Princess Diana arrives at the Royal Geographical Society in London for a speech (file)
London, United Kingdom:
The BBC on Wednesday announced the immediate start of an investigation into how she secured an explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana that lifted the veil on her troubled marriage to Prince Charles.
The company said it had approved the appointment of former Supreme Court Justice John Dyson to lead the investigation, which comes after appeals from the late Princess’s brother, Charles Spencer.
Spencer alleged that the reporter from the flagship “Panorama” program who conducted the interview, Martin Bashir, showed him false documents to persuade his sister to participate.
In the November 1995 interview, which was watched by a record 22.8 million people, Diana detailed her collapsed marriage with the heir to the throne.
She said “there were three people” in her marriage – her, Charles and her longtime lover Camilla Parker-Bowles – and also revealed that she had been unfaithful.
Diana and Charles officially divorced in 1996. She died in a car accident in Paris the following year.
New reports have surfaced alleging that Bashir used underhanded methods to persuade Diana to speak up, including claiming that her own staff were paid to spy on her.
“This is an important investigation that I will start right away,” Dyson said in a statement. “I will make sure it is both complete and fair.”
The BBC set the terms of reference for the investigation, focusing primarily on the role of Bashir, who was little known at the time but continued his career around the world.
He will examine “the fake bank statements purporting to show payments to a former Earl Spencer employee … (and) the alleged payments to members of the Royal Family.”
It will also look into the revelations Spencer made this month about Bashir to the Daily Mail, which said the reporter made “grim claims” about Queen Elizabeth II, Charles and other members of the royal family.
Bashir has not responded to the latest claims. The BBC said he was gravely ill after contracting the coronavirus.
The BBC was accused of cover-up in a previous investigation when rumors about Bashir’s alleged methods first surfaced.
The state-funded broadcaster said its latest investigation will be released once completed.
“The BBC is determined to find out the truth about these events and that is why we have ordered an independent investigation,” said Managing Director Tim Davie.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
