THE "elaborate hoax of the decade" certainly had a cast of weird and wonderful characters. Mysterious MIS agents hovering in the background, disgruntled officers hiding in bushes, a beautiful blonde and a hunky male lead.
But unfortunately for the Sun the Princess of Wales and her former lover, Maj James Hewitt, did not have any roles in the Di Spy Video Scandal Twenty four hours after publishing five pages of video stills claiming to show Princess Diana "frolicking" in a state of undress with Hewitt, the editor of the Sun was forced to print a grovelling front page apology.
His "world exclusive" was infact a comedy sketch featuring two models, made by a freelance film director hoping to get a slot on Channel 4's Rory Bremner, Who Else.
Not surprisingly the Sun's main rival, the Daily Mirror, was revelling in the con. The newspaper had been contacted by the publicist Max Clifford, fresh from selling Mandy Allwood's latest story. He said one of his clients had made the film as a spoof in an attempt to impress the Channel 4 show.
So, to the Sun's embarrassment, the farce continued. The "rogue MI5 agent" who masterminded the 80 second video was revealed as Nick Hedges, a freelance filmmaker who felt "staggered and sick" when he saw stills from his film entitled Smash and Grab in the tabloid and being broadcast on British news programmes.
"Never in a million years would I have thought this would have been taken so seriously... It would be hilarious if it wasn't so appalling," he said.
Indeed. The plot certainly gets more comical. The setting of this romantic tryst was not as claimed Prince Charles's home, Highgrove, but a modest semi detached south London home belonging to one of Hedges's friends.
"I'd have thought the sliding patio door in the middle of the shot would have been a giveaway. You can say anything you like against Charles, but he'd be the last man in the world to have brought the double glazers in. The Ikea furniture in the background must also have been a clue this wasn't Highgrove," Hedges pointed out.
The film's grainy appearance, which the Sun suggested proved it had been covertly shot probably by MI5 agents lurking in bushes, was the product of Hedges standing in his friend's back garden. Even the leading characters, two "look alike" models, bore only a slight resemblance to Diana and Hewitt. But, worst of all, the director's arms can actually be seen holding the sofa still as the couple perform their "private horseplay".
"I didn't think anybody would be convinced that it was really Diana and Hewitt," Hedges said. "The Hewitt actor didn't look anything like him... I was directing a couple of feet from the actors. In some of the footage, you can see me interrupting the action."
Hedges is now trying to establish how the Sun got hold of his film. The paper's initial explanation sounds almost as farcical as the subsequent events. According to the editor, Stuart Higgins, the paper had been contacted by a "smart American lawyer" who claimed he was acting on behalf of a group of soldiers led by a man known only as "The Sergeant".
It all sounds like another plot for the Rory Bremner show, except that Higgins is rumoured to have paid a six figure sum for what he described as "the most sensational royal video you'll ever see".
Despite the initial furore over these stills, Princess Diana, who has repeatedly claimed that she was under surveillance, and that her phones were being bugged and her letters opened, appeared unfazed by what was alleged to be the latest scandal. Perhaps she was playing the Sun at its own game by not admitting she believed the film to be a fake until the paper declared it had been conned.
Well over an hour after the Sun issued its grovelling apology, a spokesman for Kensington Palace said. "The Princess of Wales has authorised me to tell you that she does not recognise either herself or Maj Hewitt in these photographs."
However, according to sources, Princess Diana had immediately examined the stills and within minutes declared they were fake. One clue was conclusive Hewitt's left wrist was bare although he never takes off his Rolex, no matter what he is doing.