Princess Diana’s 5 a.m. Plea to Palace Press Secretary as Explosive Book Threatened to Shatter Royal Secrets
Princess Diana‘s unhappiness within the royal family sparked her to take action. She communicated a series of private messages that would eventually turn into the book Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words. However, the princess panicked on the morning of the book’s release, reportedly calling the palace’s press secretary to plea for help.
What did Princess Diana say to the royal press secretary at 5 a.m.?
Former palace press secretary Dickie Arbiter discussed his time as the royal press secretary with The Telegraph. He worked not only for Princess Diana but also for both Queen Elizabeth and then-Prince Charles. Arbiter revealed that Diana called him in a panic on the 1992 day of the publication of Diana: Her True Story.
Arbiter said that Diana contacted him in the early morning, around 5 a.m., asking “what she should do.” She reportedly worried about the royals’ reaction to damming details she revealed in the Andrew Morton book.
“I told her it couldn’t be undone now. Not answer her phone, and I would accompany her on her next engagement two days later to keep people at bay,” Arbiter revealed.
Just days later, Diana appeared at Ashworth Hospice in Liverpool and visibly reacted to the support she received during her visit. She covered her mouth with her hands in photos taken at the event as she got into her car to depart.
Princess Diana never publicly confirmed she spoke to Andrew Morton
PBS shared details of Princess Diana’s involvement in the Andrew Morton book Diana: Her True Story, in a story titled “The Princess and the Press.” Their story clarifies just how much involvement Princess Diana had in telling her story.
”Not long after it was published, Diana acknowledged she told friends and family to cooperate and talk to Morton. But she and Morton both denied she had any further role in the writing of the book,” the story explains.
However, after Diana’s death in 1996, Morton released an updated edition of the book. In it, he confirmed that Diana was his source material for the details provided about the royal family.
The updated book also contained a transcript of tape recordings made by the princess in 1991. In this transcript, Diana revealed intimate details about her marriage to then-Prince Charles, his relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles, and other private details of her life.
Andrew Morton always stood by his account of Princess Diana’s life story
In an interview with Belfast Telegraph in 2017, Andrew Morton discussed putting Princess Diana’s story down on paper. He admits that her collaboration in the project was a difficult secret to keep for many years.
He told the publication, “I knew it was all true because the words came out of Diana’s own mouth. But it was frustrating that I was getting lambasted.”
“I thought journalists might have got the nods and winks in the text about how I got the quotes from Diana. But most of them were asking how dare I write it,” he continued.
“I felt like a fighter in an old-style Victorian boxing booth, taking on all-comers. And I had one hand tied behind my back,” Morton concluded of his participation in keeping Diana’s secret.
Princess Diana died in a car crash in August 1997. She is survived by her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
