Bashir changed story when asked about forged Diana documents

MARTIN BASHIR, the Panorama journalist accused of faking bank statements to s e cure hi s bombshell interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, initially told a BBC investigation the documents related to a completely different royal story he was working on, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

Earl Spencer, the late Princess’s brother, has accused Bashir of falsifying evidence in order to persuade her to agree to the 1995 interview in which she famously spoke about there being “three people in her marriage”.

Mocked up bank statements, created by the BBC’S graphics department, purported to show members of the royal household in the pay of tabloid journalists and security sources.

Legal experts have suggested that royal aides “smeared” by the forged documents could sue Bashir.

The BBC has stood by Bashir – who is now its religious affairs editor – insisting the documents had nothing to do with the Princess agreeing to the interview. But The Telegraph understands that Bashir changed his story dramatically when first asked to account for his actions back in 1996.

It can now be revealed that he initially told BBC bosses the fake documents were part of an entirely different story he was working on about royal security and he insisted he never showed them to anyone.

Bashir later changed his story and admitted to the BBC that he had shown the documents to Earl Spencer as he attempted to secure an interview with the Princess. But, despite this, he was cleared by his BBC bosses and went on to enjoy a lucrative broadcasting career in the United States.

The graphic designer who mocked up the documents on his behalf, however, claims he was made a “scapegoat” for the affair and told he would not work for the BBC again.

Matt Wiessler, 58, claims the BBC did not even take a statement from him at the time. He tells an ITV documentary to be screened tonight that after he was “blacklisted” his work dried up. He said: ”In almost a naive way, I thought when you worked for the BBC, you were working for the greater good of everything.

“After this episode, almost all of that fell away, and I thought what it is really about is senior management and senior producers and presenters protecting themselves at all costs.”

Earl Spencer has also demanded an apology from the BBC, which has said it will launch an investigation if more evidence comes to light.

Former BBC chairman Lord Grade has joined calls for an independent inquiry, the Daily Mail reported.

Mr Bashir is currently off sick having recently undergone heart bypass surgery following a coronavirus diagnosis. On Friday night he was pictured picking up an Indian takeaway and some wine close to his north London home.