Patrick Jephson is an Irish-born British-American journalist, television presenter, and author who was previously the private secretary and

equerry An equerry (; from French language, French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attend ...

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

Biography

Jephson was born and raised in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He was awarded a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in political science from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. Jephson served in the

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

for a decade and was then selected for the Royal Household. Jephson was the private secretary to Princess Diana from 1988 to 1996. In 1995, then

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television journalist,

Martin Bashir Martin Henry Bashir (born 19 January 1963) is a British former journalist. He was a presenter on British and American television and for the BBC's '' Panorama'' programme, for which he gained an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales under fal ...

, produced what later proved to be forged bank documents, that indicated Jephson was spying on the Princess of Wales, in order for Bashir to gain access to the Princess and secure an interview with her. On 22 January 1996, shortly before the story of

Tiggy Legge-Bourke Alexandra Shân "Tiggy" Pettifer (née Legge-Bourke; born 1 April 1965) is a Welsh former nanny and companion to Prince William and Prince Harry. She was a personal assistant to Charles III (then Prince of Wales) from 1993 to 1999. She has used ...

's unfounded abortion allegation was published, Jephson resigned, as did his assistant Nicole Cockell the next day. Jephson later wrote that Diana had "exulted in accusing Legge-Bourke of having had an

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

". In 2022 the BBC apologised and paid sizable compensation to Jephson for the damages he incurred from the false allegations made against him by Bashir while he was working for the network. Jephson donated all the compensation to Ty Hafan children’s Hospice in Wales. Jephson is the author of ''Shadows of a Princess: An Intimate Account By Her Private Secretary'' (Harper 2000). Jephson subsequently emigrated to the United States, and became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 2015. He resides in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He is married to Mary Jo Jacobi.

In popular culture

Jepshson is played in the 2013 film

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

by Charles Edwards. In

season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...

of ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

'', he is portrayed by Tom Turner and in

season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

Jamie Glover Jamie Blair Glover is an English actor. He is best known for playing Andrew Treneman in the BBC One school-based drama series, '' Waterloo Road'', returning to the role in 2023. He was also cast as Harry Potter in the second cast of the West-End ...

. Jephson also served as a historical consultant to the aforementioned

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''The Crown''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jephson, Patrick Alumni of the University of Cambridge Members of the British Royal Household Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom British emigrants to the United States Irish emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States Living people Year of birth missing (living people)