Duke piled pressure on BBC to pick senior judge for inquiry
Lawyer warns Bashir risks incriminating himself over bank statements that were forged for Diana interview
‘Any son would want to stand up for his mother in such circumstances’
THE Duke of Cambridge put pressure on the BBC for a fortnight until they resolved to appoint a senior judge to lead the independent inquiry into Panorama’s interview with his mother.
Sources close to the Duke confirmed last night that he had been “kept abreast of developments” after a Channel 4 documentary last month raised questions about the methods used by Martin Bashir to secure the interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.
The Duke has welcomed the appointment of Lord Dyson, a former Master of the Rolls, to lead the investigation into whether the late Princess was tricked into the broadcast, in which she referred to Camilla Parker-bowles being the “third person” in her “crowded” marriage to the Prince of Wales.
The appointment leaves Mr Bashir, 57, the BBC’S religious affairs editor, with the question of whether he should cooperate. A leading criminal lawyer has warned that Mr Bashir risks incriminating himself over forged bank statements used to persuade the Princess to give him the interview.
Scotland Yard sources said that if the inquiry identified evidence of criminal wrongdoing, the Metropolitan Police would take the matter seriously.
Mr Bashir is off sick after suffering from Covid-19 and then undergoing a quadruple heart bypass. The BBC has decided not to suspend him, in light of the inquiry, because it costs the corporation less to keep him on sick p pay, y, The Daily Telegraph understands. nds. Mr Bashir is believed to be on half pay ay under BBC sickness policy after 18 weeks eeks off work. After a further nine weeks, ks, he will be entitled to the Government’s ent’s statutory sick pay of just £95.85 a week.
In his first intervention since the row over the Panorama interview view plunged the BBC into crisis, the Duke uke issued a statement on Wednesday y commending the investigation on as “a step in the right t direction” that would
“help establish the truth behind the actions that led to the Panorama interview”. Kensington Palace said he had “t entatively welcomed” t he inquiry, announced last week by Tim Davie, the BBC’S new director-general.
The Duke is understood to have made the intervention having pressed for an independent, judge-led inquiry. It is thought he has been in contact with Mr Davie but had no role in the appointment of Lord Dyson. In his memoir, Lord Dyson praised the Duke after a visit to his Inns of Court for his “effortlessly royal way” of putting students at ease.
According to one palace insider, the Duke has “taken confidence” from how seriously y Mr Davie appears to be taking the inquir inquiry after he stated his determination to “get to the truth” of what happened. He is also said to be happy with the terms of reference for the inquiry, which w will examine the mocked-up bank stat statements and other alleged lies told to Ear Earl Spencer and Princess Diana.
BBC in insiders said the Lord Dyson inquiry w was likely to take six months but m may be even longer.
Last night, the Princess’s friend f Rosa Monckton welcomed the Duke’s intervention, saying: “Any son would want to stand up for his mother in such circumstances.”