EXCLUSIVE: The Horrifying Lies That Sparked Princess Diana's 'Nightmarishly Bizarre and Disjointed' Behavior Before Her Death
Shocking lies fueled Princess Diana’s bizarre and troubled behavior before her death.
Dec. 4 2025, Published 10:29 a.m. ET
Princess Diana's final years were infamously marked by paranoia and withdrawal, fueled by a calculated deception that left the Princess of Wales distrusting even those closest to her.
RadarOnline.com can now reveal fresh accounts reveal how journalist Martin Bashir's manipulation before the infamous BBC Panorama interview in 1995 is being blamed for triggering a disastrous cascade of fear and confusion in the doomed royal – which sources say shaped Diana's "crazed" behavior until her tragic death in 1997 at the age of 36.
The Panorama Interview Deception
Diana withdrew from loyal advisers after the interview aired
Bashir's notorious Panorama interview, conducted on 20 November 1995, came at a turbulent time for Diana.
Her former private secretary Patrick Jephson said the Princess was "in a state of justified anxiety" following the deception used by Bashir to land the sensational sit-down, watched by millions. "It is not paranoia if you have reasonable grounds to believe that they are out to get you," he said.
Bashir is said to have convinced Diana that Jephson and other loyal aides were spying on her, turning those she trusted into perceived threats. Jephson recalled the devastating impact on their relationship.
"It is chilling to re-run those events and feel that Diana was seeing me as the enemy within," he said. "I had no understanding of what had changed."
By January 1996, just two months after the interview aired, Jephson resigned.
He only later learned during a 2021 inquest by Lord Dyson that Bashir had used forged documents to manipulate Diana, and that BBC executives had covered up the deception. Jephson was paid damages by the BBC in 2022.
Chilling, Creepy, and Cruel
Martin Bashir used forged documents to convince Diana her aides were spying on her.
The impact of Bashir's tactics was profound.
Jephson added: "It was horrifying. I now understand the lengths he was prepared to go to. It was chilling, creepy, and cruel. For 25 years, I never understood what went wrong, and whether it was my fault."
He described Bashir's manipulation as "inhumane, cruel, and calculated," and branded it "chilling and cold-blooded."
Diana's vulnerability made her an easy target.
Rosa Monckton, a close friend of the Princess, said Diana "was frail, and that made her susceptible to Bashir," adding the revelations about the means he deployed to persuade her into a televised tell-all "does explain so much about her strange behavior."
Unqualified Security Concerns
Rosa Monckton said the deception made Diana vulnerable and afraid.
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Jephson noted by mid-1997, Diana had begun relying on people who were not equipped to ensure her safety.
"She was putting her trust in people who were not qualified to look after her. If I was still running her program then, and her administrative arrangements, there would have been appropriate oversight of her visit to Paris," he said.
"(But) she put herself in a position where she had to accept the protection of people who were not competent to look after her."
The manipulation surrounding the Panorama interview not only affected Diana's trust in her closest allies but also shaped her decisions in the months that followed.
Insiders say she became increasingly isolated, making independent choices about her personal and public life that, while courageous, left her exposed.
The manipulation pushed her toward dangerous decisions that shaped the circumstances of her death.
One close friend of Diana's said: "Patrick is being diplomatic. Diana's behavior before her death was nightmarishly bizarre, disjointed and erratic.
"She was in a total spiral, and it is this that led her into the arms of playboy Dodi Fayed and ultimately to her horrible end."
