On this day in 1995, the BBC current affairs programme ‘Panorama’ aired an interview between its reporter Martin Bashir and Diana, Princess of Wales. It was riveting television.

Diana Spencer, born 1 July 1961, grew up near the royal estate of Sandringham, in Norfolk, England. She moved to London in 1978 and three years later became the focus of worldwide attention with her engagement to Prince Charles.

The media attention began and it never stopped.

Her marriage to Charles seemed shaky even before it started. At the end of a television interview announcing their engagement, the interviewer suggested to the happy couple that they were in love. Diana immediately confirmed that she was in love by replying ‘of course’. The response from Charles was not so categoric. Whatever love means’ was his reply. He seemed unsure.

Charles and Diana married on 29 July 1981. Initially a happy union, it was soon beset by difficulties. Diana experienced post natal depression after the birth of her first son, William, in June 1982. This was followed by several years of struggle with the eating disorder bulimia. The media attention was nonstop. There were extramarital affairs on both sides.

The couple separated in 1992. Life within the royal family became increasingly difficult for Diana. Divorce followed in 1996.

In her role as Princess of Wales, Diana cut a glamorous and caring figure. She confronted issues such as AIDS and removal of land mines. She became a much loved public figure.

The Panorama interview took place almost three years after the separation. In it Diana uttered the famous line ‘there were three of us in this marriage’, referring to the relationship between Charles and his current wife Camilla Parker Bowles. Diana’s devotion to her two sons was also apparent on many occasions during the interview.

She died in tragic circumstances in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. Initially her death was not handled well by the Queen and the royal family. They appeared not to care. It took Prime Minister Tony Blair to bring the Queen into line with the public mood. It was Blair who dubbed Diana ‘The People’s Princess’. It was a fitting title.

Diana combined glamour with a desire to make a difference.

In a world where image matters, we could do with a new Diana.