Whatever Happened To Princess Diana's Rumored Lover James Gilbey?

Princess Diana had her heart broken during her marriage to King Charles III, who was notoriously unfaithful to his popular bride. While Charles was seeing Queen Camilla, then Camilla Parker-Bowles, and allegedly hanging out with other women he found attractive, Diana had a few rumored affair partners of her own, including car dealer and childhood friend James Gilbey.

In 1992, Gilbey and Diana made headlines for their leaked phone call from New Year's Eve 1989. The GCHQ, a British intelligence station, recorded the intimate conversations in which Gilbey repeated the pet names "Squidgy" and "darling." The car dealer also told her "I love you," multiple times. The scandal was dubbed "Squidgygate," and it fueled the press cycle that switched between discussing King Charles and Princess Diana's reported infidelity. Some other men reportedly involved with the former Princess of Wales publicly shared the details of their relationships, and she did the same. However, both Diana and Gilbey denied having an affair with each other.

His current relationship is also private, but the important details are public in a less invasive way. Gilbey met Lavinia Hadsley-Chaplin sometime in the 2000s, but at the time, he wasn't set on getting married. However, he changed his tune in 2014 by marrying Hadsley-Chaplin after years of dating. A close source told the Daily Telegraph, "They are both delighted. Lavinia seems to have won him round." In addition to being a husband, Gilbey became a stepfather to Hadsley-Chaplin's five children.

Allegedly being in one of the British royal family's most scandalous romances is quite a daunting experience, especially when the press infiltrates one's non-royal life. Although James Gilbey and Princess Diana claimed they weren't together romantically, "Squidgygate" made their connection look more than platonic. Gilbey was reportedly engaged to Alethea Savile, the daughter of the Earl of Mexborough, when he and Diana spoke on the phone on New Year's Eve 1989. The car dealer and Savile split by the time "Squidgygate" leaked in 1992.

The rest of Diana's relationship history eclipsed her connection to Gilbey, which has helped him live a more private life since the '90s. However, he has been spotted on rare occasions in the decades after the royal scandal. After he married Lavinia Hadsley-Chaplin, the couple took her daughter Helena Hadsley-Chaplin to a 2015 launch party for the British fashion brand Ghost. Gilbey also has at least one step-grandchild. His stepdaughter, Miranda, and her husband Richard Gill welcomed a baby girl named Lavinia Matilda Gill in 2022. What Gilbey does to earn a living today is unknown, but he's certainly enjoying spending time with his family as he keeps a low profile.