The royal sex video that was fake and brought down the British tabloid

In early October 1996, the British 'Sun' published an 80-second video it claimed showed Princess Diana undressing and cuddling with James Hewitt. Within 12 hours, the video was exposed as a fake: it was a clip from a pilot episode of a satirical series, starring lookalike models for Diana. The newspaper was forced to apologize.

In early October 1996, the British tabloid 'The Sun' published a gossip scoop that shook the kingdom: an 80-second video it claimed showed Princess Diana undressing and cuddling with James Hewitt, her legendary lover. The newspaper claimed the video was filmed five years earlier, while she was still married to Prince Charles. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson issued a terse denial on Diana's behalf, but Hewitt himself claimed to recognize the event. Within just 12 hours, the affair turned around: the rival newspaper 'The Daily Mirror' revealed the video was fake. It was a clip from a pilot episode of a satirical series about the royal family, filmed a few months earlier. The actors were lookalikes: 35-year-old Christina Hans and Nicky Lilly played Diana, and an anonymous Gareth played Hewitt. Director Nick Hedges said the day of filming cost only £650, compared to the high sum 'The Sun' paid for the video. He converted the footage to black-and-white and duplicated it to make it look like low-quality paparazzi footage. The great embarrassment was revealed when it turned out that none of the newspaper's 'experts' noticed that the woman was wearing a watch on her right wrist — Nicky Lilly is right-handed, while Diana wore a watch on her left wrist. 'The Sun' editor, Stuart Higgins, publicly apologized to Diana and the royal family, claiming the newspaper was misled by sophisticated con artists. 'The Daily Mirror' editor, Piers Morgan, celebrated the exposure.

The royal sex video that was fake and brought down the British tabloid