‘I know that she did ask Camilla to leave her husband alone.’ ibid. Diana’s dance instructor
‘Everybody knew about the bulimia in the family.’ ibid. Diana
‘With the media attention came a lot of jealousy.’ ibid.
‘And he was a royal protection officer, Barry Mannakee. ibid.’
‘There’s no better way to dismantle a personality than to isolate it.’ (Diana & Personality) ibid.
‘And he said, I refuse to be the Prince of Wales who never had a mistress.’ ibid.
‘About once every three weeks. And then it fizzled out about seven years ago.’ ibid.
This was a new Diana. The people’s princess in the making. Independent. Modern. Even flirtatious. ibid.
December 1992: Two weeks after the Queen’s speech it was officially announced that Diana and Prince Charles had decided to separate. ibid.
‘Everything changed after we separated. Life became very difficult for me.’ ibid. Diana
1995: Diana felt her back against the wall once more. And on the 5th November, bonfire night, she prepared to tell a story again this time to BBC’s Panorama. ibid.
In 1981 a young Princess Diana burst on to the world stage. But just five years earlier Diana’s private life had been turned upside with the arrival of her new stepmother Raine – famous socialite, feisty politician and all-round force of nature. Raine would become the most hated person in Diana’s life. Princess Diana’s Wicked Stepmother, Channel 4 2017
But when Diana’s marriage went into freefall it was her stepmother she would turn to. ibid.
Johnnie [Spencer] was also a lost soul. But Raine was to change all that. ibid.
Diana had left school without any A-levels. ibid.
The media coined her new nickname: Acid Raine. ibid.
Her [Raine] life had been one of British high society’s greatest adventures. ibid.
Became Lady Diana in 1975. Studied ballet and tap dance. Married Prince Charles 29th July 1981. Diana: The People’s Princess, captions, Sky 2017
‘Diana represented the fairy story.’ ibid. Carole Malone
‘We were parallel to the car. I couldn’t have imagined that there was anybody in the car let along alive in the car. There was no blood. She was just somebody that was not moving. She was still. Almost like it was as if her head were tilted looking out the window.’ ibid. tunnel witness
December 1994: two and a half years before the death of Princess Diana. A black Mercedes has been stolen and is speeding along a country road just north of Paris … An apparently random accident that would go on to have serious consequences. Diana’s Death: The Search for the Truth, CI 2017
Diana appeared to want revenge. ibid.
Why did the couple choose to leave The Ritz hotel? ibid.
The reaction was global and emotional. ibid.
Henri Paul: Alcohol mixed with anti-depressants. ibid.
Stolen for the second time the Mercedes disappeared into the streets of the capital … Two months later the car reappeared abandoned on the hard shoulder of the motorway … Once repaired the limo went straight back into service at The Ritz. ibid.
Captain James Hewitt served in the life guards … The pair met in 1985 five years after Diana had married Prince Charles. The Royal Family: Affairs & Infidelities, Channel 5 2019
No scandal caused as much damage to the House of Windsor as the day Princess Diana decided to reveal all about the state of her royal marriage. The Royal Family: Scandals at the Palace, Channel 5 2019
Now that Charles’s affair with Camilla was public knowledge, Diana was determined to use the media to hit back again. ibid.
This is Britain in the summer of 1981. Thatcher, Duran Duran, rioting, and the Royal Wedding of the century. A 20-year-old bride and her prince charming captivated the nation. Three-quarters of a billion watched around the world. But behind the scenes all was not well. Publicly, there was a united front. Privately, there was doubt, fear and heartbreak. This is the revealing and shocking story of the seven days that led up to Charles’ and Diana’s wedding. Charles & Diana: The Truth Behind Their Wedding, Channel 5 2020
There were signs all was not well. In four months, Diana’s waist had shrunk by over five inches … ‘She looked beautiful but she had melted away.’ ibid.
‘… mismatched … doomed, utterly doomed …’ ibid. Nicholas Soames
The wedding was a welcome respite for Mrs Thatcher’s struggling government. ibid.
At the age of 32 the pressure was on, and Charles knew it. He had already asked at least two women to marry him. ibid.
Had Diana fallen in love with the romantic idea of a prince rather than Charles himself? ibid.
But Diana was overwhelmed and behind closed doors broke down again. Powerless to stop the juggernaut, there was nothing Diana could do. The public saw none of it. ibid.
With less than forty-eight hours to go, Charles danced once with Diana, then spent the rest of the time on the dance floor with Camilla. ibid.
They are the most famous family in the world. For generations they’ve symbolised tradition, integrity, power and privilege. How they act in public and private matters. But they are also just like us. So behind the perfect image there often lies a different story. And royal rows mean upset at the very heart of the British establishment. The Windsors: Royal Rifts & Feuds, expert, Channel 5 2000
Royal relationships playing out like the ultimate soap opera whether it’s a very public breakdown, speculation of a feud with a future queen, or constitutional crisis – it can get very bitter. ibid.
Diana’s jealousy and paranoia about Camilla had continued in the first few years of her marriage with Charles. ibid.
Camillagate: Read The Royal Tape In FULL. ibid. The People headline
Panorama: An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales: perhaps the most brutal and explosive interview a member of the Royal Family has ever given. ibid.
‘Diana seemed to have suspicions about the pair right from the start’ ... ‘Just before the wedding Diana intercepted a package that arrived at Charles’ office and she insisted on opening it, and it was a gold bracelet with the initial F & G for Fred & Gladys, their nicknames for each other.’ The Royal Family at War, Channel 5 2020
He said at least I’ve got my heir and spare. ibid. Paul Burrell the Butler
Out came this cascade of emotion; she was speaking like a prisoner in a cell. ibid. Andrew Morton re the Diana tapes and base of Diana: Her True Story
It [press] feasted on the misery of this family. ibid. expert
The Royal War went public … ‘She wanted to hurt him. She wanted to punish him.’ ibid.
The Royal Family and the tabloid press have a long and complicated relationship. Sometimes they’re friends, sometimes they’re not. This is the inside story of that fascinating relationship. Diana vs The Tabloids, Channel 5 2020
Over a light lunch in Diana’s private quarters she proposed a deal to the assembled press editors: she would feed them stories if in return if they took a more respectful approach to her privacy. ibid.
Charles’s new girlfriend was a tantalising prospect for the tabloids. ibid.
It was very clear that Diana sold, Charles didn’t. ibid.
To the ever watchful tabloid press, the cracks they had always suspected in the royal marriage were beginning to show. Charles was an old-fashioned country gent while Diana was a young cosmopolitan city girl. And it wasn’t long before press rumours were circulating about extra-marital affairs. ibid.
Camilla Tapes: Charles Rocked By Shock Camilla Tape. ibid. People
Dubbed Tampongate. ibid.
Effectively suggesting he would have liked to have been Camilla’s Tampax is probably the biggest low any member of the Royal Family has ever sunk to. ibid.
Turning against a money machine like the princess can damage sales. ibid.
Over time these acts of defiance became more public. ibid.
Just Di-Light-Ful … Daring Di: She’s All Things Bold & Beautiful … The Mouse That Roared. ibid. Sun