Squidgygate - a name coined by The Sun newspaper - was the publication by tabloid newspapers in Britain in 1993 of taped phone conversations alleged to be between HRH The Princess of Wales and James Gilbey. Publication of the tapes was a highpoint of the "War of the Waleses" and accelerated the separation and eventual divorce of TRH The Prince and Princess of Wales. For other uses, see Sun (disambiguation). ... A tabloid is a newspaper — especially in the United Kingdom — that uses the tabloid format, which is roughly 23½ by 14¾ inches per spread. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Lady Diana Spencer (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, née Spencer) (1 July 1961–31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. ... Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the ending of a marriage before the death of either spouse, which can be contrasted with an annulment which is a declaration that a marriage is void, though the effects of marriage may be recognized in such unions, such as spousal support, child custody... The Prince of Wales The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor) (born 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ...

In the conversation, the woman, believed to be the Princess of Wales, likens her situation to that of a character in the popular British soap opera EastEnders and expresses concern that she might be pregnant. Supporters of the Prince of Wales used the tapes in the media to smear the Princess of Wales, who had until then been widely regarded as the wronged party in the breakdown of the marriage. However, the publication of the tapes, if anything, had the effect of increasing sympathy for the Princess, the revelation that she followed a popular soap presenting the image of a far more worldly person compared with the formal and often detached public image of the Prince of Wales. The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera which was first broadcast on 19 February 1985. ... A pregnant woman Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. ...

The fact that the tapes were the result of a bugging operation by a faction or group of individuals within the British intelligence agencies also reinforced popular beliefs that the Princess of Wales was being persecuted by the establishment. This view influenced the conspiracy theory that the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in Paris in 1997 was an assassination rather than an accident. Whatever the negative impact of Squidygate might have had for the Princess of Wales was soon balanced by the publication of taped phone conversations between the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles (Camillagate) which were very damaging to the public perception of his character and a source of much ridicule of him. An intelligence agency is a governmental organization devoted to gathering of information by means of espionage (spying), communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Camilla Parker Bowles (born July 17 1947) was mistress, now girlfriend, of Charles, Prince of Wales. ... Camillagate was the name given to the scandal surrounding the affair between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. ...

The Princess of Wales later admitted the affair with James Gilbey (which technically constituted high treason by both parties). As it now seems likely this adultery took place in 1989, the tapes would have existed for a number of years before publication. There is conjecture that Diana, knowing of the existence of the tapes, instigated contact with the journalist Andrew Morton. This resulted in the publication by Morton of the book Diana: Her True Story, and the start of the "War of the Waleses." Under English, and later British law, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Sovereign. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Andrew Morton is a former British fleet street tabloid journalist who garnered notoriety as a biographer. ...

How the tape came to be published

The tape was allegedly published after it was accidentally recorded by a retired bank manager who was a radio ham as a hobby. In fact, subsequent events proved that this was not the whole story. Amateur radio, commonly called ham radio, is a hobby enjoyed by many people throughout the world (as of 2004 about 3 million worldwide, 60,000 in UK, 70,000 in Germany, 5,000 in Norway, 57,000 in Canada, and 700,000 in the USA). ...

First eavesdropper: Cyril Reenan

In January 1990, two reporters from the Sun newspaper met Cyril Reenan in the parking bay of Didcot railway station, six miles from his home in the town of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Didcot is a town in the Thames Valley in southern England, United Kingdom. ... Abingdon is a market town in Oxfordshire, England and is one of the towns which claim to be Britains oldest continuously occupied town. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from Latin Oxonia) is a county in south-east England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ...

Reenan played them excerpts from a tape without having previously told them what he had recorded ^[1]

Two days later the journalists were shown round Mr Reenan's home-made eavesdropping studio, which they described as follows: "Above the scanners was a 1960s-style tape recorder with a microphone dangling down above the scanning equipment so that the couple could tape 'interesting' conversations."

Reenan was quoted as saying he was "so nervous I just want you [the reporters] to take the tape away."

"I didn't know what to do with it once I'd got it. I was stuck with it, and I was frightened of it,' he was quoted as saying, claiming that if the paper had told him that "the tape was 'dangerous', I would have burned it or scrubbed it out." ^[2]

Cyril Reenan, a 70-year-old retired manager for the Trustee Savings Bank, regularly listened in on non-commercial radio frequencies for amusement with his wife, in much the same way that some people (illegally) listen to police frequencies using household radio sets. Trustee Savings Bank (TSB) may refer to: First Trust Bank, Northern Ireland Lloyds-TSB Bank, United Kingdom Permanent TSB, Republic of Ireland Historically the Trustee Savings Bank system was a (loosely) unified system in Britain and Ireland. ...

Reenan was also a generous organiser of trips for disabled youngsters, and had previously been the recipient of a modest award from the Princess of Wales's Charities Trust ^[3].

Reenan claimed that he had been so worried by the evident security breach that he had first thought of attempting to gain an audience with Diana: "I could have used a code-word, perhaps the nickname Squidgy... I was trying to save her face in a way." However, having thought on it "for a day, at least", Reenan decided that he "would not get to see Diana." So he "rang the Sun instead."

Publication

Published in The Sun on 23 August 1992, "Squidgygate" (initially called 'Dianagate') was the front-page revelation of the existence of a tape-recording of Princess Diana talking to a close friend, who later turned out to be James Gilbey, heir to the eponymous gin fortune. August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Gin and tonic This article concerns the beverage. ...

A special phone line allowed thousands of callers to hear the contents of the 30-minute tape for themselves, at 36 pence per minute.

The tape begins in mid-conversation with the man asking: "And so, darling, what other lows today?" To which the woman replies: "I was very bad at lunch, and I nearly started blubbing. I just felt so sad and empty and thought 'bloody hell, after all I've done for this fucking family ^[4].' "It's just so desperate. Always being innuendo, the fact that I'm going to do something dramatic because I can't stand the confines of this marriage [...] He makes my life real torture, I've decided."

Gilbey, who initially denied the Sun's charges, was a 33-year-old Lotus car-dealer who had been a friend of Diana's since childhood. Their conversation, which took place on New Year's Eve 1989, was wide-ranging. Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports cars and racing cars based in East Anglia and formed as Lotus Engineering Ltd. ... New Years Eve is a celebration held the day before New Years Day, on December 31, the final day of the Gregorian year. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The conversation covered topics as diverse as the BBC soap opera EastEnders, and the strange looks that Diana received from the Queen Mother: "It's not hatred, it's sort of pity and interest mixed in one [...] every time I look up, she's looking at me, and then looks away and smiles". Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom (see British television). ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera which was first broadcast on 19 February 1985. ... The term Queen Mother is a title often held by the mother of a reigning monarch. ...

(Interestingly, in view of a fascination with clairvoyance that was later to become well-known, Diana was also heard explaining how she had startled the Bishop of Norwich by claiming to be "aware that people I have loved and [who] have died [...] are now in the spirit world, looking after me.") ^[5] Clairvoyance is defined as a form of extra-sensory perception whereby a person perceives distant objects, persons, or events, including seeing through opaque objects and the detection of types of energy not normally perceptible to humans (i. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Norwich (pronounced variously Norritch or Norridge) is a city in East Anglia, in Eastern England, and the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. ...

Diana expressed worries about whether a recent meeting with Gilbey would be discovered. She also discussed a fear of becoming pregnant, and Gilbey referred to her as "Darling" 14 times, and as "Squidgy" (or "Squidge") 53 times.

Second eavesdropper: Jane Norgrove

On 5 September 1992, the Sun announced that the same call had also been recorded by another Oxfordshire eavesdropper, 25-year-old Jane Norgrove. September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... For other uses, see Sun (disambiguation). ...

Norgrove claimed she had recorded the call on New Year's Eve 1989, but "didn't even listen to it. I just put the tape in a drawer. I didn't play it until weeks later, and then I suddenly realised who was speaking on the tape". New Years Eve is a celebration held the day before New Years Day, on December 31, the final day of the Gregorian year. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In January 1991, after sitting on the tape for a year, Norgrove approached the Sun. The paper made a copy of her recording, and offered her £200 for her time: Norgrove refused the money, claiming that she "got scared and didn't want to know about it any more. ^[6]" 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Sun (disambiguation). ...

Norgrove claimed: "I wanted to speak out to now to clear up all this nonsense about a conspiracy [..] I'm not part of a Palace plot to smear the Princess of Wales."

(The Sun had initially published the opinions of "a senior courtier [who] claims the tape is part of a plot to blacken Diana's name" and the verdicts of other anonymous Palace staffers, who said that the tape was "a sophisticated attempt to "get even" by friends loyal to Prince Charles after Diana's co-operation with the book Diana: Her True Story, by Andrew Morton ^[7].")

Such speculation had not been confined to tabloid newspapers: William Parsons, of anti-surveillance consultants Systems Elite, remarked that the technical and atmospheric requirements for such a recording to be possible (both halves of a cellular telephone call, with equal clarity, when the callers were over 100 miles apart, in different network 'cells'), were so improbable as to arouse suspicion: "My money would not be on somebody accidentally picking it up [...] There is more to this than meets the eye ^[8]." Cellular redirects here. ...

Jane Norgrove was adamant: "It was just me, recording a telephone conversation in my bedroom. Nothing more and nothing less than that ^[9]."

Context and reaction

At the time of publication, the Prince and Princess of Wales, engaged in acrimonious and messy pre-divorce proceedings, were involved in a protracted battle for public sympathy which became known as the "War of the Waleses". The Prince and Princess of Wales return to Buckingham Palace following their wedding in St Pauls Cathedral The War of the Waleses, was a term coined by the British and International media, to describe the collapsing marriage of the then Prince and Princess of Wales. ...

The Duke and Duchess of York had separated months before, and now all eyes were on the next King and Queen, whose marriage had been the subject of rumour for years. The term duke is a title of nobility which refers to the sovereign male ruler of a Continental European duchy, to a nobleman of the highest grade of the British peerage, or to the highest rank of nobility in various other European countries, including Portugal, Spain and France (in Italy... Sarah, Duchess of York (born 15 October 1959) is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York. ... A monarch (see sovereign) is a type of ruler or head of state. ... King George V of the United Kingdom and his consort, Queen Mary A queen consort is the wife and consort of a reigning king. ...

Speculation in the media - and in court circles - reached fever pitch. In his memoirs, Diana's private secretary Patrick Jephson recounts a fraught game of media one-upmanship by the feuding couple: secret briefings to friendly journalists, open collaboration with TV documentaries, and separate appearances at different public events on the same day were just some of the many strategies with which Charles and Diana attempted to force each other out of the limelight. Jephson recalls that the atmosphere at Kensington Palace at the time was "like a slowly-spreading pool of blood leaking from under a locked door ^[10]."

Throughout 1991 and into 1992, Diana had been involved in secret co-operation with a previously little-known court correspondent called Andrew Morton. The result of this liaison was the scandalous book Diana: Her True Story, which - although obviously biased because of the close involvement of the Princess - revealed in graphic detail the previously-hidden disaster that the Wales's marriage had become. Diana's bulimia, suicide attempts and self-mutilation were spelt out unambiguously, as were Charles's relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles, and the intrigues of Palace officials in attempting to contain the disintegrating Royal marriage. 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... People named Andrew Morton include: Andrew Morton (computer programmer), maintainer of the Linux kernel version 2. ...

Analysis of the tape

In 1993, The Sunday Times published the findings of an analysis of the "Squidgygate" tape, commissioned from Corby-based surveillance specialists Audiotel International. 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The Sunday Times is the name of several Sunday newspapers. ... Corby is a very rough industrial town and a local government district located 8 miles north of Kettering in Northamptonshire, England. ... Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior. ...

Audiotel concluded that the presence of data bursts on the tape was suspicious. Data bursts ("pips" at intervals of approximately 10 seconds, containing information for billing purposes) would normally be filtered out at the exchange before Cellnet transmission. That these "pips" were present at all was therefore anomalous, but they were also too fast, too loud, and exhibited a "low-frequency [audio] 'shadow'," implying "some kind of doctoring of the tape," said Audiotel's managing director, Andrew Martin, in his firm's report. "The balance of probability suggests something irregular about the recording which may indicate a rebroadcasting of the conversation some time after the conversation took place ^[11]."

Within a week of the Times's announcement, a further independent analysis was carried out for the same newspaper by John Nelson of Crew Green Consulting Ltd, with assistance from Martin Colloms, audio analyst for Sony International. Their analysis demonstrated convincingly that the conversation could not have been recorded by a scanning receiver in the manner claimed by Mr Reenan. Amongst several relevant factors, there was a 50-hertz hum in the background of the "Squidgygate" conversation together with components in the recorded speech with frequencies in excess of 4kHz. Neither could have passed through the filters of Mr Reenan's Icom receiver or indeed have been transmitted by the cellular telephone system. The 50Hz hum was consistent with the effect of attempting to record a telephone conversation via a direct tap on a landline. Sony Music Entertainment is a major global record label controlled by Sony Corporation. ... The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the SI unit of frequency. ... A landline or main line is a telephone line which travels through a physical, land-based medium. ...

Since Gilbey was known to have been speaking from a mobile phone, inside a parked car, this left Diana's telephone line at Sandringham. Nelson's analysis, written after a visit to Mr Reenan and an examination of his unsophisticated receiving system (which consisted essentially of an Icom wideband scanning receiver and a conventional television antenna), showed that the recording was most likely to have been made as a result of a local tapping of the telephone line somewhere between the female party's telephone itself, and the local exchange. Furthermore, narrow-band spectrum analysis showed this 50-hertz 'hum' to consist of two separate but superimposed components, "indicating a remixing of the tape after the initial recording." The spectral frequency content of the tape was inconsistent with its supposed origin as an off-air recording of an analogue cellular telephone channel. Sandringham can refer to: The village in Norfolk, United Kingdom Sandringham House in the aforementioned village The Sandringham Time system The suburb of Melbourne, Australia The railway line in Melbourne The railway station in Melbourne at the end of the aforementioned line This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid... The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the SI unit of frequency. ... Superimposition is a graphics term meaning the placement of an image on top of an already-existing image, usually to add to the overall image effect, but also sometimes to conceal something (such as when a different face is superimposed over the original face in a photograph). ...

As well as the strong technical case he made against the recording, Nelson also established that the Cellnet base-station transmitter site in Abingdon Town, the data channel of which was the only one audible at Reenan's home, was not in service at the date of the alleged telephone conversation. It was first commissioned on 3 March 1990. It was therefore unclear how the purported recording could have been made off-air by Reenan and Norgrove in December 1989 or January 1990 (see below).

With regard to the data-bursts that had aroused the suspicion of Audiotel International, Colloms and Nelson stated: "We are forced to conclude that these data-bursts are not genuine, but were added later to the tape. They originated with a locally-made recording, and show that an attempt has been made to disguise a local tap by making it appear that it was recorded over cellular radio."

Telecommunications company Cellnet admitted that it had automatically conducted its own internal investigation after publication of the "Squidgygate" transcript, because Gilbey had been speaking on a Cellnet phone. "It is a very sensitive issue if a cellular network has been bugged," said Cellnet spokesman William Ostrom: "We wished to satisfy ourselves exactly what happened." Cellnet's inquiry, claimed Ostrom, had 'replicated' the findings of Colloms and Nelson: Cellnet announced that it was "completely satisfied that we can dismiss this as an example of our network being eavesdropped ^[12]

In other words, three independent expert analyses of the "Squidgygate" tapes showed beyond any doubt that the recorded conversation had been the result of a direct tap on Diana's landline. Since Sandringham, like all the Royal Palaces, has its own exchange, the person who installed the tap must have had access to the premises. The person or persons responsible had then edited and remixed the fruits of their eavesdropping, doctored it to look like a live transmission by adding data bursts, and had then rebroadcast it, four days after the recording, in the vicinity of a locally-known snooper's 20ft aerial.

The timing discrepancy

After the publication of the Squidgygate story, Cyril Reenan told a reporter from the Oxford Mail: "It has been the biggest mistake of my life. To all those who have felt upset and disturbed by my stupid actions, may I say I am so sorry."

The Sun, he said, had attempted to get him to give them the tape for nothing, and had told him he could be prosecuted for the recording: "I thought 'blimey, I've dropped myself right in it'. I was in a bit of a panic then." For other uses, see Sun (disambiguation). ...

Obviously Reenan held firm and finally received his money - although the Sun seems to have got the upper hand by using a classic tabloid "cloak-and-dagger" tactic to ensure that their unwitting subject wasn't initially available for further comment after the story broke: "For four days we were walking around in the dark because the Sun advised us to draw our curtains and not to touch our mail or newspapers." Jane Norgrove was also reported by the Mail to be "in hiding."

But the most startling claim was made almost in passing. From references made in the taped conversation, it was clearly evident that Diana and Gilbey were talking on New Year's Eve, 1989, the time at which the Sun claimed both Reenan and Norgrove had recorded it.

But now, Reenan informed the Mail that he had recorded the tape on "January 4, 1990". This was reported without comment by the Mail, directly contradicting the by-now nationally-known version of events.

A delay of four days between the call taking place and its interception is not ascribable to any known atmospheric phenomenon.

The next day, an energised Reenan made more surprising admissions, telling the Oxford Mail that certain parts of the "Squidgygate" conversation had been left out by the Sun. The Sun confirmed this to the Mail, saying that they had not made public certain sections of the recording, "for fear of damaging Diana irreparably."

"All the reporters in London seem to know what's on that tape," complained Reenan, "and they've all been to me to confirm it. Both my wife and I have said we can't remember, but we know what was in there." Reenan hinted darkly that there was "a lot about that tape" that had never been made public: "And I'm damn glad that it wasn't."

In 1997, it was revealed that the withheld section was a ten-minute discussion of masturbation or actual phone sex itself ^[13]. 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Mail also issued a correction: the previous day, Mr Reenan had claimed that he had been paid £1,000 by the Sun. He now admitted it was £6,000, and he would be giving it to charity. The glaring anomaly of the date of the recording, 4 January 1990, was conspicuously not corrected ^[14]. January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

The national media, however, were racing ahead with their coverage of the developing Royal split, and had already dropped Reenan. The Oxford Mail's article alleging press harassment, censored recordings, and - crucially - a revised date, were ignored. The Guardian quoted a Sun spokesman as saying that: "Our interest in the Royal story has moved on from Mr Reenan ^[15]." The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ...

Months after the story had broken, Reenan spoke to non-Sun reporters, expressing his anger over his treatment by the Sun: "When I read the transcript of the conversation between the Princess and the man, there were large chunks which I knew had not come from my tape." The Sun, it seemed, had produced a hybrid of Reenan's tape and Norgrove's, Reenan's tape having run out before the end of the conversation. As for the date of the recording: "I did not understand it. I know when I heard that call, and it was 4th January. I was not even at home on New Year's Eve ^[16]."

Apparent third and fourth copies of the tape

The Sun had originally been prompted to run the story by the National Enquirer in America, which had already published excerpts from the "Squidgygate" conversation on 20 August 1992. The Sun knew it could be about to lose a major scoop, and judged that the collapse of the Wales's marriage was already common knowledge, and so published the "Squidgygate" transcripts on 24 August. At this time, the original recordings by Reenan and Norgrove were still in a safe vault as property of Rupert Murdoch's News International corporation. The National Enquirer is a national American supermarket tabloid. ... August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... A scoop is a colloquial term to refer to a news story (especially an exciting one) that is reported in a particular newspaper or magazine before it appears anywhere else, implying a high level of investigation skill; a scoop and a scoop reporter are highly positive assets for that newspaper... Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch (born March 11, 1931) is an Australian-born American media proprietor based in New York City who is a major shareholder and managing director of News Corporation, one of the worlds largest and most influential media corporations. ... News International is a British newspaper publisher owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ...

Jane Norgrove, in her efforts to dispel "all this nonsense about a conspiracy", simply raised new concerns when she claimed that she had wiped her tape after giving a copy to the Sun: "I want to make clear that the Enquirer's tape was nothing to do with me [...] I thought I'd better speak to the Sun again, in case people thought it was me ^[17]."

Who, then, sent the Enquirer a third copy of the conversation remains unknown. Furthermore, a fourth tape was sent anonymously to Richard Kay of the Daily Mail, in a plain brown envelope with a central London postmark, during the same period ^[18]. The Daily Mail is a British tabloid newspaper, first published in 1896. ... This article is about the postal marking. ...

Leaks, taps and burglary

On Monday 31 August 1992, the Daily Mirror had published a letter, purportedly from one Palace advisor to another (both names were withheld). It had originally been sent anonymously to the New York Post. The letter, on Buckingham Palace notepaper, suggested countering Morton's book by leaking material, damaging to the Princess of Wales, to another Royal biographer, Lady Colin Campbell. It also mentioned that Andrew Morton's telephone was bugged (after publishing leaked details of the separation of the Duke and Duchess of York in March 1992, Morton had been warned to "watch your phones." Ten days later his office was burgled ^[19]). Buckingham Palace denounced the letter as a fake. August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining, as the final day of August. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ... The New York Post is one of the oldest (and according to some definitions, the oldest) newspapers still published in the United States. ... Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial. ... Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial. ...

Earlier claims of Diana being bugged

Early in 1992, if Princess Diana herself is to be believed, several senior members of the Queen's household staff had met with Diana and told her of the existence of tape-recordings of her conversations at Kensington Palace. It was said to her that these tapes contained "damning evidence" of the Princess's relationship with the media. She was told that the Prime Minister (then John Major MP) had been informed, and that she would be given her own copy of the tapes in due course. A sympathetic courtier confirmed to Princess Diana that the tapes did indeed exist. But the day after the meeting, Diana was told that the tapes couldn't be used against her. She was advised that she should forget about them ^[20] 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... The south facade of the main block of Kensington Palace, seen through Jean Tijous wrought iron gates. ... Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister A prime minister is a politician who serves as the head of the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... The Right Honourable Sir John Major, KG, CH (born 29 March 1943) is a British politician who served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer before succeeding Thatcher as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Courtiers follow an ancient profession. ...

Diana's careful efforts to make sure that Morton's revelations were not traceable directly to her - which included using a friend, James Coldhurst, to run Dictaphone recordings to Morton ^[21] - had paid off.

Even Jephson was unaware of her actions till much later, stoutly defending her against whisperers: even though, as he adds, many in Palace circles went 'half-mad' trying to prove her involvement.

Andrew Morton's own speculation on the alleged tape-recordings of Diana's "damning" calls was added to the 1993 reprint of Her True Story: "Was Diana's telephone really bugged - and if so by whom - or was it an elaborate bluff aimed at extracting a confession from the Princess about her rumoured complicity in the preparation of my book? ^[22]"

Jephson himself recalled that he had heard "a vague rumour about some tapes" before, but had "dismissed it as just another among so many ghastly whisperings, gobbets of disinformation and black propaganda that were by then my daily diet. This time, however, the rumours were true and "Squidgygate" burst upon us. ^[23]"

Government reaction

Suspicion about responsibility for the Squidgygate leak (perhaps naturally) focussed on Britain's security service, MI5. Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke said: "The security services are strictly controlled in their telephone tapping, and I know of no evidence whatever to indicate that they were involved." Such suggestions, he added, were "wild" and "extremely silly". This was a rather surprising statement, since the incident had not, as far as is known, at this stage been investigated in any official capacity. The Home Secretary (official full title Secretary of State for the Home Department) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... Kenneth Clarke The Right Honourable Kenneth Harry Clarke, QC, MP, (born 2 July 1940) is a leading Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. ...

On the same day as these remarks, members of the Commons all-party home affairs committee had their first meeting with Dame Stella Rimington, director general of MI5. Committee member John Greenway MP (Conservative) remarked that the recent Camillagate leak "strengthens the case for a parliamentary committee to have responsibility to oversee or scrutinise the work of the security services [..] I suspect that colleagues will want to ask how true the allegations [of MI5 complicity in the 'Camillagate' leak] are, and I suspect that she [Rimington] will refuse to tell us." No record exists of matters discussed at the meeting. ^[24] A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... Dame Stella Rimington (born May 1935) was the Director-General (DG) of MI5 from 1992 to 1996. ... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is a British counter-intelligence and security agency. ... John Robert Greenway (born 15 February 1946) is a British politician, and Conservative member of Parliament for Ryedale. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is a British counter-intelligence and security agency. ...

Context: other examples of high level UK bugging

High-level eavesdropping in British politics is not unprecedented.

The first major 'Establishment' figure to question the official line on Squidgygate was Lord Rees-Mogg, the arch-conservative chairman of the Broadcasting Standards Authority. William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg (born July 14, 1928) is a journalist and politician in the United Kingdom. ... The Broadcasting Standards Authority(BSA) is a New Zealand Crown Entity created by the Broadcasting Act 1989 to develop and uphold standards of brodcasting for radio, free-to-air and pay television. ...

He had proved an early proponent of the "rogue spies" school of thought in January 1993, when he used his Times column to accuse elements within the British security services of engineering the leaks. "All those tapes were made within a month," he wrote. Look up January in Wiktionary, the free dictionary January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Many newspapers use the name Times, the most famous of which are The Times of London and the New York Times. ... Roman pillar In architecture and structural engineering, a column is that part of a structure whose purpose is to transmit through compression the weight of the structure. ... State institutions for the provision of intelligence, primarily of a strategic nature, but also including protective security intelligence. ...

"The most likely explanation is that MI5 did it to protect the Royal family at a time of danger from the IRA. I don't think there was any sense of wrong-doing, but once they were made there was the danger of a leak ^[25]." Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is a British counter-intelligence and security agency. ... A royal family is the extended family of a monarch. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the army or the Ra) is an Irish Republican paramilitary organisation. ...

Examples of such eavesdropping and leaking follow.

A former Canadian intelligence officer, Mike Frost retired in 1992, after 20 years' service. Frost has told how Canada's 'listening' capabilities had been utilised by Margaret Thatcher, when Prime Minister, to spy on two [unnamed] cabinet colleagues. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), is a British politician. ... Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister A prime minister is a politician who serves as the head of the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ...

"She wanted to find out not what they were saying, but what they were thinking," he said.

GCHQ, the government's listening post in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was to have been used to carry out this surveillance, but they approached the Canadian intelligence services, because the operation was too politically sensitive. The spying was organised from the offices of Macdonald house in Grosvenor Square, London, the home of the Canadian High Commission. The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) (previously named the Government Code and Cipher School (GC&CS)) is the main British intelligence service providing signals intelligence (SIGINT). ... The centre of Cheltenham. ... Gloucestershire (pronounced ; GLOSS-ter-sher) is a county in southwest England. ... The north side of Grosvenor Square in the 18th or early 19th century. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...

The Canadian officer who led the spying operation personally drove to GCHQ to deliver the fruits of the snooping: tape-recordings of the ministers' communications over a three-week period. Frost did not know, or perhaps simply did not say, what use was made of these tapes ^[26]. The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) (previously named the Government Code and Cipher School (GC&CS)) is the main British intelligence service providing signals intelligence (SIGINT). ...

During the "Spycatcher" controversy of 1987, the British Conservative government sought to suppress the Australian publication of the memoirs of Peter Wright (a former deputy director of MI5). Spycatcher is a book by the former MI5 secret service operative Peter Wright. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... See also Peter Wright (rugby player) and Pete Wright (musician) Peter Wright (born on August 9, 1916 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, United Kingdom - died April 27, 1995 in Tasmania, Australia) was a former MI5 counterintelligence officer noted for writing the controversial book Spycatcher (ISBN 0670820555), which was part memoir, part expos... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is a British counter-intelligence and security agency. ...

Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock suddenly found himself accused by the Conservative party of talking to Wright's lawyers. The Labour Party is the principal centre-left political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... The Right Honourable Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock, PC (born 28 March 1942) is a British politician. ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the right-of-centre in the United Kingdom. ... The word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder, e. ... For information on the type of fish called Lawyer, see the article on Burbot. ...

Kinnock had indeed done so, via international telephone, but with a General Election looming, Kinnock apparently did not want to be seen as some kind of "security risk", and so he declined to ask publicly how the Conservative party had come to know the contents of his private phone calls ^[27]. A general election is an election in which all members of a given political body are up for election. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ...

'Camillagate'

A few days before Clarke's remarks, the Daily Mirror had run with "Camillagate", an eight-minute tape of Prince Charles exchanging sexually explicit pleasantries with his mistress, Camilla Parker-Bowles. Richard Stott, editor of the Mirror, claimed that the tape had been recorded by "a very ordinary member of the public", although the paper was not allowed to keep or to make a copy of the tape. But the Sunday Times reported that an anonymous freelance journalist from Manchester was known to be attempting to sell a complete copy of the original tape, asking price £50,000. The reignition of the controversy over "Squidgygate" had been instantaneous: the date of the "Camillagate" recording was known to be 18 December, 1989 - just weeks before the "Squidygate" tape had been recorded. Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ... Camillagate was the name given to the scandal surrounding the affair between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. ...

Political fallout

Before any investigation into "Squidgygate" or "Camillagate" had begun, Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke told the House of Commons: "There is nothing to investigate. [...] I am absolutely certain that the allegation that this is anything to do with the security services or GCHQ [...] is being put out by newspapers, who I think feel rather guilty that they are using plainly tapped telephone calls." ^[28] [emphasis supplied] The Home Secretary (official full title Secretary of State for the Home Department) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... Kenneth Clarke The Right Honourable Kenneth Harry Clarke, QC, MP, (born 2 July 1940) is a leading Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. ... British House of Commons Canadian House of Commons In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) (previously named the Government Code and Cipher School (GC&CS)) is the main British intelligence service providing signals intelligence (SIGINT). ...

Her Majesty's opposition, the Labour Party, accused Clarke of irresponsibility, issuing a rather sardonic statement: "He has to show that he is taking these allegations seriously, otherwise he will be perceived as being unable to control an organisation for which he is responsible." The Labour Party is the principal centre-left political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... People whose surname is Clarke include (see also Clark): Alexander R. Clarke, British geodesist, whose 1866 spheroid was the standard Earth spheroid for a very long time Sir Arthur C. Clarke (born 1917) is an author and inventor, probably most famous for his science fiction novel 2001: A Space Odyssey...

Official position

John Major's government eventually published two reports, both of which cleared MI5 and MI6 of involvement in the "Royalgates" tapes. The Right Honourable Sir John Major, KG, CH (born 29 March 1943) is a British politician who served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer before succeeding Thatcher as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is a British counter-intelligence and security agency. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ...

One of these was the annual report of the Interceptions Commissioner, Lord Bingham of Cornhill, who oversaw the intelligence-gathering practices of the security services. Excerpt follows: Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill, PC (born October 13, 1933), is one of the most senior judges in the United Kingdom. ...

"[Lord Bingham] was impressed by the scrupulous adherence to the statutory provisions [against misconduct] of those involved in the [intelligence-gathering] procedures."

In a clear reference to the "Squidgygate" affair, he commented on "the stories which occasionally circulated in the press with regard to the interceptions by MI5, MI6 and GCHQ," stating that such stories were, in his experience, "without exception false, and gave an entirely misleading impression to the public both of the extent of official interception and of the targets against which interception is directed." Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is a British counter-intelligence and security agency. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) (previously named the Government Code and Cipher School (GC&CS)) is the main British intelligence service providing signals intelligence (SIGINT). ...

Conservative MP Richard Shepherd called the official reports: "two old buffers saying that in their opinion the security services act with integrity". Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Richard Charles Scrimgeour Shepherd (born 6 December 1942, Aberdeen) Educated at the London School of Economics and Johns Hopkins University is a politician in the United Kingdom. ...

The National Heritage Secretary Peter Brook gave MPs "a categorical assurance that the heads of the agencies concerned have said there is no truth in the rumours ^[29]." Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (born 1925) is a highly influential British theatrical producer and director. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ...

Chance Interceptions?

The circumstances surrounding the recording of the Royal tapes are still poorly understood.

The "Squidgygate" and "Camillagate" tapes were both analysed by experts. Camillagate was the name given to the scandal surrounding the affair between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. ...

The "Camillagate" tape showed no signs of suspicious treatment, and appeared to be just what it was claimed to have been: a recording, "from air", of Charles and Camilla talking privately on 18 December 1989. Camillagate was the name given to the scandal surrounding the affair between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. ... Prince Charles may refer to: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, current heir-apparent to the British throne Any of the previous British royals named Charles, Prince of Wales The former Belgian regent, Prince Charles of Belgium This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might... Camilla Parker Bowles (born July 17 1947) was mistress, now girlfriend, of Charles, Prince of Wales. ... December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Chance interception of high-level communication is not unknown: during the 1982 Falklands conflict, a radio ham in London had intercepted and taped a conversation between the then-Prime Minister's press secretary Sir Bernard Ingham and the Assistant Director-General of the BBC, in which the BBC was pressurised into sharing war footage with commercial rivals ITN ^[30]. 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas), was a war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (also known in Spanish as the Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, between March and June of 1982. ... Amateur radio, commonly called ham radio, is a hobby enjoyed by many people throughout the world (as of 2004 about 3 million worldwide, 60,000 in UK, 70,000 in Germany, 5,000 in Norway, 57,000 in Canada, and 700,000 in the USA). ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), is a British politician. ... Sir Bernard Ingham (born June 21, 1932) is a journalist best known as Margaret Thatchers former press secretary. ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom (see British television). ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom (see British television). ... ITN may refer to: Independent Television News In the news, a section on the Main Page of English Wikipedia This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...

The "Squidgygate" tape showed clear signs of having been doctored and rebroadcast on 4 January 1990; four days after its initial interception on New Year's Eve, 1989. However, there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that it could not have been recorded off-air in the manner claimed by Reenan and Norgrove. January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... New Years Eve is a celebration held the day before New Years Day, on December 31, the final day of the Gregorian year. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Culprits' identities are an official secret

The Queen was so disturbed by the "Squidygate" episode that she requested MI5 to conduct an investigation to discover the culprit or culprits. Since the motive couldn't have been financial, said the investigators - the only winners were the radio hams and the press - it must have been political ^[31]. Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), born 21 April 1926, is the Queen regnant of the following countries (shown in the order of her accession): 1952: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (all 6 February) 1962: Jamaica 1966: Barbados 1973: The Bahamas...

In 2002, Diana's former protection officer, Inspector Ken Wharfe revealed that the investigation had "identified all those involved, but for legal reasons I cannot expand further, and nor is it necessary to do so." 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Wharfe adds, however, that: "It does [..] lend credence to the Princess's belief, so often dismissed by her detractors, that the Establishment was out to destroy her ^[32]." The Establishment is a slang term (chiefly in British and Commonwealth English) for a traditional conservative ruling class and its institutions. ...

This directly contradicts the statements of Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke, and conflicts with the statements of Lord Bingham of Cornhill - a Privy Councillor since 1986- whose report claims that the interception services behaved properly. The Home Secretary (official full title Secretary of State for the Home Department) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... Kenneth Clarke The Right Honourable Kenneth Harry Clarke, QC, MP, (born 2 July 1940) is a leading Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. ... Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill, PC (born October 13, 1933), is one of the most senior judges in the United Kingdom. ... This article concerns the British Sovereigns Privy Council. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Diana's reactions

The Princess herself was distraught by the "Squidgygate" episode.

By 1995, claims her private secretary Patrick Jephson, Diana's "paranoia" had "reached new heights. She saw plots everywhere, [and] was obsessed with the thought that she was being bugged." 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On one occasion, Jephson expressed his "polite mystification" - although he notes that "exasperation would have been nearer the mark" - that "none of these hidden microphones had actually been discovered."

Diana pulled up a carpet in an upstairs room at Kensington Palace, to show Jephson what she believed was evidence of bugging: fresh sawdust and disturbed planks: "She pointed silently at the sawdust, and nodded significantly." Jephson tried to reassure her that this was simply the result of the rewiring of all the Royal Palaces, following the 1992 fire at Windsor Castle, but Diana, after gesturing for him to remain silent, was evidently unconvinced ^[33]. The south facade of the main block of Kensington Palace, seen through Jean Tijous wrought iron gates. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... An early 18th century view of Windsor Castle by Kip and Knyff. ...

Squidgygate II?

There is a curious coda to the "Squidgygate" affair. On 31 August 1997, most of the British press was caught in the spotlight. August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining, as the final day of August. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A number of early editions of Sunday's papers were already in circulation, and these carried stories that can only be described as both surprising and worrying. The majority of these were simply tasteless jokes about the Princess's persistent "dumb blonde" image, which must have caused their editors some nasty moments. A piece of "psychological profiling" about the Princess's ever-present role in public life, for the Sunday Times, featured a large picture of Diana, and began with the unfortunate words "There is something missing from all our lives today."

The tabloid Sunday Mirror carried the story of how Palace Courtiers were ready to press the Queen to let the Royal warrants for Harrods lapse: "It would be a huge blow to the ego of store owner Mohamed al-Fayed - and would infuriate Diana [...] but the Royal Family are furious about the frolics of Di, 36, and Dodi, 41, which they believe have further undermined the Monarchy." Alternate newspaper: The Daily Mirror (Australia) The Daily Mirror is a popular British tabloid daily newspaper. ... Harrods is an upmarket department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London. ... Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed (Arabic: محمد الفايد ) (b. ...

"Prince Philip, in particular has made no secret as to how he feels about his [former] daughter-in-law's latest man, referring to Dodi as an 'oily bed-hopper'." HRH The Duke of Edinburgh His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philip Mountbatten), styled HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (born June 10, 1921), is the consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. ...

After noting that MI6 had prepared a report on the al-Fayeds, which would be presented at an early September meeting of the Royal policy think-tank, The Way Ahead Group, the paper quoted a friend of the Royals as saying: "Prince Philip has let rip several times recently about the Fayeds: at a dinner party, during a country shoot, and while on a visit to close friends in Germany. He's been banging on about his contempt for Dodi and how he is undesirable as a future stepfather to William and Harry. Diana has been told in no uncertain terms about the consequences should she continue the relationship with the Fayed boy. Options must include exile, although that would be very difficult, as - when all is said and done - she is the mother of the future King of England ^[34]." The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... HRH The Duke of Edinburgh His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philip Mountbatten), styled HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (born June 10, 1921), is the consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. ...

Mirror columnist Chris Hutchins couldn't have been aware that events later that night would mean his words would be read in a very different light. He had written in the paper's "Confidential" feature:

"Just when Diana began to believe that her current romance with likeable playboy Dodi Fayed had wiped out her past liaisons, a new tape recording is doing the rounds of Belgravia dinner parties. And this one is hot, hot, hot! Labelled Squidgygate II, the tape is of a completely different conversation the Princess had with her sometime beau James Gilbey.

'It's absolutely outrageous,' says a woman friend who heard the tape last week, but was too polite to ask her hostess if she could make a copy for "Confidential". 'It's full of sexual innuendo, and far more explicit than the one we all heard before'."

Hutchins concludes: "I must remember to take it up with Diana next time we find ourselves on adjacent running machines at our West London gym."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the second "Squidgygate" tape disappeared from the media without trace, before it had even had a chance to appear, and no further information on its contents, origins - or its sudden surfacing in private hands after a gap of some seven years - seems likely to emerge.

Surveillance of Diana after Squidgygate

On 30 November 1998, APB News Online published the results of a US Freedom of Information Act request. November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ... Nearly sixty countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on governmental secrecy. ...

The news agency's request for documents on Diana, held by America's National Security Agency, had been rejected, but the rejection notice itself revealed that a total of 1,056 pages of documents is held by the NSA, CIA, State department, and the Defense Intelligence Agency DIA. NSA seal The National Security Agency / Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is believed to be the largest United States government intelligence agency. ... NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... DIA seal The Defense Intelligence Agency is a major producer and manager of intelligence for the United States Department of Defense. ... Dia is a general-purpose diagram creation software program, developed as part of the GNOME project. ...

APB quoted John Pike, an intelligence expert from the Federation of American Scientists, as saying that the NSA was "insatiably curious, and monitors everyone of interest outside the US". The Federation of American Scientists is a non-profit organization dedicated to the proper use of science and technology for the benefit of mankind. ... NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

A spokesman for the NSA, which holds 124 pages from "39 NSA-originated and NSA-controlled documents", declined to answer further questions about the documents, as did a spokeswoman for the CIA, which has at least two documents. NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ...

When asked why the Defense Intelligence Agency might be holding documents on Diana, Lieutenant-Colonel James MacNeil said he had "no idea why. All of our stuff is on military [matters]. Obviously she wasn't in the military ^[35]. DIA seal The Defense Intelligence Agency is a major producer and manager of intelligence for the United States Department of Defense. ...

After a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Guardian newspaper in 1999, the NSA told the paper that it was - and is still - holding reports under both secret and top secret classifications, and that: "these documents cannot be declassified because their disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security." Nearly sixty countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on governmental secrecy. ... The Guardian was also the name of a U.S. television series. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Secrecy is the condition of hiding information from others. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The agency said it also needed to protect its sources.

The NSA said: NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

"The reports contain only references to Princess Diana acquired incidentally from intelligence gathering. It is neither NSA policy or practice to target British subjects in conducting our foreign intelligence mission. However, other countries could communicate about these subjects; therefore, this agency could acquire intelligence concerning British subjects ^[36]." NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

This statement makes it sound as though the NSA's dossier on Diana consists of third-party information gathered almost by accident.

The NSA's spokesman may have been deliberately vague by relying on the ambiguity of the phrase "British subjects", which - read one way -- means British "citizens" (as long as a Monarch rules, all Britons are subjects of the reigning King or Queen), and - read another - means "matters of interest to the British state". Ambiguity is one way in which the meanings of words and phrases can be unclear, but there is another way, which is different from ambiguity: vagueness. ... A monarch (see sovereign) is a type of ruler or head of state. ... Look up Briton in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A Briton, in broad terms, is an inhabitant of the geographical region of Great Britain. ... See subject (grammar) for the linguistic definition of subject. ... A monarch (see sovereign) is a type of ruler or head of state. ... A queen regnant is a female monarch who possesses all the monarchal powers that a king would have without regard to gender. ...

Either interpretation is demonstrably false: the NSA monitors both British interests and individuals. NSA surveillance of private phone conversations "between Diana and American friends" had been mounted "at MI6's request ^[37]." NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ...

US journalist Gerald Posner was played innocuous extracts from the NSA tapes of Diana's conversations in early 1999. Gerald Posner is an investigative journalist and author of several books of prominence and historial importance, including Case Closed (1993), exploring the John F. Kennedy assassination, and the powerful commentary , which brings to light - new evidence - on the assasination of Dr. King. ... NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

In February 2000, Wayne Madsen, formerly an NSA operative for 20 years, said that "undisclosed material held in US government files on Princess Diana was collected because of her work with the international campaign to ban landmines." This article is about the year 2000. ... NSA can stand for: National Security Agency of the USA The British Librarys National Sound Archive This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Diana, and other international figures including Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa of Calcutta, were all listened in on by the Echelon monitoring system, a world-wide monitoring network capable of processing millions of messages every hour. Pope John Paul II (Latin: ), born Karol Józef WojtyÅ‚a (May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005) reigned as pope of the Catholic Church for almost 27 years, from 16 October 1978 until his death, making his the second-longest pontificate. ... Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu Mother Teresa of Calcutta (August 27, 1910–September 5, 1997) was an internationally renowned Catholic nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity whose work among the poor of Calcutta was widely reported. ... This article may contain original research or unverified claims. ...

"Anybody who is politically active,' said Madsen, 'will eventually end up on the NSA's radar screen ^[38]."

In December 1998, the French magistrate who investigated Diana's death, Herve Stephan, wrote to the American Secret Services to request the 1,056-page dossier of transcripted calls ^[39].

This request was refused a month or so later.

References

• ^  Adams, James: The New Spies: Exploring the Frontiers of Espionage; Hutchinson, London, 1994, ISBN 0-09-174063-0; p112-113
• ^  APB News[40], 30 November 1998
• ^  Cockerill, Michael: Live from Number 10: The Inside Story of Prime Ministers and Television; Faber and Faber, London, 1988, ISBN 0-571-14757-7; p277
• ^  Dorril, Stephen: MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations; Fourth Estate, London, 2000: ISBN-1-85702-093-6; p788
• ^  Dorril, Stephen, and Ramsay, Robin: Smear! Wilson and the Secret State; Fourth Estate, London, 1991; ISBN 1-872180-68-X; p133
• ^  The Guardian, 9 September 1992
• ^  The Guardian, 14 January 1993
• ^  The Guardian, 18 January 1993
• ^  The Guardian, 13 May 1993
• ^  The Guardian, 6 August 1999
• ^  The Independent 26 August 1992
• ^  Jephson, Patrick: Shadows of a Princess; HarperCollins, London 2000; ISBN 0-00-711358-7; p334
• ^  Jephson, p255, claims that despite initial rumours that the tape was a hoax, this comment was "an expression I had heard often enough to recognise its authenticity."
• ^  Jephson, p242
• ^  Jephson, p255
• ^  Jephson, p371
• ^  Kelley, Kitty: The Royals; Time-Warner, New York, 1997; ISBN 0-446-51712-7; p361
• ^  Morton, Andrew: Diana: Her True Story; Michael O'Mara, London, 1993 (2nd edition); ISBN 1-85479-128-1l; p2
• ^  Morton,p167
• ^  The Oxford Mail, 8 and 9 September 1992
• ^  The Sun, 24 August 1992
• ^  The Sun, 24 August 1992
• ^  The Sun, 25 August 1992
• ^  The Sun, 26 August 1992
• ^  The Sun 5 September 1992
• ^  The Sunday Business, 20 December 1998
• ^  The Sunday Mirror, 31 August 1997
• ^  The Sunday Times 5 September 1991
• ^  The Sunday Times 16 September 2000
• ^  The Sunday Times 17 January 1993
• ^  The Sunday Times 24 January 1993
• ^  The Sunday Times, 27 February 2000
• ^  The Times, 11 January 1993
• ^  Wharfe, Inspector Ken: Diana: Closely Guarded Secret; Michael O'Mara, London, 2002, ISBN 1-84317-005-1; pp174-5

Hutchinson is a book publisher, and is a division of Random House. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Faber and Faber is a celebrated publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing the poetry of T. S. Eliot. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The term Fourth Estate refers to the press, both in its explicit capacity of advocacy and in its implicit ability to frame political issues. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Author Robin Ramsay was born in Edinburgh in 1948. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... January 14 is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (239th in leap years). ... Collins was a Scottish printing company founded by a Presbyterian schoolmaster, William Collins, in Glasgow in 1819, in partnership with Charles Chalmers, the younger brother of Thomas Chalmers, minister of Tron Church, Glasgow. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Author Kitty Kelley Kitty Kelley (born April 4, 1942) is an American investigative journalist and author of several best-selling biographies of celebrities and politicians--which have led to her international--and controversial--reputation as the first lady of the unauthorized biography genre. ... Time Warner Inc. ... Official language(s) English Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... People named Andrew Morton include: Andrew Morton (computer programmer), maintainer of the Linux kernel version 2. ... For other uses, see Sun (disambiguation). ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining, as the final day of August. ... The Sunday Times is the name of several Sunday newspapers. ... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Prince Charles
• Camilla Parker-Bowles
• Diana, Princess of Wales
• Surveillance
• British Royal Family
• MI5
• British Government
• John Major
• Kenneth Clarke
• Peter Brook
• James Hewitt

Prince Charles may refer to: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, current heir-apparent to the British throne Any of the previous British royals named Charles, Prince of Wales The former Belgian regent, Prince Charles of Belgium This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might... Camilla Parker Bowles (born July 17 1947) was mistress, now girlfriend, of Charles, Prince of Wales. ... Lady Diana Spencer (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, née Spencer) (1 July 1961–31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. ... Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior. ... Members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Trooping the Colour ceremony The British Royal Family is a group of people closely related to the British monarch. ... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is a British counter-intelligence and security agency. ... The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ... The Right Honourable Sir John Major, KG, CH (born 29 March 1943) is a British politician who served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer before succeeding Thatcher as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United... Kenneth Clarke The Right Honourable Kenneth Harry Clarke, QC, MP, (born 2 July 1940) is a leading Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. ... Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (born 1925) is a highly influential British theatrical producer and director. ... See also James Hewitt, 1st Viscount Lifford. ...

External links

• Transcript of Squidgygate conversation:

http://www.geocities.com/rickanddarvagossip/diana_gilbey.html

• Transcript of Camillagate conversation:

http://www.geocities.com/rickanddarvagossip/camillagate.html

• Part of John Nelson's technical analysis of Squidgygate recording:

http://www.crew-green.com/Diana.htm