Princess Diana was a fascinating figure, and she's remained that way even decades after
her death -- especially as new information has emerged about the People's Princess that
nobody knew before. Here are a few of the biggest things that were revealed about Princess
Diana after she died.
Sitting in a London cafe one morning, long-time author and journalist Andrew Morton made a
discovery that would change his life — and the world — forever.
In his sensational 1992 book, "Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words," Morton detailed
the first time he heard Diana's, quote, "unmistakable voice" on an audio recording that had been
placed in his possession. It painted a vastly different portrait of the princess than anyone
in the public to that time understood. He wrote of his discovery,
"It was like being transported into a parallel universe, the Princess talking about her unhappiness,
her sense of betrayal, her suicide attempts and two things I had never previously heard
of: bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder, and a woman called Camilla."
Diana had recorded these tapes with voice coach Peter Settelen as a form of therapy.
According to a 2017 article in The Telegraph, the vocal coach sold Diana's tapes to Britain's
Channel 4 after her death — much to the dismay of Diana's family, who claimed ownership
of the tapes.
"There's just nobody to -- to -- physically scream at. Or someone to put their arms around
me. Just listen."
Diana's personal tapes were first discovered when the former royal butler to Diana, Paul
Burrell, was found to have been hoarding them after a 2001 police raid of his home.
The discovery caused great controversy. Diana's former butler was reportedly found to be holding
onto more than just Diana's private tapes — he had also accumulated more than 300
other items once owned by the late princess, including articles of clothing, photos, and
letters to her family.
But in 2002, Burrell was found not guilty of the theft of Diana's possessions after
the queen herself stepped in to clarify the situation. Queen Elizabeth explained that
Burrell had previously asked permission to take some of Diana's personal items. Burrell
was subsequently acquitted of all charges in 2002.
After news of the existence of Diana's tapes was made public, The Sun reported that Peter
Settelen -- the man who helped Diana record the videotapes in the first place -- was suing
in order to reclaim what he believed was rightfully his. Eventually, Diana's tapes were placed
in Settelen's possession, only to be sold by him to NBC in 2004.
In tapes released after her death, Diana starkly recounted her experiences with self-harm and
even suicidal tendencies. She also spoke frankly about her experiences with depression, bulimia,
and the stressful effects of Prince Charles' extramarital affair.
Marie Claire published some of the audio transcripts from these tapes, in which Diana revealed,
"We stayed up there [at Balmoral] from August to October. I got terribly, terribly thin.
People started commenting: 'Your bones are showing.' By October, I was in a very bad
way. I was so depressed, and I was trying to cut my wrists with razor blades. [...] I
came down early [to London] to seek treatment, not because I hated Balmoral, but because
I was in such a bad way."
But Diana's self-destructive behavior didn't stop there. In a Daily Mail article written
by Andrew Morton, Morton references an instance of self-harm that was detailed in the Diana
tapes provided to him. In those tapes, Diana said,
"When I was four months pregnant with William I threw myself downstairs, trying to get my
husband's attention, for him to listen to me."
Unfortunately, the attempt didn't phase Charles, whose reaction Diana described as, quote,
"just dismissal."
Many people knew or heard rumors of Prince Charles' infidelities while he was married
to Diana, but prior to her death, not as many members of the public knew about the Princess'
numerous affairs.
Ken Wharfe, Princess Diana's chief bodyguard, wrote of Diana's affair with cavalry officer
James Hewitt in his 2002 memoir "Diana: Closely Guarded Secret."
The pair met at a party in 1986, and according to Wharfe's memoir,
"It was clear from the way she spoke that she adored the man, even after the affair
had cooled."
But the affair didn't heat up until after Prince Harry's birth. Diana and Hewitt would
sneak off to her mother's countryside home in Devon, and with Wharfe's main responsibility
being the protection of Diana, he went along as well.
The affair, which Diana later acknowledged in her groundbreaking "Panorama" interview,
went on for five years. But according to Wharfe the romance ended with Hewitt being stationed
far away in Germany — a decision that Wharfe says was made due to the, quote, "emotional
pressures placed on him by Diana."
In other words, the Princess' lover reached a point where he had had enough of this once-in-a-lifetime
affair.
Barry Mannakee was a bodyguard and alleged lover of Princess Diana. Curiously enough,
in the spring of 1987, Mannakee was killed during a motorcycle accident after being thrown
off the back on his colleague's bike.
In the tapes recorded by Peter Settelen, Diana spoke coyly of Mannakee, saying she was, quote,
"only happy when he was around."
"When I was 24, 25, I fell deeply in love with somebody who worked in this environment,
and he was the greatest friend I've ever had."
Also via the tapes, Diana voiced her suspicions surrounding Mannakee's death, saying she believed
he was purposely killed off so the royal family could save face regarding their inappropriate
relationship.
Mannakee's death was found to be caused by an inexperienced driver who had only been
licensed to drive mere weeks before the accident occurred. But according to Andrew Morton,
Diana could never quite bring herself to believe the official story.
"Whilst the logic of it was there and whilst the evidence was there, she never really believed
that."
In her book "The Power of Positive Drinking," comedian Cleo Rocos describes an unusual bunch
of friends: Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury, British comedian Kenny Everett, and Cleo herself.
The hangout that Rocos described in her book was one filled with a viewing of "The Golden
Girls," champagne, and a plan to hit up a south-London gay bar.
"None of that would have happened had we not had a few fabulous cocktails inside us."
Rocos recounted,
"Freddie told her that we were going to the Vauxhall Tavern — a rather notorious gay
bar in London. Diana said that she had never heard of it and she'd like to come too."
In order to avoid potential tabloid drama, the group disguised Diana as a man, allowing
her to effortlessly sneak into the bar and enjoy an undercover night out. And thanks
to Mercury's overwhelming popularity at the time, she did.
As the comedian described,
"She just wanted the thrill of going in, undetected, to order one drink and would then leave right
away [...] [She wore] the outfit Kenny had intended to wear — a camouflage army jacket,
hair tucked up into a leather cap and dark aviator sunglasses."
They were royals, but underneath it all, Princess Diana and sons William and Harry were a regular
family just like any other. Former royal staffers have made it clear Diana wanted her boys to
have as normal an upbringing as possible, even while growing up in a literal palace.
William and Harry had royal chefs and nannies at their beck and call, but Diana was a famously
hands-on parent. In particular, as her former butler Paul Burrell revealed, Saturday nights
were their special time together. As he recalled, quote, "The three of them would nip to McDonald's
for a Big Mac and fries before coming back to watch 'Blind Date'" — that being the
classic British dating show, hosted by the legendary Cilla Black.
The family's penchant for McDonald's is well-documented, with former palace chef Darren McGrady previously
telling Marie Claire that Diana once told him to cancel lunch so they could hit up the
fast food institution instead. McGrady offered to cook them burgers and fries himself, but
Diana clarified the boys were after some Happy Meals so they could get the toys, too.
Princess Diana's romantic relationships were consistently tabloid fodder, but, according
to one royal expert, the real love of her life may have been someone you've never heard
of.
Emma Cooper, the executive producer of CNN's docuseries "Diana," told Us Weekly in 2021
that Diana was actually head over heels for a heart surgeon named Dr. Hasnat Khan, whom
she'd met in a London hospital, but she knew they could never be together.
The two reportedly shared an "extraordinary long relationship" and the Princess of Wales
was at one point even ready to marry him. Sadly, such a union wasn't possible, partly
because they came from two completely different worlds.
As Cooper explained, marrying somebody like Diana "comes at a price" and Khan, a respected
doctor, couldn't risk losing his status in the community to be with her. As a result,
he broke Diana's heart, which ultimately led her to initiate a relationship with film producer
Dodi Fayed. Fayed was the wealthy son of billionaire Mohamed
Al-Fayed, who owned the luxury department store Harrods. As a result of his privileged
upbringing and life as a Hollywood film producer, he was much more suited to the limelight that
comes with being rich and famous than many of Diana's other lovers were.
Unfortunately, their romantic relationship would end tragically the same year that it
started when they both passed away on one fateful night in Paris.
In an interview with The Sun, firefighter Xavier Gourmelon revealed what it was like
to spend the last moments of Diana's life with her, after she suffered fatal injuries
in a car accident on August 31st, 1997.
Speaking in 2017, he recalled,
"The car was in a mess and we just dealt with it like any road accident. We got straight
to work to see who needed help and who was alive."
According to Gourmelon, the princess was initially breathing, but suffered cardiac arrest. He
described her reaction as she was initially removed from the wreckage.
"I held her hand and told her to be calm and keep still, I said I was there to help and
reassured her. She said, 'My God, what's happened?'"
Within hours, the princess had died from complications of internal bleeding. Diana's lover, Dodi
Fayed, and driver, Henri Paul, also perished in the crash, with the sole survivor being
bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.
Gourmelon told The Sun,
"To be honest I thought she would live. [...] But I found out later she had died in hospital.
It was very upsetting."
In the years since Princess Diana's death, we've heard repeatedly from many sources that
she wasn't quite the woman that the public thought they knew. And that doesn't mean that
behind her public kindness and charitable acts that she was actually a bad person. On
the contrary, it appears that the beleaguered royal was much stronger and more competent
than many of her critics at the time appreciated.
In an archival clip, featured as part of 2021 CNN docuseries "Diana," the princess and her
new husband, Prince Charles, take part in a cringe-worthy interview during which they
unconvincingly discuss their hopes for their future together.
In particular, she sarcastically makes a quip about being "a good wife," joking that she
couldn't be honest with Charles sitting right next to her.
As Angela Rippon, who conducted the interview back in the day alongside Andrew Gardner,
reasoned in a follow-up chat, that small moment was one of the many instances in Diana's life
in which she showed the kind of person that she really was — tougher than expected,
and not one to conform.
She recalled,
"There was something more to Diana, something that was not the marshmallow or the Play-Doh
that was going to be molded into what they wanted."
Underneath it all was Diana's unbreakable sense of self, which would ultimately lead
to her divorce from Charles. In breaking from the mold of what a royal wife was expected
to be, she set a new standard for the royal family, establishing herself as a unique and
modern figure who still fascinates us to this day.
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