Radar Online
Princess Diana‘s former chief of staff came out swinging, defending her mental health and accusing King Charles IIIand his team of circulating a “systematic campaign” to make the world believe she was ill. Patrick Jephson, who worked with Diana for nearly 10 years, addressed the late Princess' emotional well-being before and after her marriage, insisting she was “one of the most sane people” he had ever met, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Speaking on The Scandal Mongers podcast with Phil Craig, Jephson insinuated that Charles' staff was behind the narrative, smearing Diana's mental strength to protect the now King, whose affair with Camilla Parker Bowles was an “open secret” within the “establishment.”
“This is not just some casual gossip, it was a systematic campaign. Okay, it was a long time ago, but … the man they were supporting is now our king and these things should not be buried, they should not be conveniently pushed to one side,” Jephson said.
“They happened, in theory, they could happen again, and certainly they shouldn't pass without censure.”
When Craig asked about the perception that Diana was “a bit crazy,” Jephson fired back without hesitation, saying, “I get very frustrated. That has become the official line.
“If you ask people close to the current royal establishment — if you dare bring up the subject of Princess Diana, which very few people would — then I think that is the answer you would get; that it was a tragic story and that she was essentially troubled mentally, and the implication being that she was not entirely up the job, which essentially then she failed at.”
He then explained that Camilla — who now has the title of Queen Consort — was made to look like Diana's “replacement,” who is “wonderfully down-to-earth and grounded and not at all flakey or paranoid.”
“When I hear people follow this line, when I see it not being challenged, I think, well, wait a minute. I knew Princess Diana probably better than almost anybody — certainly professionally — and she wasone of the most sane people I ever met,” Jephson continued.
Diana's former staff member scoffed at the idea she wasn't aware or in control, adding, “Considering the life she lived, considering the pressures she was under, she wasn't just sane, she had a kind of ability to restore sanity to crazy situations.
“As an eye witness, she could be a bit of a handful sometimes, but she was always extremely aware, sane, grounded, and funny.”
He explained how her life changed in an instant when her marriage blew up. “She went from being, as far as the world was concerned, a happily married wife and mother to being a discarded ex-wife…that's a heck of a change in anyone's book,” Jephson stated.
He said that “once it became apparent her critics were trying to smear her with allegations of mental instability,” Diana took control of the narrative.
“She said ‘Yes, I do have an eating disorder,' for example, and she gave a speech about eating disorders. I can't think of a better definition of sanity than [to] have people accuse you of being nuts, and stand up and make a speech about the condition that you do have,” he told Craig, adding, it “affects a lot of people, particularly young women. I think that is a sign of extraordinary strength and shows the essential pettiness of her accuser.”
Jephson concluded his rant by reminding everyone that the stories regarding Diana's mental health were spread “by and large, by men, about a woman in a marriage with the intention to help another man.”
Diana's marriage to Charles ended in 1996. She tragically lost her life in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, at 36 years old.
