Di charities’ £1.4m from sorry Beeb
Bashir chat cash given to 7 good causes
THE BBC has donated the money it made in sales of the controversial Martin Bashir interview with Princess Diana to charity.
The £1.42million, from the BBC’s commercial revenue, will be shared among seven charities linked to the princess.
Last year, a report by Lord Dyson concluded that the BBC covered up “deceitful behaviour” by journalist Bashir to secure the bombshell interview in 1995.
It made headlines as the princess spoke openly about her marriage to Prince Charles and his relationship with Camilla, famously telling Bashir: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
The BBC previously apologised for the circumstances in which the interview was obtained. In July this year, the Corporation vowed that no part of the BAFTA-winning interview would ever be broadcast again.
The BBC said yesterday: “The BBC had indicated its intention to donate to charity the sales proceeds derived from the 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.
“The BBC has now done so. Given the findings of Lord Dyson, we think this is the right and appropriate course of action.”
The money has been donated to the Centrepoint homeless charity, English National Ballet, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, The Leprosy Mission, National Aids Trust, The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and The Diana Award.
In July, BBC Director-General Tim Davie said: “Now we know about the shocking way that the interview was obtained, I have decided that the BBC will never show the programme again, nor will we license it in whole or part to other broadcasters.
“It does, of course, remain part of the historical record and there may be occasions in the future when it will be justified for the BBC to use short extracts for journalistic purposes, but these will be few and far between and will need to be agreed at executive committee level and set in the full context of what we now know about the way the interview was obtained.”
We think this is the right and appropriate course of action
BBC STATEMENT ON DONATION TO CHARITIES