PRINCE William has savaged the BBC over its handling of the Martin Bashir Panorama scandal, as he revealed his “indescribable sadness” at the corporation’s failings in airing the 1995 programme which plagued “her fear, paranoia and isolation”.
The future king said he was in no doubt that the disgraced reporter’s web of deceit “substantially influenced” what Princess Diana said and “was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse”.
In an unprecedented and highly personal recorded statement, following the devastating findings of an independent report into the BBC practices in landing its “scoop of the century”, The Duke of Cambridge called for BBC’s flagship investigative programme to never air again.
Incredulous William went further to suggest Panorama “holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again” adding: “It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.”
Industry insiders said the hammer blow could be terminal for the BBC as it scrambled yesterday to send written apologies to the Queen, the Prince of Wales and Princes William and Harry.
William blasted BBC top brass for presiding over a “cover up”, rather than lay the blame squarely with “rogue reporter” Martin Bashir.
Those failings meant she died not knowing she had been the victim of such wholesale deception, he said.
The BBC was judged to have “covered up” what it knew of his catalogue of deception as well as being “woefully ineffective” in investigating claims against Bashir, after allegations surfaced that he had used fake bank statements to falsely claim Diana’s inner circle were selling information on her to the press.
William slammed “lurid and false claims about the Royal Family” made by the reporter, including sickening mustruths that the Queen had an eating disorder, Prince Edward was receiving private treatment for AIDS, while Camilla was suffering from depression.
The deception went further to play on Diana’s suspicions that Prince Charles was in love and engaged in an affair with her children’s nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke.
And in an astonishing broadside against the broadcaster William, 38, said the catalogue of failings: “not only let my mother down, and my family down; they let the public down too.”
In a statement broadcast to the nation last night, William said: “I would like to thank Lord Dyson and his team for the report.
“It is welcome that the BBC accepts Lord Dyson’s findings in full – which are extremely concerning – that BBC employees:
– 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; and were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation.
“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.
“It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.
“This settled narrative now needs to be addressed by the BBC and anyone else who has written or intends to write about these events.
“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.”
In one of the darkest days of the corporation’s history, key figures from past and present inside the corporation were forced into admitting a devastating list of failures.
Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, who had long suspected the journalist of peddling a web of lies, told the inquiry he was “duped” and “groomed” by the reporter.
The Earl last night appeared to lay the blame of his sister’s death at the disgraced reporter’s door saying there was a “line” between first meeting Bashir on August 31, 1995 and Diana’s death exactly two years to the day later.
Speaking to a special edition of BBC Panorama after Lord Dyson’s verdict, he said: “The irony is I met Martin Bashir on the 31st August 1995, because exactly two years later she died and I do draw a line between the two events.
“It’s quite clear from the introduction that I sat in on the 19th September 1995, everyone was going to be made untrustworthy, and I think Diana did lose trust in really key people.
“This is a young girl in her mid 30s who has lived this extraordinary difficult and turbulent time in the public eye, she didn’t know who to trust and in the end when she died two years later she was without any form of real protection.”
The Panorama interview was broadcast a year before Diana and Prince Charles were formally divorced in 1996, though they had separated in 1992.
Following the sensational interview in November 1995, where Diana admitted committing adultery and being in love with James Hewitt as well as uttering the infamous line “there were three of us in the marriage, so it was a bit crowded” in relation to her husband’s affair with his now wife Camilla, the Princess of Wales’s life descended into utter turmoil.
The Queen ordered Charles divorce her, she was stripped of her HRH title and she began her ill fated relationship with Dodi Fayed who she died with after the tragic car crash in a Paris tunnel on August 31, 1997.
Bashir had commissioned fake bank statements, which he falsely claimed showed trusted royal aides receiving payments from news organisations for information on the Princess of Wales, which “deceived and induced” the Earl into arranging a meeting with his sister.
In an astonishing act of defiance yesterday (THURS), disgraced Bashir, who quietly quit his role last week as the BBC Religious Affairs Editor citing health grounds after heart surgery, apologised for creating fake bank statements, but said they had no bearing on Diana’s decision to agree to the interview.
He said: “It is saddening that this single issue has been allowed to overshadow the princess’ brave decision to tell her story, to courageously talk through the difficulties she faced and to help address the silence and stigma that surrounded mental health issues all those years ago.
“She led the way in addressing so many of these issues and that’s why I will always remain immensely proud of that interview.”
In his damning report, Judge Lord Dyson, who carried out a six-month investigation, said: “Mr Bashir deceived and induced him [Earl Spencer] to arrange a meeting with Princess Diana.
“This behaviour was in serious breach of the 1993 edition of the BBC’s Producer Guidelines on straight dealing.”
The BBC today made a “full and unconditional apology” for Bashir’s conduct and the cover-up.
A graphic designer who was tricked by Bashir into mocking up the fake statements and made the “fall guy” amid the corporation’s attempts to cover up the trail of deceit said last night that he was still owed an apology after he was sacked from his job and had his career ruined.
Graphic designer Matt Wiessler said in a statement: “After a quarter of a century of cover-ups and smears, it’s good to know the truth is finally out that I acted with integrity and responsibly from day one. By blowing the whistle on the deception, I suffered the fate of the fall guy.
“So much damage has been done.”
Patrick Jephson, Princess Diana’s equerry and private secretary for eight years until 1996 who was the subject of the fake bank statements said he too believed a “line” leads from her interview with Bashir to the night she died in 1997 in a Paris car crash.
He said in his statement: “After so many years it is a relief to know more of the truth behind events which had so many unhappy and even tragic consequences.”
Tim Davie, the BBC director general made “a full and unconditional apology” for the corporation’s conduct in securing the 1995 Panorama Princess Diana interview, calling Lord Dyson’s report “a difficult read”.
Former director general Lord Hall, who headed up a botched probe into Bashir’s methods in 1996, from disgrace after he was blamed for letting Bashir off the hook.
Describing his internal investigation as “woefully ineffective”, Lord Dyson said the BBC had “without justification” “covered up” Bashir’s tricks and “thereby fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark”.
Lord Birt, director-general of the BBC at the time of the interview, called the report “a shocking blot on the BBC’s enduring commitment to honest journalism.”
Offering his “deep apologies to Earl Spencer and to all others affected” he added: “We now know that the BBC harboured a rogue reporter on Panorama who fabricated an elaborate, detailed but wholly false account of his dealings.”
Mark Killick, a senior producer on Panorama who first raised the flag over Bashir’s use of fake bank statements, said: “Lord Dyson’s report shows that what Martin Bashir did was disgraceful and what the BBC management did was little better.”
Prince William’s statement in full
I would like to thank Lord Dyson and his team for the report.
It is welcome that the BBC accepts Lord Dyson’s findings in full – which are extremely concerning – that BBC employees:
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; and
were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation.
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.
It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.
This settled narrative now needs to be addressed by the BBC and anyone else who has written or intends to write about these events.
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.
– mirror.co.uk
