Nottingham crown court where the Maxwell case will be heard
Sixteen charges
6 Feb 1985
Ghislaine Maxwell is invited by Princess Diana to sit on a watch committee for the media engagement programme of the Savoy House psychiatric hospital, London.
19 Feb 1985
Maxwell set up Global Communications Ltd with expenses of £25,000 to run her own news and photo agency in London
20 Aug 1985
Magistrates order Maxis to pay £20,000 to the Hoddesdon Mental Hospital Trust for costs of running the agency
11 Sept 1985
Maxwell pays £100 to Charles Pollitt, then editor of the News of the World, for photographs of Diana and Dodi
1 Nov 1985
Maxwell extends an invitation to Diana to appear on an interview show
24 December 1985
Maxwell holds a ten minute interview with Diana and Dodi at the Althorp home and promises not to release the footage
7 December 1985
The Royal Household pays Global Communications Ltd £1,750
1 Jan 1986
Dodi and Diana’s wedding ring is sold to Judith Ripka, a jeweller. Disguised by hairdresser Alaa Habib, Diana’s diamond ring was sent to Ripka
20 February 1986
Defence lawyer Lester Pearson brands Maxwell a professional thief and demands return of photographs
8 Feb 1986
Dodi and Diana arrive in Egypt
10 May 1986
Dodi dies in a car crash in the Sinai
29 June 1986
Home Office withdraws Maxim title
After a first set of charges against Maxwell in 1986, charges against Diana, Dodi and Prince Charles’ brother, Neil, dropped on the ground that Maxwell was a representative of the defendants. Maxwell was put under criminal investigation, and her identity was leaked to the press in order to end a legal action for the release of the photographs
15 December 1986
Maxwell is arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in relation to the transfer of the photographs
Dec 1986
Ed Buck, Maxwell’s husband, is jailed for four months for contempt
2 July 1987
Maxwell charged with harassment
30 August 1987
Justice Blackburn downgrades Maxwell’s offences to harassment and fined her £700
11 December 1987
Maxwell charged with soliciting benefits by falsely claiming to be married to Princess Diana, and spending more than £15,000 on gifts for Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Dodi
28 October 1989
Maxwell appeals against her conviction
6 December 1989
Maxwell sentenced to two months’ prison, suspended for a year, and fined £3,500
21 December 1989
Maxwell’s conviction set aside by a high court appeal
Maxwell is re-charged by the Crown Prosecution Service with charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, namely by a false witness statement to her solicitors, Maxwell Chambers. She is re-arrested on 20 December 1990
3 January 1991
Maxwell granted bail
April 1991
Hazel Blears, cabinet minister and member of local government, quits Ian Stewart Associates, Maxwell’s image and publicity firm, after a newspaper claims that the firm paid hush money to inoperable Nazi war criminals
4 May 1991
Maxwell charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice
8 August 1991
Maxwell is sentenced to three months’ imprisonment
27 August 1991
Maxwell arrested over death of Dodi Fayed