'The Diana I knew enjoyed interacting with people,' he wrote. They became close and stayed friends as she met Charles and married into the Royal Family. James Colthurst had known Diana since she was 17.Ĭolthurst, an Irish medical professional, is an Eton graduate who was considered a 'minor aristocrat.' In a 2021 Telegraph (opens in new tab) article, the doctor wrote that he first met the princess on a ski trip when she was 17 and he was a medical student.

He also told there was a robbery during the year he was working on the book, where ' office was burgled and files rifled through,' and that following the burglary, Diana had her sitting room swept for unseen listening devices. The author also described the extent of his and Diana's working relationship he claims that before she agreed to the book, she tested him by dropping bits of information that he would turn into news stories. 'So I interviewed her by proxy - giving my questions to James Colthurst, who then conducted six taped interviews with her in her sitting room at Kensington Palace.' At 6ft 4in tall and as a writer known to Palace staff, I’d hardly be inconspicuous,' Morton told the outlet. 'I was keen to talk to the Princess directly, but this was simply out of the question.

James Colthurst conducted interviews and ferried the tapes. In a 2017 Daily Mail (opens in new tab) article pegged to the book's 25th anniversary, the author described a similar process as depicted in the show, where the pair's mutual friend Dr. The biography was then reprinted with a new title reflecting her contribution: Diana: Her True Story–In Her Own Words. Morton released a second edition following her death.Īfter the Princess of Wales' untimely death, Morton revealed the truth about the book, publicly admitting that she recorded tapes as source material.

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