remember this is around the time of tapping celebrities phones and breaking into the house, stealing medical records etc. However, those are Diana’s words, and that was not the only time she said it.

  33. Katie Beanstalk says:

    Many women would love to have the life Kate has married to William. Because of this I don’t know why so many people have to criticise Kate for compromising herself to hold onto her life as a royal. (If that is indeed what she does.).

    In Australia 15,000 people applied for this show where you marry a complete stranger. Kate knows if she doesn’t toe the line she would easily get replaced.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Katie Beanstalk, oh, I fully agree that KHate is fully complicit in the marriage. I also have no doubt that she will fight tooth and nail to hang on to it. I think many on this site would agree. I will say that I doubt that many women would be able to become what KHate has made herself into to stay. How many women would stay?

    • Lizzie says:

      Most of the criticism is directed toward her participation in the Sussex smear campaign.

    • equality says:

      So don’t criticize K for compromising herself to the point that she participated in a smear campaign on a suicidal pregnant woman?

  34. L4Frimaire says:

    I don’t generally pay any attention to this guy but Morton is 100% right on this. This is an important historical record that should not be erased. He’s also right about William being wrong on the interview regarding his parents relationship.I don’t understand how William is so distorted in his thinking. Part of it is that he doesn’t want any truth airing about his personal life, whether in his own marriage or how he attacked his brother and sister-in-law, and continues to attack and smear them. Also,people do draw parallels to the treatment of Diana, and their tactics against Meghan. Many children of divorce can eventually see the flaws in their parents relationships from an adult perspective, but he seems incapable of that. He also has the power of the state to suppress truth and try to rewrite history, which is also undermining a so- called free press.

  35. Jean says:

    Maybe I’m late to the party but to me the Cambridges look self satisfied and content with their lives, I definitely don’t see any separation or unhappiness in them, they just don’t want any competition.

    • Beach Dreams says:

      If they were truly happy and satisfied, they wouldn’t be so desperate to make inroads into the American market. They also wouldn’t be so fixated on the Sussexes or continue this ridiculous one-sided competition. Everything that’s happened in the past two years post-Sussexit shows that the Cambridges aren’t anywhere near as content as you think they are.

    • notasugarhere says:

      To me they look like former business partners who know their business has gone bankrupt. They blame each other for their joint failures, both are miserable, and are working actively against each other in the press. Shades of Charles and Diana with the Welsh floods and the Korea visit in many of their pics and videos for at least four years too.

  36. Debbie says:

    First of all, I’m grateful the excepts ended before Andrew Morton plugged his book by saying, “Diana: Her True Story” again. Okay, we get it. You wrote the book. Nevertheless, I do agree with AM about the need for access to Princess Diana’s interview. I can’t believe the BBC is so devoid of journalistic independence.

  37. Siobhan says:

    So are we only allowed to refer to the rumors exploding today as Prince of Plugging? I will say that I had heard rumours years ago that the affair with Rose may have actually been more of an affair with David Rocksavage and/or both.

    • Siobhan says:

      Thought to add though, that I could just as easily see those rumours from the past few days being about Prince Charles as I could see them being about Prince William ….

    • morgfunk says:

      ding ding ding! I’ve always thought this 110%

  38. Dee says:

    I have just started watching Princes and the Press and one of the first things coming up is that editors always wanted Harry on the covers because he sells and William doesn’t. So it sounds like Baldemort’s bitter envy has been longstanding, and no doubt H&M’s success has amplified that a thousandfold. Glee!!!

    • PrincessK says:

      Of course. Same with Meghan she outsells Kate every time. The British media have a pact with the royals which puts Kate on front covers. Even Hello which used to be even handed has succumbed and no longer puts Meghan on the cover even though it would make more money for them.

  39. Bisynaptic says:

    For the love of God—Diana was not paranoid. She had well-founded fears. Whether or not she was right on all counts doesn’t change that.

  40. Robin Samuels says:

    The boy portrayed as William in the film Spenser is not the same boy who walked behind his mother’s coffin in real life in 1997. I believe the dynamics between Diana and William changed before she died. He was in Eaton, spending time among the elitists. Most British media headlines were anti-Diana and pro-Charles, which were embarrassing to Willliam. By the time the Bashir interview took place, the marriage was in complete chaos. William is incorrect when he says the interview damaged the marriage.
    I don’t understand why he waits until he’s forty years old to silence her voice. William, Charles, and Camila have an invisible contract with the British tabloid media. Charles and Camila’s allegiance to the press is more potent than William’s. The silencing of Diana by her eldest son was an agreement between father and son but at what cost? William can stop competing with Harry. He’s locked in that gilded cage for life.
    The constant media attack on the Sussexes has become dull, forcing those who were otherwise disinterested in the British monarchy to become more curious about the others. The Game of Thrones is in its formative stage, and the best is yet to come.

  41. Likeyoucare says:

    Kate is definitely a bully. She chose to be that kind of person even if she was claimed to be controlled by the BRF.
    Diana was living in a similar situation and controlled by the BRF too but she chosen to be a better person to help others.