Prince William felt he was being 'used' to further his father's interests after Princess Diana's death, BBC documentary reveals

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Prince William felt he was being 'used' to further his father's interests and portray Charles in a positive light after Princess Diana's death, an explosive BBC documentary has revealed.

Sandy Henney, a former press aide to Prince Charles, described how his image was in tatters when she took up her post in 1993 as he was viewed as a 'bad father' and 'unloving husband'.

In her first broadcast interview she described how Prince William was 'angry' about leaked details from his first meeting with Camilla Parker-Bowles and said it was a 'defining moment' for him.

'He (William) was understandably really upset because it was private. And apart from being angry and upset that this had got out, he wanted to know how it had happened,' she told Reinventing the Royals last night.

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Prince William (left) felt he was being 'used' to further his father's interests and portray Charles (right) in a positive light after Princess Diana's death, an explosive BBC documentary has revealed

'It was a defining moment as he had recently lost his mother and he knew the role of the media in her life.'

The Sun's former royal correspondent Charles Rae told the documentary that details of the meeting at St James's Palace in 1998 had been revealed by Prince Charles' former PR man Mark Bolland.

'We got all the details, her [Camilla] drinking the gin and tonic, her having a sneaky fag beforehand because she was nervous and everything else.

'So all the detail came to us and was, if you like, absolutely kosher. Apart from Camilla and William telling us, you couldn't have got it from a better source… It was Mark Bolland.' 

Mr Bolland has denied he was behind the leak, branding the claims 'rubbish'.

It was also claimed that a 17-year-old Prince Harry was left angry when another story about him having smoked cannabis appeared in the press.  

Sandy Henney, a former press aide to Prince Charles, described how his image was in tatters when she took up her post in 1993

Royal biographer Penny Junor claims the story was 'not strictly true' and was spun into positive PR for Charles who sent the young royal to visit a drugs rehabilitation centre.

'A deal was struck, the order of events were reversed. It was spun it into a good story about Charles recognising his son had gone off the rails and doing something about it,' said Ms Junor.

In the documentary Ms Henney, who worked for Charles from 1993 to 2000, also spoke of how she feared for the future of the monarchy in the face of public anger after the death of Princess Diana. 

'I remember briefing one of our private secretaries on the phone and saying, 'I know you're seeing it on television but you really have to be here in London to feel the atmosphere. People here are really antimonarchy',' she said.

'I have to say, yeah, I was worried in terms of where was this going to go?'  

The programme also investigated the strategy for Camilla Parker Bowles to be accepted as a 'non-negotiable' part of Prince Charles' life - dubbed 'Operation Mrs PB'

Tony Blair's spin doctor Alastair Campbell told the programme how he and the then prime minister helped the Queen and senior courtiers map out a strategy to soothe public rage.

He said: 'The Lord Chamberlain said to Tony Blair: 'Were going to need some help on this.' I can remember saying it's very very important that she's there speaking not just as the Queen but as a grandmother.'

The programme also investigated the strategy for Ms Parker Bowles to be accepted by the public as a 'non-negotiable' part of Prince Charles' life - dubbed 'Operation Mrs PB'.

This strategy was masterminded by 'spin doctor' Mr Bolland who was private secretary to the Prince of Wales from 1996 until 2002.

'Spin doctor' Mark Bolland was private secretary to the Prince of Wales from 1996 until 2002

He was also said to have helped with a book that claimed Princess Diana had the first affair and threatened to have Camilla killed, the author revealed as part of the documentary. 

Penny Junor, who was accused of smearing Princess Diana with her 1998 book Charles: Victim or Villain, told the show that Mr Bolland was a crucial source.

The explosive book prompted public outrage when it was released because it questioned Diana's sanity and suggested she was the first to be unfaithful with a string of lovers, including a policeman. 

When asked how close she came to the royal family, she told the programme: 'I got very close. Bolland helped me with a lot of the book.

'I'm not saying he was the only source, he certainly wasn't the source for everything. He was the source for some things. It would have been a wholly dishonest book if he had been the only source.

'He was a genius he was very good at what he did. He loved pulling strings and playing with the press. The princes called him Blackadder.'

The author, who has described herself as 'the most hated woman in Britain', defended her reasons for publishing the book which attacked Diana.

'The enduring memory that everyone had of Diana was the Panorama interview when she sat looking very forlorn and talked about the three of them in the marriage,' she told the programme.

'I thought he's never going to defend himself. Was he actually a villain who destroyed this beautiful young girl or was he a victim of a failed marriage of a mismatch. I wanted to know what the actual truth was.'

After the book was published to coincide with Charles' 50th birthday, the Prince of Wales sought to distance himself and Camilla from the claims.

Royal biographer Penny Junor, who has described herself as 'the most hated woman in Britain', defended her reasons for publishing the book which attacked Diana

The author said the enduring memory that everyone had of Diana was the infamous 1995 Panorama interview (pictured)

A statement was released which said the book was not authorised, solicited or approved.

'That says what is wasn't, not what it was. I went to them and I said I want to write this book and I got help,' said Ms Junor. 

The BBC documentary became the subject of a row after it was claimed the Palace was delaying its broadcast by refusing to release archive footage.

Clarence House has denied it was to blame for the programme being put back two months beyond its original scheduled time of December last year 

Interviewees in the documentary, which was produced by Christopher Walker, said they believed Charles was unaware of some of his team's dealings with the media.

Mr Bolland was not available for a comment when contacted. 

Clarence House declined to comment on the content of the documentary. 

The second part of Reinventing the Royals will be screened on Thursday, February 27 at 9pm.  

The explosive book prompted public outrage when it was released because it questioned Diana's sanity and suggested she was the first to be unfaithful, pictured the royal couple in South Korea in 1992

The documentary claimed William (pictured with his brother in 2008) was upset about a story about his first meeting with Camilla, now Duchess of Cornwall