Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘BBC TRICKED ME TO GET DIANA ON SHOW’
Bosses to probe Earl’s claim
PRINCESS Diana’s brother Charles Spencer has accused the BBC of “sheer dishonesty” in a row over his sister’s famous Panorama interview.
The BBC last night agreed to open a new probe into Earl Spencer’s claim that he was duped into introducing journalist Martin Bashir to his sister by false accounts appearing to show two palace staff were being paid by the security services for information on Diana.
He branded as a “whitewash” a 1996 BBC investigation into the fake bank statements, which preyed on the princess’s fears that she was being spied on by MI5.
In a letter to the new BBC directorgeneral Tim Davie, Spencer alleges the interview was obtained under false pretences.
D av i e l a st we e k offered a partial apology and admitted a BBC graphic designer created the statements. At the time the broadcaster said they were only shown to the earl after he had agreed to introduce Bashir to Diana, which Spencer claims was a “lie”.
In his letter to Mr Davie, which he made public yesterday, Earl Spencer wrote: “Your piecemeal apology of Wednesday seems to be a way for you merely to o say you’ve apologised to me, rather than acceptance of the full gravity of this situation. tion. I am now formally asking for the
BBC to open an enquiry into this matter, and I hope... it will get to the bottom of key, interconnected questions.” The 1996 inquiry found the statements “were put to no use which had any bearing” on the interview.
That review was in part headed by Tony Hall, then head of news and current affairs, who retired as BBC director-general in August.
In his letter to Davie, the Earl asks: “Why did Tony Hall’s enquiry not seek the truth from me? Why did it bend over backwards to whitewash Bashir?” Demanding a new inquiry, he wrote: “The sheer dishonesty of what I’ve seen in the BBC 25 years ago ... demands it.”
Before Mr Davie’s apology last week, Earl Spencer said: “If it were not for me seeing these statements, I would not have introduced Bashir to my sister.”
Bashir is currently ill with Covid-19 and has not answered claims in the Channel 4 documentary Diana: The Truth Behind the Interview, or Earl Spencer’s letter. A BBC spokeswoman last night said: “We absolutely will investigate, robustly and fairly, substantive new information. “We have asked Earl Spencer to share further information. Unfortunately, we are hampered at the moment by the simple fact that we are unable to discuss any of this with Martin Bashir, as h he is seriously unwell. “When “When he h is well, we will of course hold an investigation.”