BBC: The Panorama Interview

TV host Martin Bashir interviews the Princess at Kensington Palace

How prepared were you for the pressures that came with marrying into the Royal Family?

At the age of 19, you always think you're prepared for everything, and you think you have the knowledge of what's coming ahead. But although I was daunted at the prospect at the time, I felt I had the support of my husband to be.

What were the expectations that you had for married life?

I think like any marriage, specially when you've had divorced parents like myself, you'd want to try even harder to make it work and you don't want to fall back into a pattern that you've seen happen in your own family. I desperately wanted it to work, I desperately loved my husband and I wanted to share everything together, and I thought that we were a very good team.

How aware were you of the significance of what had happened to you? After all, you'd become Princess of Wales, ultimately with a view to becoming Queen.

I wasn't daunted, and am not daunted by the responsibilities that that role creates. It was a challenge, it is a challenge. As for becoming Queen, it was never at the forefront of my mind when I married my husband, it was a long way off that thought.

The most daunting aspect was the media attention, because my husband and I, we were told when we got engaged that the media would go quietly, and it didn't; and then when we were married, they said it would go quietly and it didn't; and then it started to focus very much on me, and I seemed to be on the front of a newspaper every single day, which is an isolating experience, and the higher the media place you, is the bigger the drop and I was very aware of that.

Were you flattered by the media attention particularly?

No, not particularly, because with the media attention came a lot of jealousy, a great deal of complicated situations arose because of that.

Had the Palace given any thought to the role that you might have as Princess of Wales?

No, no one sat me down with a piece of paper and said: `This is what is expected of you.' But there again, I'm lucky enough in the fact that I have found my role, and I'm very conscious of it, and I love being with people.

So, you very much created the role that you would pursue for yourself really? That was what you did?

I think so. I remember when I used to sit on hospital beds and hold people's hands, people used to be sort of shocked because they said they'd never seen this before, and to me it was quite a normal thing to do. And when I saw the reassurance that an action like that gave, I did it everywhere, and will always do that.

Had you always wanted to have a family?

Yes, I came from a family where there were four of us, so we had enormous fun there. And then William and Harry arrived - fortunately two boys, it would have been a little tricky if it had been two girls, but that in itself brings the responsibilities of bringing them up, William's future being as it is, and Harry like a form of a back up in that aspect.

What effect did the depression have on your marriage?

Well, it gave everybody a wonderful new label, Diana's unstable and Diana's mentally unbalanced. And unfortunately that seems to have stuck on and off over the years.

Were you able to admit that you were in fact unwell, or did you feel compelled simply to carry on performing as the Princess of Wales?

I felt compelled to perform. Well, when I say perform, I was compelled to go out and do my engagements and not let people down and support them and love them. And in a way by being out in public they supported me, although they weren't aware just how much healing they were giving me, and it carried me through.

The depression was resolved, as you say, but it was subsequently reported that you suffered bulimia. Is that true?

Yes, I did. I had bulimia for a number of years. And that's like a secret disease. You inflict it upon yourself because your self esteem is at a low ebb, and you don't think you're worthy or valuable. You fill your stomach up four or five times a day, some do it more, and it gives you a feeling of comfort. It's like having a pair of arms around you, but it's temporary. Then you're disgusted at the bloatedness of your stomach, and then you bring it all up again and it's a repetitive pattern which is very destructive to yourself.

Did you seek help from any other members of the Royal Family?

No. You, you have to know that when you have bulimia you're very ashamed of yourself and you hate yourself, and people think you're wasting food, so you don't discuss it with people and the thing about bulimia is your weight always stays the same, whereas with anorexia you visibly shrink. So you can pretend the whole way through. There's no proof.

Facts & Video File: Read the complete script and watch BBC's Panorama interview on YouTube.