“Queen of People’s Hearts”: 1995 BBC Interview with Princess Diana

Diana was interviewed for the BBC current affairs show Panorama by journalist Martin Bashir, broadcast on November 20, 1995 (the transcript of the hour long interview can be found here).  She freely discussed a wide range of topics, providing an unprecedented level of detail (for a member of the British royalty) about some of the following personal aspects of her life, which I have quoted from the interview below:

On Prince Charles’s affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”

On Prince Charles’s suitability for kingship: “Because I know the character I would think that the top job, as I call it, would bring enormous limitations to him…I don’t know whether he could adapt to that.”

On her own five-year affair with James Hewitt, an officer of the English army: “Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him. But I was very let down [by him].”

As if these topics were not surprising enough, Diana even addressed the rumors of her suffering of an eating disorder. She stated:

“I had bulimia for a number of years. And that’s like a secret disease. You inflict it upon yourself because your self-esteem is at a low ebb, and you don’t think you’re worthy or valuable. You fill your stomach up four or five times a day – some do it more – and it gives you a feeling of comfort. It’s like having a pair of arms around you, but it’s temporarily, temporary. Then you’re disgusted at the bloatedness of your stomach, and then you bring it all up again. And it’s a repetitive pattern which is very destructive to yourself.”

Perhaps the most famous part, however, pertained to a discussion of her role as a member of the British royalty, which I have also quoted below:

Bashir: “Do you think you will ever be Queen?”
Diana: “No, I don’t. No.”
Bashir: “Why do you think that?”
Diana: “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. I don’t think many people will want me to be Queen.”

Upon hearing the tragic news of her death in 1997, millions mourned the death of a a woman who truly had succeeded in becoming a “queen of people’s hearts.”