Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Diana ‘tricked into bombshell show by nanny baby hoax’
Inquiry told Bashir ‘played on bizarre suspicions about Tiggy and Charles’
MARTIN Bashir allegedly tricked Princess Diana into doing an interview for Panorama by lying to her about her sons’ nanny Tiggy Legge-bourke having an abortion.
The claim that Bashir faked a receipt for an abortion to exploit Diana’s unfounded suspicions about the nanny and Prince Charles is among “evidence” reportedly given to an inquiry into the Panorama reporter’s methods.
Lord Dyson has reportedly interviewed 17 witnesses for the inquiry into allegations that the BBC covered up a trail of deceit by the journalist.
Lord Dyson is said to have been told Diana agreed to the interview after being “enraged by ‘proof ’ – which was untrue and preposterous – that Miss Legge-bourke had had an abortion”, according to the Daily Mail. Bashir has been accused of lying to Diana and her brother Charles Spencer to land his sensational 1995 interview.
In it, she famously admitted cheating on Prince Charles while also proclaiming “there were three of us in this marriage”, referring to her husband’s affair with Camilla Parker-bowles.
Earl Spencer has previously claimed he was shown “false bank statements” by Bashir which suggested senior courtiers were accepting payments from news organisations.
He claimed Bashir told Diana she was being bugged by MI5 and made up lies about the royals to gain access to her.
Vulnerable Diana was said to have been obsessed with the bizarre idea that Charles wanted her murdered in order to marry Ms Legge-bourke.
The princess was convinced Ms Legge-bourke had become pregnant by
Charles. An investigation was launched by Sir Robert Fellowes, the Queen’s private secretary, after Diana allegedly approached Tiggy at a party and said to her: “So sorry to hear about the baby.”
It is claimed Diana had pulled out of the interview before Bashir allegedly told her “reliable sources” told him there was an assassination plot against her.
Lord Dyson, commissioned by the BBC in November, has reportedly started writing his inquiry report.
Bashir is on sick leave from the BBC and is yet to talk publicly about the claims. He has spoken to the inquiry.
Simone Simmons, 60, a close friend of the princess, wants a criminal investigation into Bashir, which police have already ruled out. She said: “He took advantage at a very weak moment.”