Jephson was born and raised in
Ireland. He was awarded an
undergraduate degree in political science from
Cambridge University. Jephson served in the
British Royal Navy for a decade and was then selected for the
Royal Household. Jephson was the private secretary to
Diana, Princess of Wales from 1988 to 1996. In 1995, then
BBC television journalist,
Martin Bashir, produced what later proved to be forged bank documents in order for Bashir to gain access to the Princess and secure
an interview with her. The forged documents purported to show that Jephson was spying on the Princess of Wales. On 22 January 1996, shortly before the story of
Tiggy Legge-Bourke's unfounded abortion allegation was published, Jephson resigned, as did his assistant Nicole Cockell the next day. Jephson later wrote that Diana had "exulted in accusing Legge-Bourke of having had an
abortion". In 2022 the BBC apologised and paid compensation to Jephson for the harm done to him by the false allegations made against him by Bashir while Bashir was working for the network. Jephson donated all the compensation to
Tŷ Hafan children's hospice in memory of the late princess. Jephson is the author of
Shadows of a Princess: An Intimate Account By Her Private Secretary (Harper 2000). Jephson subsequently emigrated to the United States, and became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 2015. He resides in
Washington, D.C. He is married to Mary Jo Jacobi. ==In popular culture==