Sensational claims about the death of Princess Diana will be aired in a controversial West End play, which opens this week.
And we can reveal the full extraordinary allegations being brought to the stage in the production Truth, Lies, Diana.
It will revive claims that Diana was pregnant with “a Muslim baby” when she died in a Paris car crash alongside lover Dodi Fayed in 1997.
Audiences will also hear claims that Prince Philip had “many extra-marital flings” but that he and the Queen had “an arrangement”.
The play could not come at a more embarrassing time for the Royals, already reeling from under-age sex claims against Prince Andrew – which Buckingham Palace strongly denies.
But the man behind the play said he had no regrets about bringing it to the stage.
Writer and director Jon Conway – who also appears in the production – said: “I think it’s important the public is able to hear the whole story. I call it the D-word as nobody wants to talk about it.”
Diana herself is not depicted in the play, which centres on a journalist called Ray trying to find out the truth about the princess’s death in 1997.
But it does air claims about her life, including the unproven suggestion she was pregnant with Dodi Fayed’s baby when she died.
Conway put together the show, which opens on Wednesday, after extensive interviews with experts and those closest to Diana, including her former lover James Hewitt and butler Paul Burrell.
Others depicted in the play include Piers Morgan, Dodi’s father Mohammed Al Fayed and members of the Royal Family.
Among the allegations will be testimony Conway says was passed to him by a British forensic officer known as Rose, the former partner of a doctor at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital where Diana was declared dead on August 31 1997.
Pregnant: Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed in Saint Tropez
Her boyfriend Yasser was not working on the night Diana died – but in the play Rose will be seen claiming: “When we heard the news my partner called a fellow Muslim doctor friend, who was on duty that night.
“Yasser said to him in Arabic, ‘I can’t believe the news. Were you on duty?’ Then he said, ‘Yes, yes... What? She was pregnant?’
“The other doctor told Yasser he saw the foetus and was told never to mention it. Yasser said, ‘Yes, imagine that, the King of England’s mother, pregnant with a Muslim baby’.”
Asked in the play why she and her partner kept quiet at the time, Rose says: “We told some close friends. But doctors, like soldiers and police, obey superiors. We want a career.”
In the play her character is asked why she has come forward now. She says: “I’m speaking out now because I’m fed up with bullying bosses and corrupt coppers.
“It’s time for the truth to come out.”
The play includes allegations by Diana’s former lover James Hewitt that she found out about Charles’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles days before their wedding in 1981 and wanted to call it off.
Conway visited the former cavalry officer in Marbella, Spain, where Hewitt gave his blessing to his depiction in the play.
In it Hewitt says Diana looked the other way for a long time with Prince Charles but it destroyed her in the end. “They say love is blind,” he adds.
Hewitt says the Prince of Wales knew about his affair with Diana from the start, but “he encouraged it so that he could be with Camilla”.
Hewitt is also seen claiming Diana was aware of Prince Philip’s alleged flings and “arrangement” with the Queen.
Conway said last month: “James told me some quite remarkable things that have never been said in the public domain, particularly about when his relationship with Diana started.”
The play also includes claims by Paul Burrell that Diana’s brother Earl Spencer would not allow her to take refuge at Althorp the family home after her marriage split as he did not want to be inconvenienced by the press.
Affair: Prince Charles talks to Camilla Parker Bowles at a Polo Match in 1975
Several respected Royal commentators have already condemned the show and the claims it makes.
Writer and documentary maker Margaret Holder said Hewitt was just trying to raise
his profile.
his profile.
“I think this will put him back in the spotlight. It tells producers of reality TV programmes, “Hello, I’m here,” she said. “It’s a nonsense but it’s all a game.”
Royal biographer Hugo Vickers said the play’s claims were not surprising given the people who had been interviewed by Conway.
He said: “If you talk to certain people you will get a version of events these people are keen to peddle. They have an agenda of their own.”
But John Morgan, who has written nine books about Diana’s death, said: “If the doctor who made the phone call speaks out now publicly it will be a major breakthrough.”
As well as writing and directing the play, Conway takes the role of writer Ray who investigates Diana’s death, as well as portraying Diana’s “rock” Paul Burrell.
Mohammed Al-Fayed, Piers Morgan and Yasser, the doctor with the secret, are all played by actor Barry Hester. - News.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.