Princess Diana laid bare ‘staggering' royal secrets during explosive interview

Princess Diana sent shockwaves in the royal household at a number of different occasions but the one major blow remains her explosive Panorama interview.

The Princess of Wales had been highly secretive about the interview with BBC’s Martin Bashir as she discussed some of the best-kept secrets of the British royal family publicly.

From her romantic affairs to her remarks about the Queen Mother, the interview delivered bombshell after bombshell.

The showrunners had made a decision about letting Diana be the one who informs the monarchy about the contentious chat after which she notified Queen Elizabeth II’s private secretary Robert Fellowes.

Controller of editor policy for BBC, Richard Ayre said on Channel 5’s documentary, Diana: The Interview That Shocked the World: "Right at the beginning we had agreed that the princess should be allowed to be the person who broke the news to the palace."

Speaking about the conversation between Robert Fellowes and Diana, royal expert Richard Kay said: “She said 'Oh Robert, I want to you to know I've done an interview with the BBC.”

"Alarm bells must have rung immediately with Fellowes. He very generously said 'is it something to do with Children in Need'. She simply replied, ‘no, it was Panorama’.”

As the world waited for the interview to air after it was recorded, Ayre recalled how things went down during that tense period: "I said, 'this programme is going to mean either the end of the BBC, or the end of the Royal Family, or possibly both, and there is absolutely no doubt that we have to broadcast it'."

About Diana’s behavior during the period, Kay said: "She was nervous, anxious about people's reaction. But clearly being assured all the time by Martin that she had done the right thing and the film would have the desired affect that she wanted."

Royal expert Jennie Bond also looked back at the interview and said: "I couldn't believe that she had gone public with every aspect of her private life really, right down to her adultery and her love for Hewitt, and her feelings about Camilla.”

"As I watched it was absolutely aware that this is an extraordinary piece of television. Practically every sentence was staggering,” she added.