I feared for monarchy after Diana died, says Royal aide
PRINCE Charles’s former press secretary admitted last night that she feared for the future of the monarchy in the face of public anger after the death of Princess Diana.
In her first broadcast interview, Sandy Henney, who worked for Charles from 1993 to 2000, evoked the air of crisis in the Royal Household as the public turned on the Queen and her family after Diana’s died in a 1997 Paris car crash.
Ms Henney, 61, told a BBC2 documentary about the rebranding of the Royal Family since the crisis how she briefed one senior member of the household, as the Queen remained at Balmoral amid growing anger about her failure to honour Diana publicly in London.
“I remember briefing one of our private secretaries on the phone and saying, ‘I know you’re seeing it on television but you really have to be here in London to feel the atmosphere. People here are really antimonarchy’,” she said.
“I have to say, yeah, I was worried in terms of where was this going to go?”
I can remember saying it’s very very important that she’s there speaking not just as the Queen but as a grandmother
Tony Blair’s spin doctor Alastair Campbell told the programme, Reinventing The Royals, how he and the then prime minister helped the Queen and senior courtiers map out a strategy to soothe public rage.
He said: “The Lord Chamberlain said to Tony Blair: ‘Were going to need some help on this.’ I can remember saying it’s very very important that she’s there speaking not just as the Queen but as a grandmother.”
Sure enough, the Queen in her live broadcast from Buckingham Palace after returning to the capital, said: “So what I say to you now, as your Queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.”
Mr Campbell, 57, said: “Without doubt that was the turning point.”
The programme, the first in a twopart series made by broadcaster Steve Hewlett, focused on Charles’s attempts to rebuild his image as a caring father after the break-up of his first marriage to Diana and his efforts to win the public over to his mistress, the then Camilla Parker Bowles, now his second wife, the Duchess of Cornwall.
The second programme, to be shown next Thursday, looks at how Princes William and Harry have tried to control the Press after seeing how media coverage affected their parents’ marriage and, in their eyes, contributed to Diana’s death.
