Prince William slams BBC ‘deceit’ over Diana interview

Princess Diana’s sons have slammed the BBC over the Martin Bashir Panorama interview with their mother, saying the corporation’s failures contributed to the fear she felt in her final years and was part of a “culture of exploitation and unethical practices that ultimately took her life”.

In a blistering statement, Prince William said that BBC leaders had failed Diana, Princess of Wales, with their “woeful incompetence”, and said the “deceitful way” the interview was obtained had substantially influenced what his mother had said. He said he was saddened the corporation had not properly investigated complaints earlier and that his mother had never known she had been deceived.

Prince Harry said: “The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life.”

It follows an inquiry, conducted by the former supreme court judge John Dyson, into the broadcast.

It found that Bashir had engaged in “deceitful behaviour” by commissioning fake bank statements to land the interview – a “serious breach” of the BBC’s editorial guidelines, Dyson concluded.

In his 127-page report, the judge also criticised the conduct of Tony Hall, the corporation’s former director-general, who was accused of overseeing a flawed and “woefully ineffective” internal probe into the issue. As the then head of BBC News, he was aware Bashir had told “serious and unexplained lies” about what he had done to persuade the princess to speak to him.

And when other media began asking questions about how the BBC had secured the world exclusive, Dyson said the corporation “covered up in its press logs” what it knew.

“Without justification, the BBC fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark,” the report said.

In his statement, Harry said: “Our mother was an incredible woman who dedicated her life to service. She was resilient, brave, and unquestionably honest. The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life.”

“To those who have taken some form of accountability, thank you for owning it. That is the first step towards justice and truth. Yet what deeply concerns me is that practices like these – and even worse – are still widespread today. Then, and now, it’s bigger than one outlet, one network, or one publication. Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed.”

In his statement, William said Lord Dyson’s findings were “extremely concerning.”

He said the investigation had found BBC employees had: “lied and used fake documents to obtain the interview with my mother; made lurid and false claims about the royal family which played on her fears and fuelled paranoia; displayed woeful incompetence when investigating complaints and concerns about the programme; were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation.”

His statement added: “It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others.

“It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.

“But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived. She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions.”

He said the programme should never be aired again. “In an era of fake news, public service broadcasting and a free press have never been more important. These failings, identified by investigative journalists, not only let my mother down, and my family down; they let the public down too.”

Lord Grade, who was the BBC chairman between 2004 and 2006 – said the BBC’s “cover-up”, had been worse than Bashir’s behaviour. “It’s taken 25 years to get the truth.”

The devastating findings provoked widespread condemnation and prompted a series of apologies from current and former BBC executives – including one from the corporation to the royal family.

The corporation also handed back every award it received for the interview, including a Bafta.

Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, said he “draws a line” between the Panorama interview and her death two years later.

The BBC’s current director general, Tim Davie, said the corporation accepted “in full” the report by Dyson, the former master of the rolls who was appointed to look into the circumstances surrounding the interview.

“Although the report states that Diana, Princess of Wales, was keen on the idea of an interview with the BBC, it is clear that the process for securing the interview fell far short of what audiences have a right to expect,” said Davie.

“The BBC should have made greater effort to get to the bottom of what happened at the time and been more transparent about what it knew. While the BBC cannot turn back the clock after a quarter of a century, we can make a full and unconditional apology.”

The 1995 interview made Bashir a star after an audience of almost 23 million tuned in to hear Diana reveal details of her life and make the famous comment that there were “three of us in this marriage”, in reference to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

However, Bashir used fake bank documents to persuade Earl Spencer that the media were paying associates of the family for information – in an attempt to secure a more sensational and revealing interview.

“I apologised then, and I do so again now, over the fact I asked for bank statements to be mocked up,” said Bashir, in a statement. “It was a stupid thing to do and was an action I deeply regret.”

However, Bashir, who quit the BBC last week, insisted Diana would have committed to an interview regardless of the deception – Dyson concluded the princess was “keen on the idea of a television interview” with “any experienced and reputable reporter”.

The BBC has a handwritten note from Diana stating that the documents played “no part in her decision to take part in the interview”.

“I re-iterate that the bank statements had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview,” said Bashir.

Hall’s investigation in 1996 concluded Bashir “wasn’t thinking” when he commissioned the graphic but was ultimately an “honest and honourable man”.

However, Dyson said the investigation “covered up” facts about how Bashir had secured the interview and he heavily criticised its conclusion that his dealings with Diana were “absolutely straight and fair”.

“This conclusion was not justified, even on an interim basis,” said Dyson. “The investigation by Lord Hall and Anne Sloman [a former senior executive at BBC News] was flawed and woefully ineffective. In light of [Bashir’s] serious and unexplained lies, Lord Hall could not reasonably have concluded, as he did, that Mr Bashir was an honest and honourable man.”

Responding to the report, Hall, who left the BBC last summer, said he accepted his inquiry “fell well short of what was required” and that he was “wrong to give Martin Bashir the benefit of the doubt”.

Lord Birt, director general of the BBC at the time of the interview, called

Bashir a “rogue reporter” and said the findings of the report reveal a “shocking blot” on the BBC’s editorial integrity and reputation.

“We now know that the BBC harboured a rogue reporter on Panorama who fabricated an elaborate, detailed but wholly false account of his dealings with Earl Spencer and Princess Diana,” said Birt, who apologised to those affected by the deception. “This is a shocking blot on the BBC’s enduring commitment to honest journalism.”

Lord Grade said the reported raised legitimate questions about “how many more cover-ups are there in the files of BBC journalism that we haven’t been told about”.

Hall was director general at the BBC when the broadcaster took Bashir on again as religion editor in 2016.

Bashir quit the BBC on health grounds last week the same day Dyson delivered his report to the corporation, after being on sick leave for several months. The 58-year-old has had quadruple heart bypass surgery and been seriously unwell with Covid-related complications.

The BBC aired a 35-minute Panorama investigation into the 1995 interview – titled Princess Diana, Martin Bashir and the BBC – on BBC One at 7pm on Thursday. It had been scheduled to air on Monday night.

Mark Stephens, media lawyer at Howard Kennedy, said that the publication of the report could open the door to legal action by those adversely affected by the deceit.

Ahead of the publication, Earl Spencer shared a black and white family photograph of himself and Diana as children. He tweeted the image alongside the words: “Some bonds go back a very long way.”

The picture shows the siblings sitting side by side in the summer sun, with a young Charles wearing trunks and Diana appearing to be in a swimsuit.