Piers Morgan says Princess Diana assured him she ‘had no regrets’ about Panorama interview

“‘She was pleased about it [the interview],’ Lalvani confirmed to me. ‘She didn’t have a bad word to say about Martin Bashir. She realised it served her purpose.’ 

“She was right. Her ‘purpose’ was to frame herself to the British public as a betrayed woman before the increasingly inevitable divorce from Charles.”

Tina then added: “I don’t subscribe to the now pervasive narrative that Diana was a vulnerable victim of media manipulation, a mere marionette tossed about by malign forces beyond her control. 

“While strongly sympathetic to her sons’ pain, I find it offensive to present the canny, resourceful Diana as a woman of no agency, as either a foolish, duped child or the hapless casualty of malevolent muckrakers.”

The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor, the Truth and the Turmoil will be available on April 26 to purchase for £20 from retailers including Amazon, Waterstones and Foyles.

Published by Penguin, Century Imprint: “From the Queen’s stoic resolve to the crisis of Meghan and Harry. From the ascendance of Camilla and Kate to the downfall of Andrew. Full of remarkable inside access, The Palace Papers by Sunday Times bestselling author Tina Brown will change how you understand the Royal Family.”