Princess Diana’s BBC interview cover-up triggered ‘indescribable sadness’

Prince William said Martin Bashir’s 1995 BBC interview with his mother ‘contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation’. Prince Harry went even further.

Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles during Diana’s funeral service in September 1997. Picture: AFP

Prince William said it was “indescribable sadness” that Martin Bashir’s 1995 BBC interview with his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, had “contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation” while Prince Harry ­directly linked it to her death.

William lambasted Bashir for “lies and fake documents” in the extraordinary efforts he undertook to secure Diana’s trust to conduct the 1995 Panorama interview where she memorably ­uttered the lines “there were three of us in this marriage’’.

Bashir was found to have ­“deceived and induced’’ Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, into organising the globally acclaimed broadcast interview after presenting fake bank statements, an ­investigation conducted by retired High Court judge Lord Dyson has found.

This fuelled Diana’s mistrust of those around her, and the interview ultimately led to her finalising a divorce from Charles and losing her royal security protection. Less than two years later, Diana died alongside boyfriend Dodi Fayed when her drunk chauffeur, speeding to escape ­paparazzi, crashed the car in a Paris tunnel.

Lord Dyson also found that the BBC had covered up Bashir’s ­activities during an internal investigation in 1996.

Bashir had organised for a graphic artist to mock up bank statements to falsely show two sums of money going into an ­account of Alan Waller, who was Earl Spencer’s former head of ­security to claim that Mr Waller was being paid by a tabloid newspaper. Bashir also claimed that Diana’s bodyguard was plotting against her and her friends were leaking to the press in a deception to encourage Earl Spencer to ­introduce him to his sister.

The earl wrote notes of the meeting he organised between Bashir and Diana on September 19 where Bashir fed into Diana’s insecurities. While Earl Spencer said he thought Bashir was a fantasist, his sister was hooked on the claims.

The BBC is to return all awards it received for the jaw-dropping interview, which became a global television event for its shocking revelations about Diana’s failed marriage to Prince Charles.

Princess Diana during her 1995 interview with Martin Bashir. Picture: BBC

Earl Spencer has encouraged Scotland Yard to launch a criminal investigation, while the BBC has sent unreserved apologies to the Queen, Charles, William and Harry and other members of the royal family.

Both William and Harry were angered about Bashir’s “lurid and false claims’’. To clinch the scoop Bashir had told Diana that the Queen had heart problems and was “eating for comfort”, Charles was in love with the nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, Camilla was ­depressed and that Prince Edward was receiving treatment for AIDS at a London hospital.

Harry linked the interview ­directly to his mother’s death, saying: “Our mother lost her life ­because of this, and nothing has changed … the ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life.”

William blamed the interview for contributing to the worsening of his parents relationship. He ­accused the BBC of commercialising “a false narrative for a quarter of a century”.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

He said if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, “my mother would have known that she had been deceived”.

Bashir apologised on Thursday for asking for bank statements to be mocked up.

“It was a stupid thing to do and was an action I deeply regret,” he said.

’But he insisted the bank statements had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview.

“It is saddening that this single issue has been allowed to overshadow the princess’s 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,” he said.

“She led the way in addressing so many of these issues and that’s why I will always remain immensely proud of that interview.”

Diana had written a note ­defending Bashir, which formed part of the original BBC investigation and was verified by William as being of his mother’s handwriting for the Lord Dyson report.

Written on official Kensington Palace stationery and signed by Diana, it said: “Martin Bashir did not show me any documents, nor give me any information that I was not previously aware of. I consented to the interview on Panorama without any undue pressure and have no regrets concerning the matter”.

Bashir, 58, has had various health issues in recent years and has resigned from the BBC.