Former Spencer aide sues BBC over Bashir fake bank statements
EARL SPENCER’S former head of security is suing the BBC for damages after his bank statements were forged by Martin Bashir to help secure the now-discredited Princess Diana interview.
Alan Waller was left ‘deeply distressed’ by the Panorama reporter’s deceitful tactics, according to documents filed at the High Court. The 59-year-old says his business ventures suffered when his name was linked to the scandal.
While the BBC has compensated many others affected, including graphic artist Matt Wiessler who mocked up the fake documents on Bashir’s instructions, Mr Waller says he has been forced to take the Corporation to court because it refuses to settle his claim, or even engage with him in a ‘meaningful’ way.
He is seeking £60,000 damages and an apology and says he feels ‘like a scapegoat’ even though he did nothing wrong. Bashir used the statements as evidence Mr Waller was receiving money from a tabloid newspaper and the security services to spy on Earl Spencer and Diana – but the claims were false.
The High Court claim says Mr Waller ‘is deeply distressed and upset that the allegation was made to Earl Spencer and that the defamatory accusation persuaded Earl Spencer and the Princess to agree to the interview’.
An independent review by Lord Dyson in 2020 concluded Bashir had acted with deceit in gaining the 1995 interview, prompting the journalist to resign as the BBC’s religion editor.
Shortly afterwards the then Culture Minister John Whittingdale wrote to Mr Waller saying: ‘I recognise how distressing the activities of Martin Bashir in forging your bank statements must have been for you and can appreciate your relief that the facts are now known.’
After being shown the faked bank statements by Bashir, Earl Spencer introduced the BBC journalist to the Princess. Two months later, in November 1995, the BBC broadcast the world exclusive interview in which Diana admitted her affair with James Hewitt and said of Prince Charles’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles: ‘There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.’
Mr Waller says all offers to settle his case have been rejected by the BBC, while at the same time payments have been made to others.
‘The odd aspect is that the BBC appears to be singling me out for non-payment deliberately,’ he told The Mail on Sunday.
‘The stated reason from the BBC for this is that I should have claimed in 1996. But at that time the BBC stated publicly that the bank statements had nothing to do with Diana and the Panorama interview.
‘So even if I had the means to take them to court in 1996, what would have happened? The BBC covered up what it did and that position didn’t change until the Dyson report.
‘They are refusing to compensate me for stealing my identity, illegally obtaining my original bank statements, forging my bank statement to appear as accurate, and allowing them to be published around the world.’
The court documents say Mr Waller ‘seeks general damages sufficient to compensate him for the damage to his reputation, vindicate his good name and take account of the distress, hurt and humiliation which the publication has caused’.
A BBC source said it was engaging with everyone affected by the Bashir scandal. But a BBC spokeswoman would only say: ‘We wouldn’t comment on legal issues but we fully accept Lord Dyson’s findings.’
‘They refuse to pay out for stealing my identity’