From the prime-time interview aired on the wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, to the revelations of illegal tactics and the public condemnation from Princes William and Harry.

Thirty years have passed since the historic November 20, 1995, when 23 million viewers in the United Kingdom alone sat in front of their televisions to watch Diana, Princess of Wales, in an unprecedented interview. 

For 54 minutes, speaking from the flagship of British journalism, the BBC, the future king’s wife, seated in one of the drawing rooms of Kensington Palace, fired shot after shot at the very core of the House of Windsor. 

The interview shook the British monarchy and left Prince Charles politically wounded, forced to confront a popularity crisis surpassed only by the one following Diana’s own death in 1997.

© Tim Graham

Three decades later, we revisit the most shocking statements and the reasons behind them, now understood through a more complete lens, after Prince William and Harry pursued accountability and ultimately proved the deceptive tactics Martin Bashir, the Panorama journalist, used to secure the princess’s cooperation. This interview is now part of British history.

During what became known as the “interview of the century,” Diana did not resort to veiled suggestions. She spoke with a disarming candor. She acknowledged her personal struggles, questioned Charles’s suitability to be king, and uttered the now-legendary line, “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”

© Tim Graham

By then, the relationship between Charles and Camilla, now the King and Queen, was already widely known. Diana herself had leaked details to Andrew Morton for his 1992 book ‘Diana: Her True Story,’ and everything was confirmed in 1993 with the publication of the intimate ‘Camillagate’ phone call transcript from 1989. 

But while knowing about it was one thing, watching Diana calmly tell the camera about her marital problems was another. She also expressed her desire for a more human role and lamented the lack of support she’d received from both the family and the institution. 

© Princess Diana Archive

In her own words, “I’d like to be a queen of people’s hearts, in people’s hearts, but I don’t see myself being Queen of this country.” She added, “The biggest disease this world suffers from… is the disease of people feeling unloved.”

By then, Diana was no longer the shy ‘Lady Di’ of her youth. She had become a sharp public figure who knew exactly how to connect emotionally with the public, something the Charles of that era entirely lacked.

Diana also expressed an idea Prince Harry would later repeat about Meghan Markle, that the Royal Family viewed her as a kind of threat.

© Anwar Hussein

“I think every strong woman in history has had to walk down a similar path, and I think it’s the strength that causes the confusion and the fear,” she said.

During her interview, she was also asked. “Do you think it would make more sense in the light of the marital difficulties that you and the Prince of Wales have had if the position of monarch passed directly to your son, Prince William?” to which she replied, “Well, then you have to see that William’s very young at the moment, so do you want a burden like that to be put on his shoulders at such an age? So I can’t answer that question.”

© Tim Graham

Her words had a devastating effect on Prince Charles’s public image and on the monarchy as a whole. At the same time, Diana emerged as an independent, vulnerable yet powerful figure who spoke openly about her struggles to a global audience, estimated at 200 million viewers in 100 countries. 

Not to mention the date chosen for the broadcast, November 20, the wedding anniversary of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, marking 48 years of marriage. What the world didn’t yet know, and wouldn’t learn for two decades, was that the BBC had used deceptive tactics to obtain the interview.

Many historians, biographers, correspondents, and close friends of the princess, including Roberto Devorik, who spoke to ¡HOLA! for the podcast ‘How Did Diana of Wales Become a Pop Icon?’ agree that Diana’s goal was to force a divorce that had stalled and that the Royal Family had no intention of speeding up. 

© Tim Graham

After the interview, the palace machinery finally moved, and the couple signed their divorce in August 1996, one year before Diana’s death. But the reasons behind the interview went deeper. A 2021 investigation concluded that Diana had been manipulated, deceived, and coerced with falsified documents.

To reach Diana, Bashir targeted her brother, Charles Spencer, presenting fake bank statements and forged documents “proving” that her closest aides were betraying her, that there was a conspiracy around her, that “dark forces” were following her, and that the secret service was watching her. 

© Anwar Hussein

“Diana didn’t know who to trust,” Spencer said. He also revealed that Bashir used lies about other royal family members to further undermine Diana’s confidence, suggesting she needed to speak out to protect herself.

In May 2021, while Queen Elizabeth II was still alive, Lord Dyson, former Supreme Court Justice appointed by the BBC, confirmed in a 127-page report that Diana had been deceived into giving the interview. 

He concluded that it wasn’t just a rogue reporter but a failure at multiple levels of BBC leadership who ignored red flags to protect the interview that made history.

© Getty Images

The current BBC director issued a full apology, admitting that while Diana was indeed interested in giving an interview, “what was done to secure it” fell far outside what the public expects from a national broadcaster.

When the report was released, William and Harry, by then completely estranged, with the Sussexes already out of the Royal Family, responded publicly as never before.

William, then still Duke of Cambridge, issued a televised statement attacking the BBC directly, declaring that the reporter failed her, but also that leaders at the BBC looked the other way, adding that Panorama had no legitimacy.

© UK Press via Getty Images

He accused the broadcaster of a shocking level of “incompetence” in dismissing concerns and hiding what they knew internally. The “deceitful” way the BBC secured an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, “substantially influenced” its content, Prince William said.

“It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia, and isolation,” he said. “She was failed not just by a rogue reporter but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way.” “It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again,” he said.

© Princess Diana Archive

Harry, in a separate statement hours later, emphasized something else, sharing that their mother was “an incredible woman,” describing her as “resilient, brave, and unquestionably honest.”

Time has placed the pieces where they belong, except for Diana, who survives as a legend. Thirty years after that interview, it is now clear that the methods used to obtain it were immoral and even illegal, that Charles III’s great love was always Camilla, now his queen, and that a powerful machinery operates in the shadows to discredit royal members who shine too brightly or pose a threat. Thirty years later, Diana’s voice remains one of the most unsettling forces the British monarchy has ever faced.