Princess Diana was reportedly at her wits’ end when she decided to put her trust in a British journalist to tell her heart-wrenching story, which involved a reported secret battle with bulimia, suicide attempts, and a husband who couldn’t give up his mistress.
Andrew Morton penned the 1992 biography, “Diana: Her Story,” which was based on the secretly recorded conversations between the princess and her friend, James Colthurst, before her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996. And even 20 years later, after her death at 36 in a 1997 car crash in Paris, Morton still wonders why she chose him.
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“It’s a question that’s always perplexed me,” the 64-year-old told Fox News. “[But] she knew I was sympathetic to her. She knew I was writing a biography on her. She knew I knew some of her friends… She tested me out with a couple of stories to see how I’d do… And the fact that I was independent of newspapers, of television, meant that I could do her bidding … And I think all of those factors came together, with a deep desire to tell her story.”
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Morton recalled his experience in TLC’s upcoming documentary, “Princess Diana: Tragedy or Treason?” It is one of several specials airing to coincide with August 31, the date of Diana’s passing. He explained questions for the royal were written out and then given to Colthurst, who reportedly passed them to Diana. She would then record her responses, and the tapes were used to help Morton write his book.
“It was a sign at that time [of] this desperation to get the story out,” explained Morton. “I asked her [why] and she just felt the public didn’t really know who she was. They were responding to a two-dimensional image. This kind of media cut-out … She felt like she was enduring a lonely miserable life inside the palace and outside, she was adored … It was incredibly frustrating as far as she was concerned because everyone still believed in the fairy tale. And she knew it was a nightmare.”
Even before Diana married Prince Charles in a televised wedding that attracted about 750 million viewers worldwide in 1981, she long suspected he was having an ongoing affair with his ex-girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles, Morton said.
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“Here is Prince Charles telling Diana that he’s going to give a bracelet to his old lover just before the wedding,” said Morton. “Just a few days before the wedding. And then keeps pictures of Camilla in his diary on their honeymoon. What woman is not going to be incensed by this crass and insensitive behavior? Diana was very suspicious of Charles’ relationship with Camilla right from the get-go. And who could blame her? He left her behind, but the fact that he’s been [currently] married for 12 years to Camilla shows that he still had plenty of love in his heart for his former mistress.”
When it came to Charles loving Diana, Morton seemed unsure. (go to page 2 to continue reading)[lz_pagination]
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