Graphic designer calls on Bashir to give Diana interview ‘ answers’

THE GRAPHIC designer who created documents for Martin BashirhascalledfortheformerPanorama reporter to give “answers” about his famous interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.

The BBC has said Mr Bashir, now the BBC’s religion editor, is seriously ill with Covid- related complications but there will be an independent investigation.

The allegations centre on claims by Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer. He said he was shown “false bank statements” by Mr Bashir which were used to help gain access to Diana for the interview. Graphic designer Matt Wiessler also criticised former BBC boss Lord Hall, who led the internal inquiry in 1996 into whether or not Diana was misled.

Lord Hall was director of BBC news and current affairs at the time of the inquiry, which concluded the graphic played no role in Diana’s decision to do the interview. But the BBC’s board of governors was told, following the inquiry, there had been “steps to ensure that the graphic designer will not work for the BBC again”.

Mr Wiessler told BBC Radio 4’ s Today programme he was “absolutely gobsmacked” to discover that “a board of governors meeting, there to look into what Martin had done” had made him “the scapegoat”.

The name of the person who wrote that the “graphic designer will not work for the BBC again” is not published on the internal BBC document, which has just come to light. Mr Wiessler added:

“The person that needs to come forward is Martin Bashir. He’s the only one that has the answers.”

Former director general Lord Hall, who left the BBC earlier this year, said in a statement to Today that “the focus of the original investigation was whether Diana had been misled”.