The announcement that The Crown will be filming part of Series 5 on the island, with Prince Charles and Princess Diana being the central theme, will jog memories of Diana´s last visit to Mallorca in November 1996.
It was an unexpected visit. The first news that we received of her visit was when we got an anonymous tip saying that she would be arriving that day on a scheduled flight from Heathrow. As you can imagine we get quite a few of these tips. But the information checked out. She would be staying at the Hotel La Residencia in Deya, which in those days was owned by her close friend, Sir Richard Branson. We waited at the hotel. Most of Deya appeared to know that she was arriving but they were staying tight-lipped. No one was saying anything but at midday people started to line the street! Princess Diana arrived on the scheduled flight from Heathrow, walked through Palma airport (no special treatment) and boarded a private taxi which took her to Deya.
She was travelling with a friend. She spent three days at the Hotel. There were rumours that she would be joined by Dodi Al Fayed. It was even said that she was planning to buy a house on the island. But nothing. In the three days she never left the hotel. Why she came to Majorca in November in 1996 remains a mystery. I don´t think she expected to see photographers when she arrived at the hotel and they were joined by many others the next day.