The Queen of 1960s London’s ‘permissive society’, Novotny mixed with statesmen, strippers and spies – then vanished
1 May 2021 • 5:00am I can rattle skeletons in many important cupboards : Mariella Novotny in 1971
Credit: Dove/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty
In the dying days of the 20th century I was researching the life of my grandfather, Charlie, a con man implicated in the corruption of Flying Squad officers. During his trial at the Old Bailey in 1978, Charlie alleged he had been set up by a mysterious blonde called Mariella Novotny, codenamed Henry. In court, he claimed: “She is the woman who arranged for the war minister Mr Profumo to be dropped from the cabinet. She gave evidence to the Lord Denning inquiry but that evidence never appeared.”
This time, however, the spotlight will be turned on the programme itself and whether it was set up fairly and honourably – and, when a few months later it was shown that some falsehoods had been used to obtain the interview, whether the BBC failed in its own internal inquiry.
The story of the Diana interview will also be the subject of a new stage play,
The Outsider, penned by a former TV journalist who worked closely with Bashir.
The
Panorama special, presented by the award-winning John Ware, is believed to include an interview with Earl Spencer, who introduced Bashir to his sister. It will be broadcast before Lord Dyson, a former master of the rolls, delivers his own report into the Diana programme. His inquiry has asked whether steps taken by Bashir and the BBC to gain the original
The living room. The hallway.
Platt, who grew up with his mother in London, says she really loved Ireland, especially as the Irish âarenât bothered by classâ. âWhen I was young she had no boyfriends; she didnât want a man in her life as so many of them had let her down. The only one she had was later on, and he was an Irishman called Jimmy.â
The third bedroom in the pristine cottage is now Plattâs home office. Though engaged as a business consultant, he has taken the past year off to comply with a request in his motherâs will: âThat my son Seymour will endeavour to tell the truth about my life.â