Diana expressed worries about whether a recent meeting with Gilbey would be discovered. She also discussed a fear of becoming pregnant, and Gilbey referred to her as "Darling" 14 times, and as "Squidgy" (or "Squidge") 53 times.
Gilbey, the heir to a gin fortune, had been a friend of Diana's since childhood. She always denied the affair and the former Lotus car executive has never spoken about it – but he claimed a place in royal history as the person on the other end of the line during the 'Squidgygate' phone call in 1989 (that was recorded).
However, Koenig did say the American intelligence organisation the National Security Agency did hold 1,056 pages of classified information on Diana - something they disclosed after her death. The spy agency did hold a file on the late Princess of Wales but said all the information they had on her was “incidental”.
In addition to the male and female voices saying they loved each other, the man also expressed a wish to “live inside your trousers or something.” He then joked about turning into a tampon.
But one of her greatest scandals began on New Year's Eve in 1989, when she answered a phone call from James Gilbey while she was at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family. What started as a simple call between friends would quickly turn into a media nightmare that shocked the royal family and even Diana herself.
Published in The Sun on 23 August 1992, "Squidgygate" (initially called "Dianagate") was the front-page revelation of the existence of a tape-recording of Diana, Princess of Wales talking to a close friend, who later turned out to be Gilbey, heir to the eponymous gin fortune.
The call lasted for thirty minutes and during that time, Gilbey called Diana 'Squidgy' or 'Squidge' fifty three times and 'darling' fourteen times. Therefore, latching onto the Nixon Watergate scandal, the call and its revelations were known as 'Squidgygate'.
Also known as “Tampongate”, a six-minute telephone call between Charles and Camilla was released by The Sunday Mirror in January 1993. The call reportedly took place in 1989, when both parties were married to other people.
"I'll just live inside your trousers or something. It would be much easier," Charles suggested, as captured in Tina Brown's "The Palace Papers." Camilla responded, "What are you going to turn into, a pair of knickers?" According to the transcript, they both laugh. "Oh, you're going to come back as a pair of knickers."
Change of the wedding location and date
On 22 February, Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen would not attend the wedding ceremony, but would attend the church blessing and host the reception afterwards. The reason stated by the palace was the couple wanted to keep the occasion low key.
"There's no evidence that the brakes of her car were ever tampered with, and what it's doing is trying to illustrate her fears at the time. "Diana said that she feared that her brakes might be tampered with, she said that. On the record that's known," the royal expert continued. "But as far as we know they never were."
In reality we do know that Diana's phone calls were reportedly listened into on at least one occasion, the first of which is in what came to be known as Squidgygate.
Martin Henry Bashir (born 19 January 1963) is a British journalist. He was a presenter on British and American television and for the BBC's Panorama programme, for which he under false pretenses gained an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995.
At the time, Charles was dating Sarah, but according to The Diana Chronicles after this meeting, Diana was quite smitten with Charles. The two reconnected again years later at a friend's house and then got engaged after just 12 in-person hangouts.
James Lifford Hewitt (born 30 April 1958) is a former cavalry officer in the British Army. He came to public attention in the mid-1990s after he disclosed an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales, while she was still married to then-Prince Charles.
Another source close to the two explained to The Post that they do not share the same bed because of royal tradition. In many cases, this would have led to separation, but Charles and Camilla have proven that their relationship works equally well even in such situations.
According to several royal biographers and also The Crown, Charles wanted to marry Camilla but was steered away from her by the royal family, who didn't think she'd be a suitable wife largely thanks to the fact that she had a few ex-boyfriends and therefore was probably not a virgin.
“The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.” According to Forbes, Charles inherited the Queen's $500 million in personal assets after her death.
"The Queen was really thrilled that it was a little girl, and I think as soon as we came back here to Kensington she was one of our first visitors here. "George is only two-and-a-half and he calls her 'Gan-Gan.
Despite marrying Diana Spencer, Charles never got over his former girlfriend—and against all odds, they got their happy ending 35 years after they first met. Here's the true story of how their twisty, turn-y love story played out (in case The Crown, or the coronation piqued your interest).
Writer Tom Bower claims Camilla started calling Meghan "that minx" after the couple left England to live in Montecito, California. The word minx can be used to describe a "bold, flirtatious or scheming woman". Mr Bower is known for his 2022 biography Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors.
It's because of this close-knit bond that Queen Elizabeth allowed Princess Diana to call her “Mama.” The moniker might surprise some royal aficionados, since members of the family aren't supposed to use informal nicknames around the queen.
“Both she and Charles referred to Willam as Wombat when he was much younger. It was given to him by Diana”, Mr Rae said.
In 1981, while working as a nursery teacher's assistant, she became engaged to Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II. Their wedding took place at St Paul's Cathedral in 1981 and made her Princess of Wales, a role in which she was enthusiastically received by the public.